University of São Paulo: Astrominas Program Empowers Women in the Exact Sciences
The Astrominas 2024 event is a free, interdisciplinary program that aims to deconstruct the idea that exact sciences are not for girls. The project was created by women scientists from the Institute of Astronomy, Geophysics and Atmospheric Sciences (IAG) at USP and registrations to participate in the event are open until June 16th. Professor Elysandra Cypriano, from the Institute of Astronomy, Geophysics and Atmospheric Sciences (IAG) at USP, and Isabelle Gios Martimiano, a student who participates in the project as an organizer, present the initiative.
The teacher says that the initiative was a demand from the students. “We have always participated in diving in science, which is an event at the Oceanographic Institute. So the girls who accompanied me on the project felt the need to create a program that was about astronomy, the students themselves were interested. So we decided to create something complementary to what IO does.”
She says that the idea was embraced in an unexpected way, reaching many girls around Brazil. “We aim to serve older girls. The IO has the elementary school age group 2 and we have the 9th year and high school. The idea was for it to be in person, but we had to do the first edition online due to the pandemic. In this first edition, we had 15 thousand registrants from various regions of Brazil and we saw the need to continue online”, she explains.
The impact on female students
Isabelle, an Astronomy undergraduate student, is in charge of organizing the event. She tells how she found herself in the field of scientific research in astronomical studies. “I was always a very curious child with a very sharp critical sense. So I always wanted to understand why things happen. When I was around 10 years old, I had a science class that talked a little about astronomy, and I’m currently in my third year at the Faculty of Bachelor’s Degree in Astronomy. Then I became interested in it and decided that it was what I wanted to pursue. And since then I haven’t changed my opinion. The third year arrived and I took the entrance exam for astronomy. And here I am as an undergraduate, interested in pursuing a scientific career, because I understand that it is very important for us to share our knowledge”, says the student.
Professor Elysandra states that the project is not just for girls who want to be scientists, but for everyone who wants to participate and understand more about the subject. “Knowing science goes beyond wanting to attract new scientists; awakening girls to a scientific career is important, but it is a secondary effect. We are showing a possibility of the various areas of knowledge in the scientific area. The girls will learn about geophysics and meteorology, what oceanography is, and will be able to choose more clearly what they want. Astrominas is for all girls, because knowing science and understanding the scientific process is important for exercising citizenship, even if the girl does not become a scientist. We welcome not only girls who like exact science, but also girls who simply need to know a little more about science”, says the teacher.
Isabelle talks about project registrations: “Who can participate in this project? These are people who identify as female, cis or trans, aged 14 to 17, who need to be full age by 7/10/2024 to register. Applicants must be regularly enrolled in basic education schools. For undergraduate students in exact sciences who want to help us and welcome the girls, we are accepting applications for volunteers, the so-called fairy godmothers”, explains the event organizer.