In mathematics, women receive only 10% of productivity grants.

In Brazil, only 10% of research productivity grants in the field of Mathematics are awarded to women. And this proportion has remained unchanged for a decade. The data was presented by Professor Maria Eulália Vares of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ) at the roundtable discussion “Mathematics: a feminine noun – Challenges and perspectives on the gender issue,” during the 31st Brazilian Mathematics Colloquium, held at IMPA.

“In 2005, 10% of scholarships went to women. In 2015, the proportion was 10.5%. I find that shocking,” highlighted the mathematician, citing data from the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq) and drawing attention to the fact that research scholarships in the country are generally distributed proportionally between genders, but the disparity grows as the level of specialization increases.

The debate was the first in a series that will discuss the topic throughout the 2017/2018 Mathematics Biennium – the next ones will be held in October at the federal universities of Amazonas, Rio Grande do Sul, and Rio Grande do Norte. The aim is to raise awareness of the topic, identify problems, seek solutions, and collect data for presentations at the World Meeting for Women in Mathematics, scheduled for July 2018 in Brazil.

Professor of Physics at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Marcia Barbosa, reported that the situation is also critical in Physics. She highlighted the need to increase female participation in scientific committees and drew attention to what she defined as the "scissors effect": women's participation declines as they advance in their careers.

Marcia recalled fighting for the creation of maternity leave for research productivity grant recipients and considered it necessary to also have a funding line for childcare at events, a measure she considers relevant to increase female participation in congresses, symposia, and other academic activities.

The organizer of the roundtable, IMPA researcher Carolina Araújo, cited that the Brazilian Mathematics Colloquium itself reveals the gender disparity. According to her, of the 888 participants, 23.5% are women. The representation drops even further among the speakers (17%), and all the mini-courses are taught by men.

Obstacles

Nancy Garcia, from the colloquium's organizing committee, noted that there are obstacles to making the situation more equal. In the case of speakers, for example, she mentioned the difficulty of ensuring women's participation due to family responsibilities.

“We would need funding for that,” she noted, drawing attention to the need for specific goals to go beyond discussion and seek measures that will have an impact on the current scenario. “How can we organize congresses in a way that encourages women's participation? We need more specific proposals than simply discussing. It would be important, for example, to have funding, some assistance for this,” she suggested.

After apologizing for having helped to compile a list of exclusively male names for a thematic session at Unicamp, where he is a researcher at the Institute of Mathematics, Henrique Sá Earp proposed that partners assume responsibility for the family so that women participate more frequently in academic events. "Can't these men take care of the children?" he said, also suggesting the creation of daycare centers at universities.