From the Newsroom*
São Paulo – A survey conducted by economist and professor at the Fluminense Federal University in Rio de Janeiro, Hildete Pereira de Melo, concluded that 32% of the current Brazilian scientific production is made by women. The information was published on the Website of the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (Embrapa).
Hildete worked with the Brazilian database of the Scientific Electronic Library Online (SciELO) for the last eight years. Using a computer software, she reviewed the gender of 83% of the authors and co-authors in the library. Of those, 32% are women. "Science still bears a male face, but the data from SciELO show the advance in female participation, pointing to a future of equality in the scientific field," Hildete said.
Hildete is the author of "Pioneiras da Ciência no Brasil" ("Pioneer Women of Science in Brazil"), published by the Brazilian Society for Advancement of Science (SBPC) in 2006, and in which she listed professionals who left their mark in science. Among them is researcher Johanna Döbereiner, of Embrapa Agrobiology (Seropédica-RJ), who dedicated 49 years of her life to researching soil microbiology.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
