Women show and demonstrate their importance in science
On Friday 8 in February, on the occasion of the "International Day of the Girl and Women in Science" that the United Nations held each 11 in February, the University of Azuay - along with the other three universities in the city - exhibited research by students, graduates, researchers and professors.
The event, which took place in the building of the former Provincial Court of Justice, was coordinated by the Ecuadorian Network of Women Scientists (REMCI) and the CEDIA research network.
Caroline Ávila, professor and researcher at the UDA, opened the meeting by recalling that "two years ago a group of women met, they agreed and today they are more than 100 researchers grouped in the Ecuadorian Network of Women Scientists".
Then, the Coordinator of the network, Claudia Segovia, began her speech with one piece of information: in Ecuador there is an 45% of women scientists.
"The number seems positive, but when you go deeper, it shows that there are fewer scientific articles published by women, less research funds for them, fewer management positions, less promotion and, sometimes, lower salaries," he added.
Finally, Carla Hermida, professor and researcher of the UDA, spoke as coordinator of the meeting:
"It is the first time in Cuenca that an event of this type is held, organized by women, also told in a language understandable to all. Our exhibitors have taken the time to plan and reflect on how to tell their research initiatives to the public. "
Next, the attendees to the event -including the Rector of the UDA, Francisco Salgado, and the Academic Vice-Rector, Martha Cobos- visited the 24 posts where these projects were exhibited.
There was, for example, Julia Martinez -investigator of the IERSE (Institute of Studies of Sectional Regime of Ecuador) - with the noise map of the city of Cuenca, prepared by this department of the UDA and the Commission of Environmental Management of the GAD from Cuenca.
"We carried out noise monitoring at 31 points in the city from 2009; we must evaluate noise emissions because it is a pollutant that affects physical health, but also mental health, "said Martínez.
In another position was Andrea Ávila, recently graduated from the School of Communication of the UDA, presenting her degree work on youtubers:
"The most watched videos are those that receive money from Youtube, but they are not always the ones with constructive messages, but many of the income of youtubers come from brands, which do not support sensationalist content."
Finally, we talked with two graduates of the UDA School of Biology, Marcela Sánchez and Katherine Nieves, who exhibited the activities of the native plant laboratory of the Faculty of Science and Technology.
"Sometimes women are underestimated, we are told that we do not have the capacity to resist adverse conditions in field work -such as the cold or the hours of walking-, but this is not true," Marcela said.
"I'm a mom and the responsibility of motherhood is great, but you can do science as a mom," Katherine added.
"I think our daughters will have another look on how to do science, different from ours and even more different from what their grandmothers had", concluded Carla Hermida.
