Different barriers prevent girls from approaching science, from stereotypes, prejudices and rosy advertisements, forcing them to search for strategies to reduce the gender gap in a scenario in which less than 30% of researchers in the world are women and in Mexico only 3 out of 10 professionals .
Christina Urubza, academic researcher in the Department of Physics and Mathematics at the University of Ibero-American in the framework of the International Day of Women and Girls in Science celebrated on February 11th, highlights the importance of caring for the “spark”, interest in science, which lives naturally in childhood.
The particle physicist acknowledged that in recent years there has been more involvement of women, but much remains to be done, hence the importance of demonstrating successful examples of minors to increase their science and technology activities.
It also recommended that girls and women who wish to dedicate themselves to science should ignore gender-biased comments and demonstrate with work that they have the potential to excel in areas such as physics and mathematics.
The United Nations (UN) states that less than 30% of researchers worldwide are women and according to UNESCO data (between 2014 and 2016), only about 30% of all students choose postgraduate studies in the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
Globally, female student enrollment is particularly low in the ICT field, at 3%; Natural Sciences, Mathematics and Statistics 5% and Engineering, Manufacturing and Construction 8%.
The prospects in Mexico are no better, according to OECD data, only three out of 10 are engineering or technology professionals, and of every 20 Mexican girls, less than one is considering studying or pursuing a career related to science and technology, compared to children. Four out of 20 are considering studying these professions.
In other regions of America, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development reports that the percentages of female college students enrolled in the natural sciences, mathematics, and statistics range from 53 to 59% in Brazil and less than 47% in Argentina and Chile.
The enrollment rate of female students in engineering, manufacturing and construction programs at higher education in Brazil has exceeded 35%; In Honduras and Colombia the percentage ranges between 29 and 35%.