Parent in Science wins Inspiring Women in Science award.

An initiative to discuss and support motherhood in STEM professions won the Nature Award for Inspiring Women in Science, granted by the British publisher Nature, in the Science Outreach category. Created five years ago, the “Parent in Science” group seeks to encourage actions to guarantee the rights of mothers working in STEM fields (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics). In total, 19 scientists from research centers across Brazil are part of the movement's core group, including mathematician Adriana Neumann, who was a doctoral student at IMPA.

“When I started researching the situations that make women's lives in academia more complicated, I began to realize the number of other structural obstacles that end up excluding certain groups of people. It doesn't make sense to select only one type of human being to do science; there are several studies that show that a more diverse group produces higher quality work. Speaking about motherhood, it's unacceptable to think that we don't live in a sexist society, where there's a ridiculously short paternity leave of 5 or 20 days, and to treat mothers in evaluation processes the same way as other candidates. Of course, we have to fight against the sexism in our society, but while that doesn't happen, are we going to continue excluding mothers?” reflects the researcher.

Despite representing almost half of Brazil's workforce, women occupy only 26% of positions in STEM fields, while men account for 74% of that total. The data comes from a survey conducted by Brazilian researchers at the request of the International Development Research Centre (IDRC).

While some female scientists choose to postpone pregnancy or even not have children, motherhood becomes an even greater challenge for women who seek to reconcile childcare with work in STEM fields. Data from "Parent in Science" indicates that about 80% of female scientists believe that the birth of their children had a negative or very negative impact on their scientific career.

The project was conceived precisely to stimulate discussion about motherhood within the scientific community in Brazil, as well as to encourage the implementation of policies that enable mothers to work in science and combat gender inequality. “An award like this lends credibility to the work done by Parent in Science and generates visibility that will allow us to broaden the debate about motherhood. And, in this way, draw attention to some urgent issues, such as the impacts of the pandemic on the academic lives of certain groups,” argues mathematician Adriana Neumann.

In addition to seminars and lectures on motherhood and career, the initiative gathered unprecedented data on the impact of motherhood on the work of female researchers. This year, a campaign by “Parent in Science” resulted in the inclusion of the field “maternity leave” on the CNPq's Lattes platform, in order to avoid gaps in the curriculum that can harm evaluations for grant applications and scholarship programs. The group also launched a crowdfunding campaign that raised over R$ 120,000 to provide financial support to mothers in the final months of their postgraduate studies, in order to prevent them from dropping out.

The “Parent in Science” movement received a prize of R$ 40,000, in addition to an invitation to give presentations and mentorships at the cosmetics company Estée Lauder, which organizes the award in partnership with Nature magazine. This was the first time a Brazilian initiative won one of the categories of the Inspiring Women in Science award, which aims to recognize the achievements of women and initiatives that encourage female participation in science.