Catalysis and Kinetics Group
Federal University of Paraná
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GCC on the cover of Química Nova, the result of the article "Mulheres na Química Brasileira" ("Women in Brazilian Chemistry") . The 2020 paper collected data on the entire trajectory of a female scientist in the field of chemistry, from scientific initiation and graduate studies to project approval, authoring articles and leadership positions. The survey (of countless data) was carried out by the GCC girls: Naiane Naidek (former postdoctoral student), Yane Santos (PhD student), Patricia Soares (master student), Renata Hellinger (master student) and Thayna Hack (IC), guided by Prof. Elisa S. Orth.
This page is intended to disclose some of the data obtained. Read the full article at DOI
The cover portrays the multiple faces of women scientists!
The first survey sought to identify women representation among undergraduate (IC), master's and PhD students. The data clearly show that women are the majority: 53%. Among IC students, the midwest region has more women; Among masters and doctoral students, the southern region has more women represented. Still, looking at the CAPES thesis award between 2006-2018, women were awarded only 33% of the awards.
In the next step of her career, female representation among Chemistry professores at universities in Brazil was analyzed. In Brazil, there are 42% of female teachers in undergraduate courses (2019) and 36% in graduate courses (2018). The regions with the highest representation are the Northeast and the South. Among some prominent institutions, it was observed that the UFC has a greater female representation: 52% at undergraduate and 53% at graduate level. UFSC, on the other hand, has less representation: 24% at undergraduate and 20% at graduate level.
The analysis also included female representation among PhD and productivity fellows. As you progress in your career, going from postdoctoral fellow to productivity 2 → 1D → 1C → 1B → 1A, there is a drastic decrease in the number of women represented, going from 49% to just 12%. Achieving the prestige of being a productivity scholarship 1A is considered one of the highest points of the career and in Brazil there are only 7 women in the whole of Brazil. Among the full members of the Brazilian Academy of Sciences (Chemistry area), only 19% are women. It is these prominent positions that are important showcases to inspire future generations.
Then, women representation in the approval of Universal-CNPq research projects. From 2007 to 2018, it was observed that for projects in range A (of lower value) there are 35% of women with approved projects, while in range C (of higher value) which is more competitive and in general involves researchers with higher prestige, only 21% are leading projects. Unfortunately, over the years there has been no significant change in this scenario. Finally, in the coordination of the INCT (National Institute of Science and Technology), a strategic position in Brazilian science and of great financial contribution, only 18% are women. In other words, the more "prestigious" the position, the fewer women represented.
The scenario was also assessed when it comes to female representation in leadership positions. The undergraduate and graduate coordination has 42 and 32% women, respectively. More alarming is the representation in the presidency of scientific societies and development agencies. CNPq and ABC have never had a female president, while SBQ has had one until now (the second woman will take over in 2022). Even entities like IUPAC only had 2 women presidents. Female representation is fundamental in these spheres, since they participate in the formulation of public policies and dictate how Brazilian science is going.
Still considering the women representation in leadership positions, the history of women in leadership positions was verified, such as presidency, vice-presidency, directorates and councils in several development agencies and scientific societies. ABC throughout its history (1916-2019) had only 2 female vice presidents and 4 women on the board - it never had a female president . SBPC and SBQ have slightly higher numbers, but still very low: 28% of the vice presidents were women. On the board, throughout the history of the SBPC (1948-2019), 30% were women. In the SBQ (1977-2019), its board of directors already had 23% of women and its board 19%. In CNPq (1951-2019), women represented only 9% of the board and 3% of the board. In the chemistry advisory committee, which had 12 people in 2019, this figure was 42%.
The article also collected data about women in scientific publications, considering Brazilian authors between 2018-2016 (100 articles - Web of Science). Among some general journals of relevance in the area of chemistry (journals in specific areas were not evaluated), it is observed that on average almost 60% have no female author. Still, only 3% of them have women as the last author, a well-known prominent position and 13% have women as the first author. Considering the magazines with the largest number of articles, “Chemistry - A European Journal” and “Chemical Communication” (representing 52% of the analyzed), there is a low percentage of women as the last author (2%) and first author (12% ). These numbers are scary.
Considering the authorship of women in the 20 most cited articles with Brazilian authors between 1969-2018 (Web of Science), it is observed that female participation does not exceed 20%. Analyzing the entire period, 80% of the articles had no women; In the last 10 years, there has been the same percentage and only in the last 5 years that there seems to be a change, reaching 55% of the articles without the participation of Brazilian authors!
Making another task, we sought information from women in articles (with Brazilian authors) from SBQ magazines in 2018. At JBCS, 53% of the articles have women as the first author and 31% as the last author. In Química Nova, 55% have women as the first author and 36% as the last author. These numbers are much more "encouraging" in relation to articles published in international interdisciplinary journals with Brazilian authors. While in the magazines of SBQ it reaches only 13% the articles without any Brazilian author, in the selected international magazines, this number reached almost 80%!
Still on the subject, the authorship of women was verified in the 20 most cited articles (with Brazilian authors) from the SBQ (Brazilian Chemical Society) magazines. In JBCS, between 1997-2018, 30% had no women authorship, which has reduced to 15% in the last 5 years. In Química Nova, between 1999-2018, 15% had no female authorship, which has not changed in the last 5 years. This is better than the scenario of the 20 most cited articles in all international magazines with Brazilian authors, where it reaches 80% without female authorship.
In conclusion, it is possible to verify the general scenario of the career of women scientists in Brazil in the area of Chemistry. It is evident that when going up in career, female representation is greatly reduced. While there are 52% of graduate students, there are only 12% of women as a 1A scholarship holder; 18% at the Brazilian Academy of Sciences. The presidency of several scientific societies and development agencies in the entire period analyzed had only 4% of women!
