University of São Paulo: Event encourages girls to pursue a career in science
A survey presented in December by the British Council in partnership with Unesco showed that Latin America has achieved gender parity in science, with women representing 46% of all researchers in the region. However, they still face inequalities in access to this career, especially considering studies in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics).
To arouse the interest of girls in a scientific career and thus reach a greater number of researchers in the future, the Institute of Advanced Studies Polo Ribeirão Preto at USP, in partnership with the Advanced Water and Effluent Treatment Laboratory (Oxlab) at Unicamp and the USP Cell Therapy Center, promotes, between the 23rd and 28th of January, the fourth edition of Ciência Por Elas.
Registration is free and must be done at this link by parents or guardians. The event is aimed at girls who are attending the 6th to 9th grade of elementary school and 50% of the places will be reserved for black and brown women. They will participate in theoretical and practical activities with researchers from institutions such as USP, Unicamp and Fiocruz, showing the works developed in different areas of knowledge. The complete schedule is available here . It is not mandatory to participate in all activities and a certificate of participation will be sent.
The organization of the event also relies on the scientific dissemination group Ilha do Conhecimento and the Metabolism Control Laboratory of the Faculty of Medicine of Ribeirão Preto at USP. The support is from the Associação de Cultura Brasil Estados Unidos.
female and black science
According to specialists, a greater presence of women in scientific careers is fundamental not only for the search for inclusive and sustainable solutions to modern problems, but mainly because 75% of the jobs of the future will require skills in STEM, technology and innovation. However, there is little incentive for girls to be interested in these areas during childhood, as observed by one of the creators of Ciência Por Elas, Oxlab researcher Taís Suelen Viana.
“I created Ciência Por Elas at the beginning of my master’s degree at USP, in 2018, when I started to question myself why I had never thought, as a child, of being a scientist. The answer was very obvious: I had never been encouraged or felt represented in science. Science has always been male and white, but I want to change that. Through Ciência Por Elas, I want to inspire and encourage girls to be scientists and show that, in addition to being feminine, science can also be black. I am a black woman and a scientist, and I am sure that I will still see many women taking an interest in science through Science for Them”, she says.
For Aline Zanatta Schavinski and Ana Paula de Assis, researchers from the Metabolism Control Laboratory at the Faculty of Medicine of Ribeirão Preto, USP, the event brings the female adolescent public closer to this theme and also transforms the girls into multipliers of the initiative.
“Ciência Por Elas is a great opportunity for girls to see women living and talking about science. Science is always portrayed as something distant from society, and these actions make such an important topic accessible to these girls. The fact that the activities are taught only by female researchers helps the girls to imagine themselves doing science and expanding their possibilities for the future”, says Aline.
“The event’s fundamental role is to show girls that they can and should occupy the space they want. Awakening their curiosity and critical sense is an inspiration so that, in the future, they can stimulate and serve as an example for other young women”, says Ana Paula.
Eduarda Raquel Viana, student of the Nursing course at USP Ribeirão Preto, participated in the first edition and is now part of the organization of the event. She says that the experience she had four years ago transformed her view of science. “It is an accessible project, which provides meaningful experiences to those involved, especially the girls. It uses mechanisms such as representativeness to discuss gender roles and the importance of women occupying all those spaces they wish, including in the scientific environment.”
Inspired by the Girls with Science project, from the National Museum, Science for Elas is a project aimed at students from the 6th to the 9th grade of Elementary School in public and private schools, and aims to stimulate the interest of this public in scientific careers. University professors, researchers and students present the research they develop, carry out practical activities to interact with the girls and explain what the profession is like.
The initiative has been developed since 2018 by the IEA-RP and the USP Cell Therapy Center. In 2023, the organization also has partnerships with the Laboratory for Advanced Water and Effluent Treatment (Oxlab) at Unicamp, Ilha do Conhecimento and the Metabolism Control Laboratory at the Faculty of Medicine of Ribeirão Preto at USP.