587 students from 11 educational centers in the municipalities of Blanes, Lloret de Mar, Palafolls, Malgrat de Mar, Tordera, Palafrugell, and Barcelona have participated in the talks we offered on February 11th, the International Day of Women and Girls in Science.
Specifically, twelve researchers from CEAB-CSIC have been in the classrooms of 3rd and 4th of ESO and 1st of Bachillerato to question gender stereotypes, talk about the scientific work they do daily, how they became interested in their respective fields, guided their studies and career, and how women and men are equally capable of contributing to scientific and technological excellence. They have also reflected on other inequalities such as social ones, which interact with gender inequalities.
The scientists have encouraged students to seek references in the fields that interest them, to find ways to study and work on something they like and feel they make positive contributions to, to rebel against injustice, and to break down walls, including those self-imposed:
“The world will already put up barriers; don’t put them up yourselves“, one of the researchers told them.
The talks have been held between these days 7th and 14th of February. They have been conducted by researchers from CEAB-CSIC from various disciplines such as marine biology, limnology, theoretical ecology, or mathematics.
Social media campaign: “the violet month”
In addition to the activities in the institutes, we also carried out a campaign on social networks to raise awareness about the need to promote an equal scientific and technological environment.
Together with the Center’s Equality Commission, we have chosen key concepts to understand the situation of women in science. We share them weekly on our Instagram from now until March 8th, throughout an entire month dedicated to women and science.
The ultimate goal of the activities is to make visible the work of women dedicated to STEM areas (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics), the difficulties they encounter, and the need to completely eliminate these barriers.
Actions like this also serve to provide references to girls and young people so that they are convinced that science is for them.
