Are you one of those who believe that there are professions for men and professions for women? If so, know that this is a result of habits you learned in your environment, or a certain cultural bias. You only have to open your eyes widely and visit other places to see that the professions carried out in a particular place are done mostly by men, and in other places are done more by women, or vice versa. Men and women, and women and men, are generally trained to do the same jobs. There is a difference between people, whether they are women or men, it cannot be said that they are more talented in any activity. This is up to each individual.
However, there are specialties in which the number of women is still lower. Or in those that exist, but without their counterparts progressing to certain levels. I have not been able to confirm this clearly in my work experience so far, and in fact in general I have always had more female managers at the highest level than male bosses, but a look at the statistics shows us that overall in general, they have a much clearer “glass ceiling”, This does not mean that men also suffer from it sometimes.
Science does not escape this division by gender, and there are still fewer of them today in managerial and leadership positions in such a professional field. This is evident from the existing numbers, so much so that the international community, with the help of the United Nations, wanted to intervene in this matter by creating the “International Day of Women and Girls in Science”, in recognition of the key role that women play in the scientific and technological community. This was stated in a resolution of the United Nations General Assembly on December 22, 2015, and since then, this day has been celebrated on February 11 every year. I had to broach the topic with you and today I do. It is important to draw attention to any dynamic that tends to leave anyone behind in scientific progress, not only because of the discriminatory fact per se, but because the disenfranchisement of women in this sense means that fifty percent of our society is not counted. . Therefore, it is essential to support female scientists and enhance women and girls' access to education, training and research in fields such as science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
Specifically, and focusing on the areas driving the so-called “Fourth Industrial Revolution,” let us note that women today represent only 28% of people who graduate from graduate engineering schools, in addition to forty percent of those who obtain a university degree. Postgraduate degree in Computer Science and Computing. What bias is then associated with the gender variable and the possibility of choosing and completing a score with these characteristics? Well, perhaps the well-founded perception on their part that they will have a shorter career, or even the social pressure, subtle but real, where women are identified more with care-related roles, even if it is in senior positions. Areas such as clinical practice or research in biomedical fields.
There is no doubt that we have come a long way from the society in which our parents lived, for example. Certainly some characteristics of our world today could be greatly improved, but on the whole, the society we have given ourselves is much more livable. Progress in equality is remarkable and has improved everyone's lives. We must persevere in this mission and realize that each person's gender should not be an indelible mark that acts as an obstacle to his personal and professional growth. Being a woman or a man, whatever it is, should not be a burden. And any other vision that includes, consciously or unconsciously, sexual elements. I understand that we must realize this and, as a conscious and responsible citizen, work to overcome it… especially from the world of education… and hopefully we will know how to see it, transmit it, and spread it. and promoting it as a shared value.
Let me end by radically changing the subject. Whether you are men or women, I wish you lots of love on this special day. Love in all areas. Because Valentine's Day goes beyond a couple's love, it has been, for a long time, a day of love and friendship. The greatest and most important wealth, I assure you, that we can aspire to as persons… is to give and receive love, in any of its aspects. Happy February 14!
