01/10/2022

'IMPA's Olympic Girls' praise program

Mesa redonda do Festival falou sobre participação das meninas na matemática

Sisters Eduarda and Fernanda Toledo spoke on Friday afternoon (30), during the second day of the Mathematics Festival, about how OBMEP (Brazilian Mathematics Olympiad for Public Schools) and the "IMPA Olympic Girls" program contributed to their personal and academic development.

The young women revealed that it was only in high school that they first came into contact with math competitions and, later, with programs that encourage female participation in activities related to the field. It was in the study group that the sisters not only strengthened their learning but also became critical of the current job market, which has a greater male presence in those positions.

"It was at the 'IMPA Girls' Olympics' that I started to realize that my math and physics teachers in high school were men. In high school, I started to question: 'aren't there any female philosophers to study?' And that's where we started to change. The project made me understand that this existed and that we could change it," said Eduarda.

When they were students at the Joaquim Gomes de Sousa State Mathematical College – Intercultural Brazil-China, a public school in Rio de Janeiro focused on mathematics, the sisters won medals at the China Mathematical Olympiad in 2019. Eduarda and Fernanda competed in individual, pair, and group events – with other girls from their school – and secured one of the top ten positions in the competition.

"We won individual and group medals, we were the only school to receive any awards, and we were the only group composed entirely of girls. It was a great source of pride. The [IMPA Girls' Olympics] program has influenced our lives," said Fernanda.

As irmãs Eduarda e Fernanda Toledo

Last year, the young women enrolled in the Medical Physics course at UFRJ. Currently, they collaborate with the program, which continues to serve students from IMPA's partner schools.

'Festival Gatecrashers'

The young women's chat with the audience at the Mathematics Festival took place at the roundtable "Inspired and Inspiring Girls," which was moderated by the general director of IMPA, Marcelo Viana, and included the participation of Cellina Landim and Raíssa Lorena, elementary school students. Despite their young age, 14 years old, the two have already written a project on theories of dynamical processes.

"Celina and Raíssa literally invited themselves to participate in the festival, they sent the material they produce, and we thought it was worthwhile. They are the festival's gatecrashers," said Viana, eliciting laughter from the participants.

Celina said she thrives on challenges and plans to study genetic engineering in the US. Raíssa said she's drawn to astrophysics. Both are passionate about numbers and dream of changing the world through applied mathematics.