The Abya Yala publishing house presented the calendar titled “Mujeres Ecuatorianas en la Ciencia” (Ecuadorian women in Science) with the support of the Ecuadorian Network of Female Scientists (REMCI for its acronym in Spanish), “Microbio Digital” journal and the Educational Practices Research Group at UPS. 

There was also a panel of experts: Claudia Segovia, Elizabeth Minda, and Elizabeth Evas. The UN declared February 11 as the International Day of Women and Girls in Science, given that less than 30% of researchers are women and according to UNESCO the percentage is even lower in developing countries.

Maria Sol Villagomez, vice president of our branch campus in Quito, welcomed people to the event. “We are happy to be here with our students, representatives, professors and researchers today. May this be an opportunity to acknowledge the work of women in science”, she stated. 

Segovia, professor at Universidad de las Fuerzas Armadas ESPE, stated that “according to statistical data, the percentage of women scientists in the country is low. For every 1000 inhabitants, less than 0.3% are researchers and from that number, the percentage of women is very low. For every 10 professors with a PhD degree, only three are women. This is due to the lack of visibility of women in science due to many factors, such as discrimination of the lack of resources.  

Evas pointed out that in her final degree project she showed that there are gender stereotypes that start from the teachers themselves. “I found that logical mathematical learning is prioritized in men, while women are limited to manual situations, this creates a wrong way of understanding reality. In my degree work I propose to eliminate these elements that generate inequality, it is the boys and girls who must decide which way to go”, she said.

Minda said that "an additional problem is ethnic discrimination, a situation that persists in all fields of life and research is not far behind, I agree that the importance of this type of event to encourage participation without discrimination."

The "Ecuadorian Women in Science" calendar was presented, which highlights the work of 12 scientists who have contributed to the development of the country. Each month highlights an important date related to women's work. The calendar is housed in the Microbio Digital journal and is free to download.