UCM will set up observatory to close gender gaps in science and technology

The center will be funded by ANID and will aim to characterize the reality of women in the areas of research and innovation, both inside and outside the Universidad Católica del Maule.

Despite the progress made in recent decades to close gaps, women continue to face obstacles in accessing greater equality quotas.

According to the most recent version of the Gender Radiography in Science, Technology, Knowledge and Innovation, carried out by the Ministry of Science, Technology, Knowledge and Innovation, one out of every three people doing research in Chile is a woman.

“This is a gap that starts early. Already in 2020 it was detected that only 28% of the students enrolled in careers related to Science and Engineering were women, who in turn represented only 38% of the publications in journals indexed in WoS between 2008 and 2021”, said Mary Carmen Jarur, an academic at the Universidad Católica del Maule, who was awarded a project by the Research and Development Agency, ANID, to install a gender observatory at the campus.

“We are very happy with this tremendous challenge, which will allow us to design and implement a gender observatory in the fields of science and technology, to collect data not only internally, but also at regional and national level. The idea is to provide elements for decision making and improve the participation of women in science, innovation and technology”, added the doctor in Systems Engineering.

Along with UCM, four other institutions received funding through the “Instrument for Innovation in Higher Education” call, InES, whose purpose is to promote the development of capacities that reduce gender gaps in R&D+i+e. The observatory will be called ADA.

“This initiative will bring together the strategies underway at the university, favoring strengthening from the inside out, to then position the observatory as a dynamic agent in the ecosystem, proposing and monitoring actions aimed at reducing gaps in the different stages of research and the transfer of knowledge and innovation,” said Ranjeeva Ranjan, director of research at the campus.

Female models of success

For her part, the director of Gender Equity and Diversity at UCM, María Paula Poblete, highlighted the importance of disseminating successful female role models, in line with the commitments of the new policy in this area, which seeks to mainstream the gender perspective in the education sector and promote a safe environment free of sexual harassment, discrimination and gender-based violence.

“It is a crucial step (…) in particular for commitment seven that promotes research and innovation with a gender perspective. The ADA observatory will play a key role in addressing gender gaps in the scientific field, making visible the contributions made by women who do science to the development of the country, and promoting the necessary equal opportunities in this field,” said Poblete, whose unit will collaborate in the implementation of the project that will last for three years.

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