Sixty-three percent of the students approved to enter the PPG Agricultural Microbiology (PPGMBA) last year are women. What’s more, in 2023, of the 15 doctoral defenses made by the program, ten were carried out by women (66.7%), and of the 14 master’s defenses, 11 are the crowning achievement of the science produced by them (78.6%). But if the combination of women and science sounds relatively natural at the beginning of 2024, this was not the scenario in which young scientists lived decades ago. Even today, despite progress, many of them have to fight day after day to have their merits recognized. “Talking about women’s participation in science is a very pleasant and, at the same time, delicate task,” says student Lutecia Medina, student representative of the PPGMBA. “Prejudice, the patriarchal structure of society, all this has greatly delayed the participation of women in the scientific environment. We were invisible for years. It’s only now that we can see this participation a little more.”

To reinforce these advances and mobilize more people around the importance of women’s work, the International Day of Women and Girls in Science is celebrated on February 11. “The field of microbiology in general is an environment where women are well accepted, I believe that the percentage of women and men is more balanced,” says Professor Cynthia Canedo, advisor to the PPGMBA. The coordinator of an almost 100% female team, Cynthia praises the competence of women in science, but recognizes the difficulties still present on a daily basis.

The formation of a team with a strong female presence was, she says, a natural process that took place over the years. “Young scientists are coming in more empowered! We also have more horizontal student-teacher relations, and I make a point of passing on my experiences and encouraging them, without any distinction. The student goes there, takes care of a bioreactor, handles 30-liter containers containing industrial and domestic effluent, there’s no difference to the work of a man.” What does happen, according to the professor’s account, are cases of resistance from some men who, when on a team, found it difficult to deal with female leadership. “Sometimes it’s the man who is there and doesn’t accept the instructions or guidance of his female colleagues and, in some cases, not even mine. But those, the sexists, don’t survive in the lab.”

Lutecia, one of the scientists on Cynthia’s team, agrees that the environment has become more favorable. “In our department, we are very well received. But I see a lot of people still going through challenges, a lot of things we still have to fight against. Within the university itself, we have professors with an old view, and in some cases it’s very difficult to have this dialog. We’re at a moment of construction, of dialog, and we need to support each other,” says the student, pointing out that paying attention to these issues is one of the tasks that motivates her as a student representative. “I’m keeping an eye on this, on issues of harassment. We have many cases of people who have faced problems with this in the past, and this is a delicate subject that has a direct impact on women’s careers.”

Leadership
“In my case, the process of building my career was quite natural. I didn’t have any great difficulties finding my place. But, curiously, at the beginning, when I reached a leadership position, I began to notice different treatment associated with the fact that I was a woman,” says the professor, a reference in environmental microbiology and recipient of the Petrobras Inventor Award 2023. “For example, some researchers, who could have called me for partnerships, preferred to call a man! In some cases, this became clear. I think it’s cultural, it’s often unintentional, but it happens.”

In this context, Lutecia highlights the importance of references so that girls and young scientists can project a successful future in science. “I’ve been working with Professor Cynthia since I was an undergraduate, and that helps a lot. Our group is made up of many women, and we see excellent work being produced. And just as the professor encourages us, one day I want to be encouraging other women too.”

Diverse talents
Despite the differences in conditions when it comes to building a career – especially due to the multiple roles imposed on women by society – both researchers see women today ready to take on prominent roles. “I see women doing fine science, carrying out great research. Today we are breaking paradigms, receiving recognition because we are doing science as well as that produced by men, and historically there was no room for that,” says Cynthia. “I think that science by women is a portrait of our own diversity. There are many of us, with different perceptions. We bring our own way of being to our work, and we can’t let the idea that we’re all the same and limited to certain roles prevail.”