IMO is a platform for discussion about diversity in Mathematics.

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The data is shocking: in large American companies, there are more CEOs named John than women who hold the same position. This information is part of a list of numbers that reveal gender inequality cited by linguist Branca Vianna, moderator of the round table “Expanding diversity in math and science: what it is and how to go about it”, held this Thursday (20), for participants of the International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO), in Rio.

“It’s impressive that, in one role, there are more Johns than all the women combined in the same position, no matter what their names are,” Branca told the audience of about 200 IMO competitors from around the world. The event featured five panelists, presented as examples of pioneering work in their fields: Carolina Araújo, researcher at IMPA; Tábata Amaral, co-founder of the Mapa Educação Movement; Larissa de Lima and Deborah Alves, IMO medalists and graduates of Harvard University; and Elaine Lizeo, regional president of the MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) Education Council.

Branca emphasized that Mathematics is, among the Sciences, the area in which female participation is lowest. Citing data from the American Mathematical Society (AMS), she highlighted that the proportion is only 15% and has changed little over the last decade. At the 2017 IMO, only 65 of the 623 competitors were women. “But this inequality doesn't exist only in the Sciences. In the American Congress, for example, only 20% of the representatives are women. And in Brazil, it's even worse: 10%.”

Researcher and professor at IMPA, Carolina Araújo, said she has already experienced situations in which she encountered barriers simply because she is a woman. "It exists. Sometimes it's transparent, you don't see it, but it's there," stated the professor, who is part of the organizing committee for the Meeting of Women Mathematicians, to be held next year in Rio de Janeiro during the International Congress of Mathematicians.

Like Carolina, Tábata Amaral, from São Paulo, knows very well how this type of barrier can interfere with a person's success. She has been questioned several times about whether she was good enough because she is a woman. Therefore, she values even more the support she receives to keep moving forward, despite being a woman. A medalist in the Brazilian Mathematics Olympiad for Public Schools (OBMEP), she came from the outskirts of São Paulo, graduated from Harvard, and, upon returning to Brazil, helped found the Mapa Educação Movement.

According to her, women have opportunities, such as participating in knowledge olympiads like the IMO and entering renowned universities, but they are hampered by a lack of encouragement. "Sometimes they have access, but they don't feel entitled because the whole society is telling them they're not good enough," she says.

Despite loving mathematics since her school days, Larissa de Lima, from Ceará, who was part of the Brazilian team in two editions of the IMO and won a silver medal in 2002, said that she often felt like a fish out of water in that predominantly male universe. According to her, to change this scenario, we need to imagine that it is indeed possible to build a different reality.

“Having environments where you are surrounded by other women helps with imagination. You realize that it’s something you can do and that you can be successful. You create these spaces, you have more women participating, and I believe they will achieve results,” she stated, concluding that inequality is a cultural barrier and also exists, for example, in issues related to race. “You have to imagine that it’s possible. Both for the individual and for society itself.”

To encourage increased female participation, IMPA suggested to the IMO the creation of the IMPA Girls Olympic trophy, which will be awarded to five female participants who contribute the most to their teams' scores. The prize will be incorporated into the competition and, this year, will be given in honor of Iranian mathematician Maryam Mirzakhani, the only woman to receive the Fields Medal, who died on Friday (14), aged 40, from cancer.

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