When I started working at CERN in 1976, women were a relatively rare sight. The few women who did work here generally held administrative roles, many having started with the incongruous job title of “scanning girls”, regardless of the age at which they had been recruited.

The “Gender in Physics” conference hosted by CERN last week showed that our Organization has been at the forefront of the drive towards gender equality in science over the last 20 years, with the launch of its Equal Opportunities Programme in 1996 leading the way.

Sometimes sexism hides behind the words and apparent compliments that women hear from their colleagues, supervisors and managers.

Over the past two years, the Ombuds has seen double the number of cases involving women staff members compared to those involving men, relative to their populations. Two questions can thus be asked: is that a general phenomenon also seen in other organizations?

In this special video edition I take a look at a social exclusion at CERN. Please note that the characters and situations appearing in this work are fictitious, and any resemblance to real persons or events is purely coincidental.