Celebrate World Day of Girl and Women in Science with a webinar framed in the AquaeSTEM program developed by the Aquae Foundation

I'm sure you've never heard of the Matilda Effect. But deep down, you know what you mean. Imagine dedicating your whole life to scientific research, but may your work, innovative and revolutionary for your time, be forever forgotten. Or, worse, let it go into history with someone else's name. From one of your teammates, for example. And everything, just for being a woman.

The Matilda Effect consists of the invisibilization of women's achievements in Science, whose work is often attributed to their male peers.  There are great examples: gynaecologist Trótula de Salerno, teacher and inventor Angela Ruiz Robles, geologist Marie Tharp, and chemists Rosalind Franklin and Margarita Salas. Women often forgotten in the world of Science, but now rescued to be a mirror in which to reflect for girls who today want to dedicate their lives to research. So that a professional future linked to science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) can be forged

According to various studies, there are three ways to foster schoolchildren's interest in studying Science: to provide them with teaching experiences, to build confidence in their scientific-technological capabilities, and to show them female benchmarks in these areas. These are the fundamental pillars of the Aquae STEM program, promoted by the Aquae Foundation, the founding of Hidralia.

In this program, which celebrates this course its second edition, more than 50 schools from all over Spain participate, of which 10 are Andalusian. They are Las Chapas and María Auxiliadora I, marbella; International School, Estepona; Josefina Aldecoa, from Torre de Benagalbón; Puente Zuazo, Vicente Tofillo, San Ignacio and Los Esteros, San Fernando; and Portomagno and Virgen del Rosario, from Roquetas de Mar. In total, more than 350 Andalusian girls between 2nd and 5th Primary who were helped to develop their scientific vocation.

One of the big problems faced by girls of this age to link up to STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) is the lack of female references in these fields. That's why Aquae STEM brings to students every month the experiences of leading Spanish professionals, mathematics, biotechnologies or computer scientists who arouse their interest in these disciplines.

So far, two webinars have been made with two reviewable women of Science as protagonists. The one that opened the course was run by the Andalusian Monserrat Zamorano, the first Road engineer to become a professor at the University of Granada. Monserrat is also the director of the School of Road Engineers of Granada, the first woman also to hold that position in Spain; and in 2020 he received the Andalusian Medal of Environmental Merit, a recognition that has not previously fallen to any other engineering professional. He is a specialist in Environmental Technologies and in recent years has focused on waste management, in areas such as environmental diagnosis of landfills or energy recovery of waste.

For the second edition, the one chosen by this prestigious program was Victoria Majadas, president of the Big Ban Association and founding partner of the smart cities consultancy Smart To People. And in the third webinar, which is held this same February 11th, coinciding with the celebration of Women's and Girls' Day in Science, the protagonist is the Galician nanotechnologist Tatiana López.

All these webinars are conducted by Irene Lapuente. A training physics specialist and specialist in communication and scientific dissemination, Irene is founder and director of the Mandarin of Newton, a company that "marida" science and technology with disciplines such as art or design. Irene Lapuente was already host of the event that took place in San Fernando (Cadiz) for international women's and girls' day in science in 2020, and that allowed schoolchildren to approach female stem references.

Breaking the glass ceiling

The aim of the Aquae STEM programme is to awaken vocations among girls in a sector with a very low female presence: only 28% of scientific research worldwide has a women's name, according to the United Nations Education, Science and Culture Organization (UNESCO). According to the report 'Deciphering the Keys: Women's and Girls' Stem Education', which STEM published in 2019, only 35% of students enrolled in STEM careers in higher education are women.

In Spain the "glass ceiling" persists in the research career. The presence of students in scientific careers is limited to 28.5% of the total, only 21% of women occupy university professorships, only 25% are part of the research faculty and we still find gender gaps in access to human resources aid and R&D&I projects, according to the conclusions of the latest Scientific in Figures report, prepared by the Ministry of Science and Innovation.

With Aquae STEM, the Aquae e Hidralia Foundation puts its grain of sand so there isn't one more Matilda.