Fascination with science

***The conversation for students was conducted with the participation of academics from FES Acatlán, the School of Architecture and the Iberoamerican University Puebla

Valley of Mexico, February 9, 2024.- Within the framework of activities 11F International Day of Women, Youth and Girls in ScienceThe Acatlan Graduate School organized the discussion Inspiring future female scientists: breaking stereotypesWith the participation of teacher Teresa Carrillo Ramirez, campus teacher, teacher Laura Mariana Osorio Plasencia, from the School of Architecture at the National Autonomous University of Mexico, and Dr. Pelinka González Fernández, from the Iberoamerican University of Puebla.

It was up to teacher Nora Gores Mainz, Chair of the Internal Committee for Gender Equality at the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung Acatlán, to welcome the participants, highlighting that the event at 11F “on this international day, aims to highlight the work of women dedicated to the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

The Academic Secretary General of Acatlán also stressed that “in addition to highlighting the women who work in these fields, it is about the opportunity to achieve a collective balance, among all of us to find out what we women lack as participants to achieve gender equality.” Equality, not just in some areas of education where we are already very present, such as the humanities and social sciences, but also in mathematics, science and engineering.

In transmission Facebook LiveTeacher Leticia García Solano, a professor of pedagogy at the campus, moderated the interventions and read to the participants questions prepared by students and teachers from high schools and high schools linked to the conversation.

Through alternating interventions, the scholars shared knowledge, experiences and anecdotes from their time as students, the way they encountered teachers and even their classmates' girlfriends. Moving from students to teachers, collaborating and supporting with students, and now as teachers.

Gonzalez Fernández, who holds master's and doctoral degrees at UNAM and UAM in topics related to quantum relativity, said that before starting to study physics, he listened to economics with the aim of guiding his preferences. While for Carrillo Ramírez, who has spent more than 25 years teaching at Acatlán, his fascination with mathematics made it easy for him to choose a degree in Applied Mathematics and Computing (MAC). For his part, Osorio Plasencia noted that when he entered architecture at Ciudad University, there was a balance in enrollment between male and female students.

Mythology

Among a series of questions, Garcia Solano asked: Can students with excellent grades devote themselves to science? From the room she occupies in Acatlán, wearing a turquoise blue blouse, Carrillo Ramírez explained, “Gender does not determine your abilities. If you are a scientist, doctor, architect or teacher, they are stereotypes set by society. The differences are more related to social contexts than gender.” Only 10-year-olds do science? Obviously not, there are many troubled children. Sometimes, in the tradition of our school, a good student should be attentive to what the teacher says; troubled little people have different intelligence in other things, he explained.

Regarding the inspiration for the study, Osorio Plasencia, a specialist in the field of theory and history of architecture, said: “We do not have to distinguish ourselves with a qualification, each person has his own abilities. When I studied in high school, equations caught my attention, because I found them interesting and useful as well. The teacher, who was wearing a red jacket and white blouse, narrated that equality between males and females in classrooms is usually lost in buildings, where men constitute the majority, although women increasingly occupy more spaces. In her presentation, she highlighted to the students the importance of eliminating fear when deciding to study as scientists.

González Fernández admitted that ever since she was young, “I was a 10-year-old student, obsessed with learning and enjoyed learning. As a teacher, I loved teaching and publishing; as a teacher, I found students who were averse to mathematics.” She is a full-time academic in the Department of Science and Engineering at the Iberoamerican University, and she did not hesitate Pointing out that “it is not true that knowledge has been produced by geniuses, it is a myth that exists around science, especially in the exact sciences.” “Studying science is a bittersweet path,” the Puebla-based scientist, with her glasses and large earrings around her neck, told the audience, “You need curiosity, scientific thinking, perseverance and accepting your mistakes; Good times and bad, because from setbacks comes satisfaction.” The researcher, who organizes workshops to spread the gender perspective, said that thanks to her studies, she got to know cities in America, Asia and Europe.