History of female Polish pioneers and expeditioners in polar regions

Abstract

In the paper, we present a gradual transition from domination of men to equal treatment for men and women during the several decades of Polish expeditions to scientific stations in the Arctic and the Antarctic. This research has been based on the data available in the archives and at the database created within the project Female polar explorers (Polarniczki in Polish), which contains information about the number of female participants of expeditions to Polish research stations. Women participated in the seasonal expeditions almost from the very beginning when Polish research stations were established in 1970s and 1980s, but a significant increase of female participants is visible especially at year-round stations in the second decade of the 21st century. In 1984, the first Polish female scientist overwintered in the Antarctic and in 1996 in the Arctic. In 1986, the first woman became a leader of a summer scientific expedition to Spitsbergen, and in 1991 a first woman became the leader of a year-long expedition to Arctowski Station. In the presented database, there are 825 records, that correspond to 417 surnames of female participants in Polish polar expeditions, 145 participated in more than one expedition. Women who were working at Polish polar research stations represented a variety of occupations, but most of them were scientists or combined science and station service. The collected data clearly show that the days when the presence of women at polar stations was unwelcome are a thing of the past.