11/02/2022

In the Science & Mathematics Blog, representation in science.

Foto: PxHere

Article published on the Science and Mathematics blog of the newspaper O Globo, coordinated by the deputy director of IMPA, Claudio Landim:

Girls in Science: School, Choices, and Who Guides Us

Daniela Pavani, Carolina Brito and Marcia Barbosa

Marcia was in her first year of high school at a state school in Rio Grande do Sul. Resources were scarce, but they managed to get some laboratory equipment donated. Excited about the possibility of offering his students this experience, but lacking the personnel for the setup, the school principal invited Marcia to help by working the night shift, when the school was open, to carry out the task. The challenge was very interesting. Chemistry and physics teachers guided the work between classes, in an equally unpaid activity.

Besides assembling the equipment for the kit, she organized the chemistry benches with various reagents. Having an oven was important for drying some compounds. The school, however, didn't have one. Since Marcia's father was an electrician, she found a resistor, and the physics teacher guided her to build an oven with bricks, a material she found at the school which was under construction. During assembly, Marcia made a mistake in the connections, causing a short circuit. After the scare, she fixed the system in time to present it to the teacher without ever confessing her mistake. This challenging experience of doing something, making mistakes and fixing them, of developing projects with partnerships like the ones she had with the two teachers, was something she wanted to have for the rest of her life. This experience led her to decide to become a scientist. The dedication of these two teachers was never forgotten by the student.

"In the classroom, a citizen is formed, In the classroom, a nation is changed." This profession is celebrated in this 1991 samba by Lecy Brandão, or in the verses that have been the subject of a public service exam question, by Tanya Maya, "Yes, a country is only made with teachers, A novel, a sketch, with teachers, A love poem, ding ding, A country to teach its young people, Yes, a country is only made with teachers," or even in children's programs like Bananas in Pyjamas, "It was you who taught me, To read and write, You helped me find, The path to victory."

In public discourse and government speeches, this is one of the most valued and praised professions; however, in practice, the reality is different. In recent weeks, we have seen statements from administrators (and even the general public) questioning the 33.24% readjustment of the National Minimum Wage for Basic Education Teachers. Established by law in 2008, the minimum wage has been reaffirmed by the Supreme Federal Court in all actions that question it. By law, states and municipalities receive transfers from FUNDEB (National Fund for the Development of Basic Education) to supplement teacher salaries. Even so, we pay half the average salary paid to these professionals by countries in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), which includes our neighbors Chile and Colombia, and even Mexico. According to the 2019 Brazilian Education Yearbook, the proportion of the average salary of a basic education professional in relation to the average of other categories in the labor market is 69.8%. Equating salaries to the average salaries paid by OECD countries is one of the objectives included in the National Education Plan (PNE) since 2014.

The International Day of Women and Girls in Science, celebrated on February 11th, was established in 2015 by the United Nations General Assembly (UN). The celebration of this date, with numerous activities worldwide, aims to raise awareness about the issue of women's excellence in science and to remind the international community that science and gender equality must advance hand in hand. Many studies indicate that teachers play a fundamental role in both the reproduction and confrontation of gender inequalities. Teaching practices have a multiplier effect on student development, both through example and reference in the choice of future careers, and through their role in promoting quality education that allows access to the world of work and/or higher education.

The National Education Plan (PNE) mentioned above includes fundamental goals for the advancement of education in Brazil and also highlights the importance of addressing inequalities and valuing diversity. The final document sets out qualitative and quantitative goals that are determined by national education laws and guidelines regarding, among other things, Human Rights Education, Indigenous and Quilombola School Education, and Environmental Education. The PNE proposes deadlines for the implementation of the National Common Curriculum Base, which is still much debated and surrounded by controversy. In any case, it is this base that indicates the content, competencies, and skills that students should acquire throughout Basic Education. Who has to intertwine national curriculum guidelines, local context, content, and curriculum, preparing students for life and work? Again, teachers! In addition to a higher education degree, this profession requires permanent study and constant updating.

The university also participates in this struggle in pursuit of a more inclusive education and the construction of a more diverse science. An example of this is the Girls in Science extension program at the Physics Institute of UFRGS, which was created almost 10 years ago with the main objective of attracting more women to careers in exact and technological sciences and reducing dropout rates in these courses. To pursue these objectives, coordinators Carolina Brito and Daniela Pavani, along with scholarship and volunteer students, conduct research to understand the reasons why the exact sciences are male strongholds, campaigns that denounce sexism and racism, and discussion groups about professions in which students still choosing a career have the chance to talk with professors and students from various university courses and industry professionals to learn about the reality of some careers. The program brings science and debate on gender and race issues to schools and opens the doors of the university to high school students, in an action called "Girls, Let's Go to UFRGS!". This initiative began in 2014, when the Physics Institute at UFRGS (Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul) first welcomed 100 female high school students to visit its laboratories and conduct experiments.

Read the full article on the Science and Mathematics blog.