University of Antofagasta launches project to reduce the gender gap in areas of science and technology

Initiative will be developed for three years and seeks to generate institutional capacities that favor equal participation between male and female researchers within the University of Antofagasta.

In the Huanchaca Ruins auditorium, the Transfer and Licensing Office of the University of Antofagasta (OTL-UA), officially launched the InES Gender project, whose objective is to reduce gender gaps, quantitatively and qualitatively, in fields of research, development, innovation and entrepreneurship with a scientific-technological base (R+D+i+ebt) within the regional house of studies.

The UA last year, through the Vice-Rectory for Research, Innovation and Postgraduate Studies, was awarded this project by the National Research and Development Agency (ANID), of the Ministry of Science, Technology, Knowledge and Innovation, obtaining the best score of the applicant universities, also becoming the only campus in the northern macrozone to achieve it.

During the ceremony, the rector, Dr. Luis Alberto Loyola, highlighted that the project will promote the development of institutional capacities aimed at reducing gender gaps, encouraging dozens of UA scientists to develop high-impact initiatives in their respective fields.

In this regard, the university authority explained that, currently, many researchers, despite having all the skills and competencies, see their work affected by situations such as motherhood, which interrupts their professional development, or certain social roles that are assigned to them, generating a problem of inequity that needs to be addressed urgently.

“We are convinced that the gender gap in the area of ​​scientific-technological research, development, innovation and entrepreneurship is a problem that must be faced with tools that allow equality, and this project that we are now launching wishes to contribute precisely to overcoming these gaps”, pointed out the rector.

UNDERSECRETARY

Through a video, the Undersecretary of Science, Technology, Knowledge and Innovation, Carolina Gainza, was also present, who stated that InEs Gender seeks to generate conditions of equity and equality in the academy, thinking not only of favoring women who are already in this world, but also encourage more young people to be interested in it.

“We want everyone to participate in the generation of knowledge under equal conditions, but we know that the participation of women in academia decreases as progress is made, therefore we need mechanisms and instruments that allow their entry, but also their permanence sustained over time and in conditions that help them develop their full potential”, he said.

Alejandra Portillo Lobos, director of the Transfer and Licensing Office of the UA, stated that universities are agents of change and must promote spaces of equality and opportunities without discrimination or bias, so that all people can fully develop their talents.

“The gender perspective in research is essential to promote the comprehensive development of the region and the country. We hope that, with the consolidation of the new institutional policies, new scientific-technological knowledge with gender equality will be generated in the medium and long term, while promoting female leadership and empowerment in the academy”, she deepened.

The launch of the project was attended by the Dr. in Sociology and professor at the University of Valencia, Capitolina Díaz, with the talk “Inclusion of gender analysis in research and innovation”, and the Dr. in Sociocultural Anthropology and academic from the UCN, Jimena Silva, who addressed the theme “Making visibility of women scientists: a key to eliminate gender gaps.”

The InEs Gender project will be executed for three years at the University of Antofagasta and has a total financing of $450 million.