With their wide range of applications, quantum technologies help address key societal challenges and thus contribute to the sustainable and forward-looking development of our society.

However, equal participation of highly qualified women in quantum technologies has not yet been achieved, as women remain severely underrepresented in precisely those STEM fields that lead to research and development work in quantum technologies, such as physics, computer science, and certain engineering disciplines. Furthermore, many excellent women in quantum technologies are less visible than their male colleagues.

This lack of visibility affects both visibility and recognition within the academic community — as reflected, for example, in honors or appointments to high-level leadership positions — and outside the academic sphere, in the general public, the business world, politics, and the media.

We investigate the mechanisms by which women in quantum technologies are made visible or invisible and kept in or out of the public eye. We translate our findings into strategies for visibility within and beyond the field, with the involvement of established leaders, high-performing women, and high-potential women, as well as their networks.

Our goal is to develop effective and sustainable strategies and recommendations for action at the structural level in order to strengthen and improve the visibility of women in quantum technologies, both within and beyond the field.