"Persisting stereotypes: new subjectivities in scientific knowledge" conference for 11F

The Observatory for Equality commemorates the International Day of Women and Girls in Science and Technology on 16 February with the “Persisting stereotypes: new subjectivities in scientific knowledge” conference, at the Conference Room of the School of Engineering at 12:30. The speaker is Ana Macaya-Andrés, member of the Institute of History of Science of the UAB. 

The talk aims to reveal the androcentric nature of science and technology from a historical perspective. It will focus on stereotypes, on the differences between women and men, and on the barriers that these pose when generating benchmarks. It will also deal with how work spaces are configured for women in scientific and technological professions. 

Ana Macaya-Andrés holds a bachelor’s degree in Chemistry and a master’s in the History, Science and Society Official Master of the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. She is interested in the construction processes of scientific knowledge during the Transition, from the perspectives of gender and social movements. Currently, Macaya-Andrés combines university and secondary school teaching, generating new ways of approaching gender perspective in science in secondary schools. She also participates in associations fighting for sexual and gender freedom through collective management.  

The 11F is also commemorated at the Science and Biosciences Faculties and at the School of Engineering. The Faculty of Sciences has organised the “Picture a scientist” film cycle, with four screenings between 21 February and 3 March in the Conference Room in Building C. A round table will also be held on 15 March. The Faculty of Biosciences is holding an exhibition on the biologist Lynn Margulis from 13 to 24 February. Finally, the Science and Technology Library has organised an exhibition on 25 female engineers that have attended the UAB, taking advantage of the 25th anniversary of the School of Engineering. It has also planned a talk with the authors of the 100 mujeres clave en la historia de la ciencia y la tecnología (100 key women in the history of science and technology) book on 22 February.  

The United Nations (UN) General Assembly declared February 11 as the International Day of Women and Girls in Science and Technology in 2015, within the 2030 Agenda framework. According to UN statistics, even though the 33.3 % of researchers are women, only the 12 % are members of national scientific academies. Moreover, women only account for the 28 % of the engineering graduates and the 40 % of computer science and informatics graduates. The data shows that women usually have shorter and lower-payed careers than men, even though they outnumber them in Spain’s universities. In the 2021-2022 academic year at UAB, the 61.17 % of the student body were women. For these reasons, the UAB is committed to recognising women’s role in science and technology by commemorating 11F.