•  rio de janeiro
• Monday, March 07, 2011
• Inter Press Service

There are nearly as many female as male scientists in Brazil. But in academia or in private laboratories, women face subtle barriers to career advancement and equal salaries.

According to the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPQ), women represent 49 percent of the country's scientific researchers, up from 39 percent in 1993. But among laboratory heads, the proportion is 45 percent, and even lower in higher-level positions.

'Overall, the number of women in science is growing steadily in Brazil,' Jacqueline Leta, an expert on gender in science at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), told IPS. Citing data from the 2008 census, the study reports that there were 60,291 men and 57,662 women in laboratories in this country of 194 million people.

But the situation varies by area, said Leta, who is part of the education and management of sciences programme at the UFRJ's Institute of Medical Biochemistry. In the areas of health and biology, for example, the proportion of women is especially high, and there are renowned experts like geneticist Mayana Zatz, head of the University of São Paulo (USP) Human Genome Research Centre.

And in the field of genetics, women are a majority, according to the CNPQ, with 1,049 women researchers against 976 men. But in engineering research, there are just 4,151 women, compared to 15,203 men.

'No one chooses a career 10 days before the university entrance exam,' said Leta. She attributed the decision to 'years of cultural influence, from a student's father and mother, from the clubs they belong to, from what they see on the Internet and in the news,' where the white robe and microscope are generally associated with men.

'There is a complex and diverse range of influences that begin with long-ago memories of little girls playing with dolls or toy sewing kits and boys playing with toy cars, videogames or science kits,' she said.

Physicist Belita Koiller said that what is needed is a cultural change, brought about partly by the media showing more women scientists and encouraging girls to take an interest in laboratories.

'Many girls who come here on school field trips are fascinated but also surprised at seeing women in the laboratories,' she told IPS. Sexist stereotypes must be broken down at home, as well as in school, the experts say.

Jorge Werthein, vice president of the São Paulo-based Sangari Brazil, a company that promotes the sciences through innovative teaching methods and materials starting in primary school, told IPS that myths such as 'women don't have a head for science' are refuted by the statistics.

Werthein, who is also a leader of the Sangari International Institute, a non-profit organisation that promotes scientific literacy for all citizens through free educational exhibits, stressed that the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 'has shown very little difference in the performance of girls and boys in the sciences.' He said the best policy of inclusion 'is the universalisation of quality basic teaching, for any professional in any field, but especially in the area of sciences.

© Inter Press Service (2011) — All Rights Reserved. Original source: Inter Press Service

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