27/07/2019

Female researchers meet to discuss diversity in science.

At age 15, only 22% of girls think about pursuing careers in science and engineering. In undergraduate studies, the percentage of women enrolled in these courses reaches around 50%, but in postgraduate studies, particularly in doctoral programs, the rate drops again. It was from the presentation of data, which portray the low female representation in science, that the round table on diversity began at the Brazilian Meeting of Women Mathematicians, this Saturday (27), at IMPA.

Composed of researchers Sonia Guimarães, a Physics professor at the Technological Institute of Aeronautics (ITA), and Bárbara Carine Soares Pinheiro, a Chemistry professor at the Federal University of Bahia (UFBA), the panel, moderated by Bruna Magno, a doctoral student at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), addressed issues of gender and race.

Sonia, the first Black Brazilian woman to earn a doctorate in Physics and to teach at ITA (Instituto Tecnológico de Aeronáutica), celebrated, in her presentation, the work and trajectory of other Black female researchers in the field, including Katemari Rosa, Marcelle Soares Santos, and Zélia Maria da Costa Ludwig.

Regarding Zélia, who works as a professor at the Federal University of Juiz de Fora (UFJF), Sonia highlighted her commitment to stimulating girls' interest in science.

Física Sonia Guimarães, professora do Instituto Tecnológico de Aeronáutica (ITA)

“To overcome the lack of interest in Physics, with this argument that it is too difficult, Zélia suggests taking the laboratory to high schools, to the outskirts of the city, showing how Physics works, what it does, but with equipment, not just with theories,” Sonia pointed out.

Another researcher highlighted by Sonia was the physicist and transgender woman Vivian Miranda, the only Brazilian involved in a rocket project at NASA. During the presentation, the ITA professor also emphasized the importance of racial affirmation.

“Despite all the stigma surrounding skin color, there are Black women who don't identify as Black. I usually say that I am a self-proclaimed Black woman because perhaps there is another woman who, before me, graduated in Physics, with a doctorate, and doesn't have white skin. But she hasn't declared herself as such to this day, so I remain very famous,” Sonia joked.

Barbara, on the other hand, proposed a reflection on the social construction of the female gender, as well as the behavioral and intellectual myths associated with it that distance women from positions of power, including science. As a theoretical basis, she accessed discussions raised by leading authors on the subject, such as Simone de Beauvoir and Ana Montenegro.

“From the moment private property emerges, so does the deprivation of women's bodies, the notion of women as men's private property. Obviously, to deprive a being of my guardianship, it is necessary to create characteristics of submission and inferiority in that being. In this context, the female gender emerges, the woman emerges as dependent on men, as a domestic servant, as beautiful, demure, and of the home,” Bárbara explained.

Química Bárbara Carine Soares Pinheiro, professora da Universidade Federal da Bahia (UFBA)

Citing the works of philosophers Angela Davis and Sueli Carneiro, Bárbara deepened the debate on gender, now touching upon racial aspects. “We need to consider the multiple determinants that have constituted the historical diversity of women. There are characteristics considered to be of the female gender that do not apply to Black women,” she pointed out.

The researcher also criticized the temporal focus of history classes, which presents the black population only in a condition of slavery and subservience.

“The memory that school hammers into my head my whole life is a memory of four centuries, to the detriment of at least 300,000 years of history. If you were to grasp how absurd what school does to us is, imprinting a subjectivity of inferiority on the minds of Black people and superiority on the minds of white people, you would see that it is surreal. They keep hammering into our heads: 'you are the child of a slave'.”

To emphasize how considering race issues is also important when discussing gender, Bárbara showed a chart of women who have been awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry. The number is minuscule: only four, out of a total of 178 laureates. None of them, however, were Black.

At the end of the presentations, the audience shared experiences, observations, and expressions of gratitude.

“I am very happy to see so many Black women at this event. In these kinds of spaces, I usually count how many Black women are present because, generally, when they talk about women in STEM fields, it’s always 100% white, but in this auditorium I lost count. Furthermore, we are often seen as stupid, but you have shown the opposite, you have inspired me to keep going,” said Wellem Christina, an undergraduate student in Mathematics at the Federal University of Santa Catarina (UFSC).