THE IMPORTANCE OF SYSTEMS THINKING 

When it comes to the importance of gendered research and a thriving culture of innovation and engagement that can change the world for the better, Londa Schiebinger’s work has articulated three key areas that need to be addressed. Fixing the numbers (in terms of women in science), fixing the institutions (in terms of promoting equality in careers through infrastructural changes) and fixing the knowledge (in terms of ensuring excellence in science in terms of its quality, applicability and deployment by integrating sex and gender into how we think about and do research). This type of systems level thinking was clear in the work of each of the speakers and was a powerful reminder that we need to think strategically and at a range of scales that encompasses the short, medium and long term.