According to United Nations data, one in three researchers in the world are women. Parity has been achieved in many countries in the life and health sciences, as well as in the social sciences. However, women are still a minority in the fields of computing, digital information technology, physics, mathematics, and engineering; For example, in the field of artificial intelligence, only one in five professionals (22%) are women. These are the fields that are driving the digital revolution and imagining future worlds, where, without the contribution of the minds of female scientists, a great deal of social discrimination will continue to be produced that does not affect men because they are on the side. Privilege of patriarchy.
If we want more social justice, we need women in science, in all sciences. Another worrying fact, in this case from Spain, is that three out of four professors are men, again mainly in fields where women are less represented.
From UNATE and the PEM Foundation, on 11 February, the International Day of Women and Girls in Science, we not only demand that girls, adolescents and young people's access to scientific careers, especially physical and technological ones, should be strengthened, but we also want to. To focus in an intersectional way on female scientists with career diversity, because they had more barriers to overcome.
In the Spanish Parliament, it has just been approved by a large majority to replace the term “disabled” in Article 49 of the Constitution with the term “person with disability.” Oddly enough, the word that was replaced was formulated in the masculine form, something that went unnoticed in the media. It has been written and said ad nauseam that words shape reality, which is why this change was a historical religion. But debts at all levels, because those “diminutive” ones did not even exist in the Spanish Constitution. This masculine centrality, which calls for mentioning everything that concerns us as a human race, regardless of our gender, did not leave the scientific field, as the sciences were built in the image and likeness of this model. This is why the debt owed to female scientists is great, not only because they are women, but also to other veils that make them invisible, such as their age, skin color, race, or whatever we want it to be. Highlight this year. Its functional diversity.
The debt owed to female scientists is enormous, not only because they are women, but also because of other veils that make them invisible, such as their age, skin color, or race, or as the case may be that we want to highlight. This year, its variety is functional
We take advantage of this international day to bring into the collective memory career-diverse scientists who have been pioneers in male technological fields to appreciate their careers and serve as references for other women and for society at large. Scholars from different generations who, over time, weave a web of inclusion and empowerment. This is the case of the following scholars:
Kimiko Osada Bowman (1927-2019) was born in Japan, immigrated to the United States in 1951, and became a US citizen in 1958. She contracted polio when she was young and was paralyzed from the neck down, although she learned to walk again after many years of physical therapy. Upon arriving in the United States, he began studying home economics at university Radford College (Virginia), although he ended up graduating in mathematics and chemistry five years after arriving in the United States. Shortly afterwards he won a scholarship in mathematical statistics at the University Virginia Tech University In just three years, he obtained a master's degree and a doctorate in statistics from this famous academic institution (1963). He collaborated for 45 years with Leonard Shenton, his thesis director, with whom he published developments of great statistical interest, e.g Moments method To estimate population parameters. As a senior researcher in Oak Ridge National LaboratoryHe continued his work on estimators for non-normal data. She has been the author and co-author of more than 200 scientific articles and multiple books. In 1970, she was elected as a member of American Association for the Advancement of ScienceIn 1976 AD American Statistical Associationin 1978 International Statistical Institute And in 1987 Institute of Mathematical Statistics. He was part of the Equal Opportunity in Science and Engineering Advisory Committee of the National Science Foundation (NSF) and chaired the Committee for Persons with Disabilities at this institution. He also chaired the working group on statistical monitoring of the employment of persons with disabilities in Presidential Committee on Employment of Persons with Disabilities. After 50 years of working as a researcher, she retired in 1994. In addition to all these academic merits, she will always be remembered for how she was able to improve the working conditions of people with functional diversity thanks to her work in the field of statistics.
Lisa I. LizoniShe was born in 1954 in the United States. She is a professor at Harvard Medical School, who obtained her degree in 1984, and is the Director of the Harvard Medical Institute. Morgan Institute for Health Policy at Massachusetts General Hospital. Before completing medical school, she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, which led her to choose medical research rather than practice medicine, due to the difficulties her disability posed to practicing medicine at that time. She is currently an international reference for her research on how to improve medical care for people with functional diversity, focusing on the discrimination these people experience in their access to health care and treatment. He has received important certificates of appreciation and awards, including: American College of Medical Quality Award for him Outstanding contributions in this field.
Wanda Diaz Merced, Born in 1984 in Puerto Rico, she is an astronomer known for using sonification, that is, converting digital data sets into audible sounds, allowing us to “listen” to the sound transmitted by the stars. He turned to this complex technology after losing his sight while still an undergraduate at the University of Puerto Rico. He received his PhD in 2013 from the University of Glasgow and has held several postdoctoral fellowships at the University of Glasgow. Astronomy Observatory In Cape Town (South Africa). Since 2014 he has managed the AstroSense project in Office of the Astronomical Observatory for Development In South Africa. Before working in National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (Nawg). In 2016, she gave a TED Talk in Vancouver, Canada entitled “How a Blind Astronomer Found a Way to Listen to the Stars.” It is a member of the International Astronomical Union. In 2017, she received an award Star wiki (The award honors humanization work in work environments in the mobility and automotive services sector, in addition to distinguished figures such as this astrologer). In 2020 before the simultaneous cooperation with Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics From Harvard University and Proposal for the European Gravitational Observatory REINFORCE, while also collaborating with Gerhard Sonnert to create a music album based on his vocal performances. The album composed by Volkmar Studtracker “X-Ray Hydra” includes nine pieces of music drawn from the observatory. Chandra x-ray From NASA voice acting.
Jordyn CastorBorn in 1994 in the United States. At just five months pregnant and weighing just over half a kilo, treatments are performed in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit in Grand rapids, Michigan, to save his life, they caused a detached retina. This left her completely blind. Despite this, Jordyn Castor found a way to overcome barriers in technology. One of the very important programs in her academic career that made a difference in this scientist’s success is: Resource Center for People with Disabilities (RCPD); A program aimed at promoting comprehensive education in Michigan State University (MSU) where he studied computer science. After completing these studies with the support of the student organization Women in ComputingHe received financial support to participate in it Grace Hopper's celebration of women in computingThe most important meeting of technology specialists in the world. The event landed her a highly competitive internship at a major Wall Street investment bank and security management company, which noticed Castor's high qualifications as a computer programmer and her strong determination to make software accessible to people with visual impairments. At the age of 22, he began working at Apple to develop features that would help visually impaired people use the company's products without barriers; In fact, it managed to turn the iPhone into an accessible phone. In addition, she is also a programmer and uses Braille, which allows her to check the code she writes. One of the projects he worked very hard on is an app Swift pitches, a program to introduce girls and boys to the world of programming, with a special focus on making this application accessible to children with visual impairments, as she herself had wanted an accessible tool like this to teach her how to program when she was young. This work focusing on technological accessibility has also been published in other entities e.g National Federation of the Blind In the United States to encourage young people with visual impairment to consider careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields.
“Creator. Devoted pop culture specialist. Certified web fanatic. Unapologetic coffee lover.”