Women’s participation in science also means turning scientific results into products, a necessary step toward transforming the country into a knowledge-based economy and society.
February 11 marks the International Day of Women and Girls in Science, proclaimed in 2015 by the UN General Assembly to achieve full and equal access to and participation in science for women and girls.
According to UN data, women make up one in three (33%) researchers worldwide. They remain a minority in digital information technology, computer science, physics, mathematics and engineering, the fields driving the current digital revolution.
The persistent gender gap in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) is the result of numerous barriers that women face from an early age. A 2016 study in Chile by Universidad Católica found that school math teachers tend to ask boys more complex questions than girls. Complex questions were put to girls 139 times, compared with 238 times for boys. As for classroom participation, boys spoke up 353 times and girls 136. This behavior influences girls’ self-perception of their math ability and the likelihood that they will consider a career in that field in the future.
Breaking stereotypes and removing barriers to participation in science also means women turning scientific results into innovation: becoming innovators in science and technology and building so-called science-based startups (EBCTs). However, gaps remain. According to the 2021 Second Characterization Study of Science- and Technology-Based Ventures in Chile by the Ministry of Science, Technology, Knowledge and Innovation, seven out of 10 EBCT teams are led by men and 11% are led by women (3 out of 10).
Women in science and technology entrepreneurship
Jovanka Trebotich, innovation coordinator at Know Hub Chile, a nonprofit that brings together the various players in the national innovation ecosystem to turn research results into products or services, that is, into innovation, notes that there are still major obstacles to women’s science and technology entrepreneurship.
These obstacles exist at different levels. Trebotich gives the example that the number of hours women can devote to new projects is much lower than for men, because women have to take on more household and/or childcare tasks than men.
“Many women feel or have the (mistaken) perception that they lack the skills to be businesswomen or to run a startup. At another level, many venture firms or venture capitalists don’t have as much confidence in women-led companies because they consider them risky, and they prefer to invest in startups led by men,” she says.
What is it like to become an entrepreneur from science? “Very difficult,” admits Carolina Torres, an agronomist currently on the faculty of Washington State University in the U.S., who, as a researcher at Universidad de Talca, developed a highly effective formula to prevent superficial scald, a common physiological disorder in export apples and pears that causes irregular brown patches on the skin only. This Chilean-born technology contains plant-derived squalene, already holds several patents and has been tested and evaluated in relevant environments, such as in the U.S., with positive results.
“In academia it’s not easy to devote yourself intensively, as is usually necessary, to getting research results with commercial merit to market,” adds Torres, describing a process that demands time alongside an academic career, home and children, and also requires business know-how for the innovation to succeed.
As data from the INE (National Statistics Institute) show, working women spend on average 2.5 more hours on care or household work than employed men. In addition, while 50.4% of employed women say they think quite a lot or a great deal about household and/or family tasks while working, the figure for men is only 33.0%, according to the 2021 Social Welfare Survey by the Ministry of Social Development and Family.
It is this multiplicity of demands, to which academia and entrepreneurship are added for women scientists and innovators, that stands in their way. “In the end, you’re expected (often self-imposed, given the cultural context) to do everything well and as expected in the patriarchal society we live in. Solving this is going to take generations,” says Torres.
“Dedicating myself to science and technology entrepreneurship has mostly been positive. I believe this field offers enormous potential to solve real-world problems and improve people’s quality of life,” says Silvana Herrera, a designer who created a technology (MOV) that improves the autonomy of people with visual impairments: a sensory band worn behind the ear that uses vibrations to warn of the proximity and location of objects, allowing users to stop using a cane and keep their hands free.
However, Herrera acknowledges that barriers remain. Which ones? “Gender stereotypes, because the idea still persists that women are less suited to STEAM careers, and the lack of female role models: there are few women in leadership positions in the science and technology sector, which makes it hard for girls and young women to see themselves in these roles.”
Greater participation
Increasing women’s participation in science and technology entrepreneurship brings multiple benefits, Trebotich says, such as generating diverse perspectives: “women think differently from men (men are more concrete and women more strategic), and we build unity in work teams.”
Women who are part of EBCTs want to do it “because they are capable and champions in their field,” says Torres, who highlights the distinctive stamp they bring, compared with men, to carrying out their projects and leading, something “important in today’s and tomorrow’s society.”
At the same time, ideas generated by women have a unique point of view shaped by their experiences. “For example, the feminine hygiene industry has been changing as it has brought in women researchers, because men don’t understand as well as we do what happens during menstruation.”
Increasing women’s participation in STEM is key to gender equality, Herrera adds: “women’s participation in this sector is essential to break stereotypes and build a fairer, more equal society.”
Read the original article at https://www.entnerd.com/el-dificil-camino-de-las-mujeres-que-transforman-la-ciencia-en-innovacion-en-chile/
