Empowering women in science: A good practice guide

Paula de Tezanos Pintos; Josefina Bodnar; Valeria P. Carreira; Valeria Casa; Eliana P. Coturel; Rocío Deanna; Aldana M. Elisei; Julieta Foglia; Josefina L. De Paepe; Paula Fernández; Alicia López Méndez; Bettina Mahler; Marcela Muratori; Claudia E. Natenzon; Marcela V. Nicola; Natalia A. Ossana; Ana J. Sagasti

doi:10.25260/EA.25.35.2.1.2476

Authors

Paula de Tezanos Pintos Departamento de Ambiente y Turismo, Universidad Nacional de Avellaneda. CONICET. Avellaneda, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Josefina Bodnar División Paleobotánica, Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo, Universidad Nacional de La Plata. CONICET. La Plata, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Valeria P. Carreira Departamento de Ecología, Genética y Evolución, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad de Buenos Aires. Instituto de Ecología, Genética y Evolución de Buenos Aires (UBA-CONICET). CABA, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Valeria Casa Instituto de Investigación e Ingeniería Ambiental - IIIA, UNSAM, CONICET, 3iA. San Martín, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Eliana P. Coturel División Paleobotánica, Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo, Universidad Nacional de La Plata. CONICET. La Plata, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Rocío Deanna Museo Botánico de Córdoba, Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal (IMBIV-CONICETUNC). Córdoba, Argentina. Botany and Mycology Unit, Finnish Museum of Natural History, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
Aldana M. Elisei Instituto de Botánica Darwinion, IBODA, CONICET-ANCEFN. San Isidro, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Julieta Foglia Laboratorio de Biodiversidad y Genética Ambiental (BioGeA), Universidad Nacional de Avellaneda. Avellaneda, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Josefina L. De Paepe Facultad de Agronomía, UBA. CONICET. CABA, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Paula Fernández IABIMO UEDD INTACONICET. Hurlingham, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Alicia López Méndez Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias, UNMDP-CONICET. Balcarce, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Bettina Mahler Departamento de Ecología, Genética y Evolución, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad de Buenos Aires. Instituto de Ecología, Genética y Evolución de Buenos Aires (UBA-CONICET). CABA, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Marcela Muratori INDAE, Universidad de la Defensa Nacional. CONICET. CABA, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Claudia E. Natenzon Instituto de Geografía, Facultad de Filosofía y Letras, UBA. CABA, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Marcela V. Nicola Instituto de Botánica Darwinion, IBODA, CONICET-ANCEFN. San Isidro, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Natalia A. Ossana Instituto de Ecología y Desarrollo Sustentable (INEDES, Universidad de Luján-CONICET), Departamento Ciencias Básicas. Luján, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Ana J. Sagasti Instituto de Recursos Minerales (UNLP-CIC). La Plata, Buenos Aires, Argentina. CONICET. School of Biological Sciences, Institute of Molecular Plant Sciences, The University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.25260/EA.25.35.2.1.2476

Keywords:

emancipation, gender, systemic barriers, recommendations, caregivers, equity, self-confidence, self-promotion, self-visibility, leadership

Abstract

Empowerment can be thought of as a gain of power and autonomy by an unfavored group, which creates a better situation. Women in Science (WIS) face multiple barriers that ultimately affect their performance. There is an urgent need to reverse the inequalities and disadvantages that WIS face. With this aim, in May 2023, 17 WIS gathered in person for four days in a workshop entitled Empowering Women in Science. As an outcome of the workshop, we cooperatively started to draw up a list of empowerment recommendations. We continued working together for more than a year to improve this list, which we now present as the Good Practice Guide for Empowering Women in Science (GPG). The GPG contains recommendations across the individual, collective and system levels that we believe help address inequalities for WIS. The aim of this debate is twofold: a) to present the GPG and b) to use the GPG to self-evaluate the number of actions we, the authors, undertook before and after participating in the workshop. Results show that one year after ending the workshop, we doubled the number of actions performed across all categories assessed: I) identify, confront and make visible systemic barriers; II) self-promotion; III) promote other women, and IV) foster diversity, equity and inclusion. This suggests that empowerment can be fostered through formal training programs and discussion spaces. We hope that the GPG will inspire WIS across disciplines and backgrounds to: A) act towards empowerment (at the individual, collective and system level); B) embrace the notion that each of us can be part of the change that we want to see happening towards higher equity for WIS, and C) recognize that any action is better than inaction. Finally, the GPG provides a framework that will continue to be improved and expanded with the feedback of readers and users.

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