25/07/2023

Colloquium promotes debate on women in science.

Leticia de Oliveira, Luciana Aparecida e Janice Lopes

With the title "Women in Science and Public Policy: How to Balance Them?", the 34th Brazilian Mathematics Colloquium led the public to discuss topics such as public policies, challenges, and struggles so that women can increasingly occupy spaces in science.

According to UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization), of all researchers in the world, only 26% are female, and 74% of women are interested in conducting research in areas such as technology, engineering, mathematics, and others. In Brazil, 60% of all undergraduate research grants are awarded to women. However, only 35% retain productivity grants .

Neuroscientist Letícia de Oliveira, from the Permanent Commission on Gender Equity at UFF and the Commission on Equity, Diversity and Inclusion at Faperj, participated in the panel and emphasized that although women still occupy few prominent positions, the future is promising.

“There’s no going back, no return. I’m making a vectorial comment; you can change the speed, but not the direction. We will move forward, it may take a while, but we will get there. We, women, Black people, marginalized people, have a heritage from our ancestors who fought for us to be here. The path is set, there’s no turning back.”

The panel was moderated by Luciana Aparecida, a mathematics professor at the Federal University of Jataí, and included the participation of Professor Janice Lopes from UFG (Federal University of Goiás).

Luciana, who is also a representative of the state of Goiás on the Diversity Committee of the SBM (Brazilian Mathematical Society) and SBMAC (Brazilian Society of Applied and Computational Mathematics), thanked IMPA for bringing the debate to the main mathematics event.

“We are grateful to the colloquium organizers for including this panel in the event, which for us mathematicians is a dream event of unimaginable importance, and for being able to have this discussion here with diverse people and perspectives. Throughout the panel, we see that the numbers [regarding the representation of women in science] are not adding up, so how can we begin to address this problem?” Luciana emphasized.

Janice, who is also the deputy coordinator of the Open University of Brazil at UFG and a researcher, addressed the issue of Black women in science. According to the IBGE (Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics), 28% of the population self-identifies as Black women. Of this group, 10.4% have completed higher education. Furthermore, she also showed that Black women represent only 7% of the number of female researchers in the country.

“It’s always a great challenge, but it’s a pleasure to have spaces like this to discuss and bring data to a group that was apparently interested in addressing the subject. These discussions are fundamental to highlighting that this is not an empty debate. We hope for a slightly better future,” Janice emphasized.

Paula Balseiro, a mathematics professor at the Federal Fluminense University (UFF) who has been participating in the CBM for several years, pointed out that the debate about women in science is very necessary.

"I'm glad to see the topic being discussed at the colloquium. It's important that we have spaces to debate the subject."