Coinciding with the International Women’s Day, we have interviewed 4 researchers working at different levels of the scientific career at Vall d’Hebron Institute of Research (VHIR), in order to get their experiences in this sector that, according to the "http://www.uis.unesco.org/_LAYOUTS/UNESCO/women-in-science/index.html#!lang=en" latest study published by the UNESCO, it is still a men’s issue: the worldwide average of women in science is the 30%, whereas the average in Spain is a little bit higher, the 38%. Nonetheless, the statistics are completely different at VHIR, where the 75% of researchers are women!Matilde Lleonart, leader of the Oncology and Molecular Pathology group. 43 years old. “I think that we have been cheated with the concept of the working women. It is very difficult to combine this stressful career with children! We have a lot of pressure to publish and when we don’t get the results expected, all the effort and the time spent in research seem useless. For that reason and in my case, I think that the support of your partner is crucial to do this job. Now I’m 7 months pregnant and I already know that the First of September I will have to be in the lab, because the maternity leave is clearly insufficient in Spain. However, I will also be working because I have a moral commitment with science and with my master and predoctoral students, as well as the postdoctorals, and I cannot leave my group without a leader. To get where I am today, I reckon that sometimes I had to work more than my male colleagues, and at the beginning, when I was doing the PhD, there was also an economic gender gap in my level in Spain and other international centers. Nonetheless, now I’m happy because do what I want and I use to forgot all the suffering and the effort when a paper from my group is published. Thus, I encourage all women to use our moral strength because we can get whatever we want!” Marta Ribases, Miguel Servet researcher from the Psychiatry, Mental Health and Addictions group. 36 years old“I have had to children and I worked until the last day of the pregnancy in both cases, and my scientific performance didn’t stop. My research is much related to Bioinformatics and Biostatistics, so I can combine easily professional and family life, working from home. However, we sometimes have to struggle (both men and women) to combine our family life with this job that requires a full time dedication: we have to attend congresses, meetings, mobility is recognized and this is something very difficult to reach when you have a family. I have never felt discriminated for being a woman. It is true that the percentage of women in higher positions is very low, but I think that there are many policies that will change the situation in the future. For instance, the European and Spanish calls for science take into account the gender balance and help motherhood by extending the period of submission. That’s why I believe that in some years, we will see women in the top senior positions of the scientific career”. Laia Chavarria, postdoctoral researcher. 33 years oldI have never been discriminated for being a woman and my boss has always given me all the support. And not just to me, he has also been helpful with my colleagues who had children. Sensitivity is changing.I think that for women high positions are more difficult to get. I'm not sure why, but perhaps what is associated with women (motherhood) gets us in a time of professional growth and you have to raise not as fast as a man.Some social concepts must change to avoid differences. It is clear that after having a child your career has to stop for a while, but today men paternity is much more common. I think my environment is more sensitized about the change that is needed in women professional lives. I want to think that the situation will normalize in the future and women who are now in training will also reach high positions in science.Celia Fernández, predoctoral researcher of the Cardiocirtulatory Pathology. 30 years oldI have not been in any problem for being a woman. In fact, we are living at the time with more women than men in research, statistics are moderating in recent years. In contrast, in the highest positions there is a difference between men and women, but it comes from earlier generations. Women, in a certain moment of our career, we encounter a glass ceiling to which we cannot fight, and I do not really know why. But I think our generation will change this trend, we have to fight for it because it is possible.In my case, I feel more comfortable out of Spain because I am seen not as a woman but as a researcher. I feel more valued, more neutral and professional. There is less gender difference, I guess that this is because of the historical context of each country. Therefore, social and labor rights of women have to change a lot. But you also have to change them by yourself at home. You have to be strong and fight for what you want. A revolution begins at home.The laws of the future must be neutral, so that won’t be gender differences and men and women will have the same benefits to motherhood. I do not think positive discrimination measures are effective.*Since 2011 VHIR has an equality plan to guarantee the same conditions and opportunities to women and men, as this is one of the aims of the institute. For that reason, during the last three years some concrete actions have been carried out, such as an ethics code of equality of opportunities and the fixation of schedules bearing in mind the conciliation of the personal, familiar and labor life of the personnel.