Women in science: challenges of working in the field persist, but are faced with bravery

On the International Day of Women and Girls in Science, CENARIUM brings the story of women who work in the field and overcome daily challenges (Personal File/Reproduction)

February 12, 2022

11:02

Bruno Pacheco – Cenarium Magazine

MANAUS – Margaret Hamilton, Nancy Roman, Grace Hopper, Hypatia of Alexandria and Rosalind Franklin are just some of the great women scientists who made history by innovating in the research area and whose names have inspired, for decades, young and future female researchers to enter this segment. Whether in the past or in the present, the challenges of working in the technological or scientific sector still persist, but they are bravely faced by women.

On this International Day of Women and Girls in Science, celebrated annually on February 11 as a way to honor women who have broken barriers and stigmas in science, biotechnologist Aldenora Vasconcelos, 24, a master’s student in Biotechnology at the Federal University of Amazonas (Ufam), tells the CENARIUM MAGAZINE about the hard work as a researcher that, amid the lack of support from the federal government for the development of studies, ends up being rewarding.

“It’s not an easy area [to work in the field], for sure, [it] charges you mentally and physically, because you need hours of mental dedication, researching articles, preparing discussions, understanding biological processes, and at the same time you get physically tired, because you need to spend the day in the lab, doing experiments, washing glassware, and this at the end of the day is quite tiring. And the work doesn’t end in the lab; when you get home you still have to dedicate yourself to your work. The government also does not offer the necessary conditions for the development of research, there is a lack of resources for reagents and equipment,” says the young researcher.

“Even so we resist, it is rewarding to work with what you like, to get the results you expect, to answer questions through a lot of effort and realize that those beautiful results are the fruit of your dedication. And without the science developed by us, the world would be a much worse place”, reinforced Aldenora Vasconcelos.

At 24, Aldenora is a researcher, scientist, and is studying for a master’s degree in Biotechnology (Personal File/Reproduction)

Born in Urucurituba and with much of her youth raised in Itacoatiara, both municipalities in the interior of Amazonas, the researcher of humble origin migrated to Manaus in 2016 with the goal of studying in the dreamed college of Biotechnology in the School of Health Sciences of the Amazonas State University (ESA/UEA). It is through Education that Aldenora seeks to fulfill the dreams she has with her family.

“I didn’t come from a rich family, my mother always fought hard to raise me, so since I can remember I knew that the only way for me to grow in life would be through education, but until now I hadn’t chosen what profession to follow. The desire to pursue a career in biology came up in High School, when I had wonderful classes with my Biology teacher. So I knew I wanted to follow this area, and soon I started researching professions that involved more of the practical side, laboratory research, I wanted to be a scientist,” recalled Aldenora.

“Until I got into biotechnology, it encompassed everything I wanted, and the same year I was going to take the vestibular, a special offer class opened up at UEA, it was my chance”, she revealed.

The researcher started working in the area with scientific initiation projects in college (Personal File/Reproduction)

In college, the young woman began to act as a researcher in scientific initiation projects, still in the second period. “In all, I did two scientific initiation projects, all at Inpa (National Institute for Amazon Research), later it was my TCC project (End of Course Work). Now I work as a microscopy laboratory technologist [at UEA], helping to obtain results from several scientific researches”, she proudly emphasized.

Research and incentive

After a difficult 2021 for the science segment, with laboratories closed or with people taking turns because of the Covid-19 pandemic, the researcher Aldenora Vasconcelos says that the goal for 2022 is to place researches in renowned scientific platforms worldwide. This year, the scientist will defend her master’s thesis at Ufam. “I will defend it this year. In my Master’s I work with enzymatic prospection through mushrooms. After finishing it, I do intend to do a doctorate, because it is fundamental in my area”, she highlighted.

When asked what is needed for more girls and women to be encouraged to enter the world of science, the scientist says it is the government’s support. According to Aldenora, it is necessary to provide more conditions for research, whether with resources, equipment, or grants.

“Entering science is a job like any other, and without scholarship support there is no way. In addition, women need support from society as a whole, because many times women carry the burden of taking care of the family and their dream ends up being put aside. But they are capable of doing whatever they want, I am surrounded by incredible women scientists”, she pondered.

Women in computing

In the 1970s, according to data from the University of São Paulo (USP), about 70% of the students in the Computer Science course at the Institute of Mathematics and Statistics (IME) at USP, in São Paulo, were women; in 2018, this percentage has dropped dramatically to only 15%.

Also according to USP, in five years (2013-2018), only 9% of graduates in the Computer Science course at the ICMC of USP in São Carlos were women; in the Bachelor of Information Systems, there were 10%, and in Computer Engineering, 6%, numbers that are not restricted only to the university and are perceived and seen as challenges already in the labor market, according to Professor Tanara Lauschner, PhD in Computer Science and professor at the Computer Institute (Icomp) of the Federal University of Amazonas (Ufam).

Professor Tanara Lauschner has a PhD in Computer Science (Personal File/Reproduction)

“The main challenge I think is being a woman in computing – which in fact is not just a challenge in my area, but a challenge in areas where most people are male. You always have to be able to put yourself out there, keep yourself up to date, because you will constantly be put in doubt by the single fact that women inspire less confidence in these areas,” stressed Professor Tanara Lauschner.

Teacher Tanara Lauschner moved to the North when she was 6 years old. Today, she is a doctor in Computer Science. (Personal File/Reproduction)

Born in São José do Cedro, in the state of Santa Catarina, Tanara Lauschner moved to the North of Brazil when she was 6 years old and spent her childhood in the city of Maués, in the interior of Amazonas. She tells CENARIUM MAGAZINE that, despite not having had much contact with science and technology as a child, she always liked numbers and this inspired her to seek knowledge in computational processes.

“I didn’t have much contact [with the technological/scientific area in my childhood]. I lived in the countryside, I had almost no access to technology. At home we had an 18-inch black-and-white TV, which young people probably don’t even know what it is, and we had a TV signal only a few hours a day. My inspiration I think was really my taste for numbers, for mathematics, which are computational processes. Remembering that computing came much earlier than computers,” he pointed out.

“I have always been a person who liked to study – and I have always found mathematics very easy. I always studied in a public school, in the countryside of Amazonas, in Maués, and my parents couldn’t afford to keep me in a private school in Manaus. So I came here to study at ETFAM [Federal Technical School of Amazonas], now Ifam [Federal Institute of Amazonas], where I ended up choosing the electronics course, then electrical engineering, when I started working more with programming. Then came the opportunity to do a master’s in computing, in an inter-institutional program between Ufam and UFMG. It was a lot of my mathematical ability added to the opportunities I had”, said Tanara Lauschner.

Incentive to children

Besides being a teacher, Tanara Lauschner is one of the founders of the project “Garotas Espertas”, which aims to encourage the participation of children and teenagers in science and technology. To CENARIUM MAGAZINE, the educator says that, in order to encourage the young female audience to enter this universe of wisdom, it is necessary to have more specific actions for them and show that they can all enter the area of technology and science.

Teacher Tanara Lauschner is one of the founders of the Smart Girls project (Personal File/Reproduction)

“We need to show examples of women who have similar stories where girls can recognize themselves. Companies need to define policies for hiring women with well-established goals for their executives; these goals must be seen as other deliverables that the executives need to achieve. Companies and institutions need to define policies for the work space to be welcoming to women. These two initiatives make sure that we have more women in IT and that they will stay in the area, thus setting an example for girls, closing the cycle. You can’t look only at the inclusion of girls without looking at the whole process, the whole chain,” he exemplified.

Path to transformation

For the little model, actress, and digital influencer Lara Farias, only 8 years old, who loves science and technology, the scientific world is the path to transformation. Lara was one of 12 girls who participated in the Smart Girls project, experiencing the mathematician, philosopher, and astronomer Hypatia of Alexandria (351/370 BC).

“Science has a great importance for all humanity, through science we can discover cures and make great discoveries. Education is the path to transformation”, commented Lara Farias.

Lara Farias is mirrored in Hypatia of Alexandria, considered the first woman mathematician in history (Personal File/Reproduction)

To CENARIUM MAGAZINE, the young actress says she feels proud to see a woman being remembered as one of the great names in world science. “It means pride! It is important that they are remembered to show the strength of women that we can be whatever we want!” she said.

At 8 years old, Lara Farias talks about the importance of having women in world science (Personal File/Reproduction)

In addition, reinforces the mother Keize Farias, seeing her daughter already interested in science and technology, participating in projects about the area with only 8 years old, represents a pride and is of great importance for the self-knowledge of Lara.

“As a mother I feel happy and proud! It is important for self-knowledge and to encourage other children to pursue their dreams and learn more about science,” she concluded.