HERScience : Raise Your Voice or Tolerate the Noise

HERScience encourages young women to get into science and technology, leaving behind stereotypes and fear. HERScience wants to find all those female voices willing to change the world.

HERScience is a project for all women between the ages of 14 and 21 who want to change the world and learn as much as they can. Through a digital platform, all women interested in science and technology will be invited to participate. 

At the beginning, virtual courses of chemistry, physics, biology and code programming will be given and they will be able to connect with women from all over the world who have the same desire to learn. 

There will be recreational activities such as Zoom Meetings, Gimkit, Kahoot and much more.

Encourage women to enter science and technology, but also to get women to support each other. Create a cultural exchange between all the participants. Recognizing and understanding how equity works between human beings.

In the future, when the project is more advanced, go to remote communities and offer the workshops in person and even organize a dynamic to present a project.

Guarantee equal access for women to STEM education is imperative for human rights and scientific perspectives. All people must have equal opportunities, including studying and working in the field of your choice.

There are two myths about science and technology. 

The first one is that both subjects are difficult. That they are only for "geeks". 

The second myth: it's not a job for women.

The model of a woman who dedicates herself to science is that type of girl with glasses and not concerned about her physical appearance.

Gender roles for girls in America, Asia and Africa affect the education of millions of women each year. Barriers include home and caregiving responsibilities, early marriage, pregnancy, cultural norms that prioritize boy's education, poor school sanitation facilities and parental concerns about the safety of girls on the way to school. Girls who live in rural areas have more risk of educational exclusion.

Around the world, finding a job is tougher for women than it is for men. When women are employed, they tend to work in low-quality jobs in vulnerable conditions. The gender gap in science and technology careers and jobs remains one of the most prominent worldwide. 

According to UNESCO, less than 30% of the world's researchers are women. The average for the share of female researchers is 29.3% in the World; 12% of scientific citations on the Internet are from female researchers. Against this, 88% of the dates are male. 

The unemployment rate for women in Mexico has been around 12 percent in recent years, while that for men is 7 percent. This difference is one of the largest in Latin America; income is much lower than men's (17% less each month).

Most countries have reached gender parity in primary education, but in those that have not, disparities to the disadvantage of girls are stark.

The disadvantage of girls in STEM in Africa cannot be dissociated from the wide range of socio-economic and cultural obstacles that girls face in general education in this region, such as teenage marriage, abuse sexuality at the school level or social norms that place greater value on the education of the men.

In Latin America and the Caribbean, it is estimated that 45% of all those who are in STEM are women. However, within the scientific-technological system, an important horizontal (by stereotype and gender roles) and vertical (to reach managerial roles and hierarchical positions) segregation can be observed.

There are thousands of women willing to change the world. HERScience supports women from different communities, providing the tools to develop their skills within science and technology, in subjects such as chemistry, biology or physics. Encouraging women to enter science and technology is the objective, but also to get women to support each other. Create a cultural exchange between all the participants.

Recognizing and understanding how equity works between men and women, opens the way towards proposing proposals that are truly effective.

We want to make sure that women with well-developed skills don't end up stuck at lower levels working in labs. We need them directing the field.

I have done research for a long time. I’ve made various surveys with women from my community (Cuernavaca, Morelos, Mexico).

Blue: Middle School, Red: High School, Yellow: College, Green: Master, Purple: Doctorate
Blue: Yes, Red: No

1: No interest 2: Lots of interestBlue: Chemistry, Red: Physics, Yellow: Biology, Green: Math, Purple: Programming LanguageBlue: numbers are not my thing, Red: my teacher wasn’t good enough, Yellow: I never had an interest in learning, Green: I was not good enough.20: Teacher 20: Veterinary doctor 5: A doctor

The reason why I started this is because I want to give girl students the ability to learn how to cooperate with others and find a way to all work together from different perspectives. Understanding how to put yourself in others’ shoes is not easy, but I think it is what the world needs today.

I have visited rural communities to evaluate the social patterns to which the students are subjected, in addition to carrying out some activities including chemistry and biology.

In high school, I participated in a project for the publication of a scientific article. Noting that of the team members there were only two women.

The project is still starting, however there are several organizations that I would like to invite to help me develop the project, both in Mexico and worldwide.
Highlighting a social benefit for the community and for future generations.

I surveyed 45 women between 28 and 50 years. I have researched sources such as UNESCO (WorldWide), INEGI (Mexico), INE (Spain), etc..., about the world ranking of women in science and technology.

Currently, I find myself developing the concept of HERScience, its mission, vision and how it will be carried out.

Initially, I would like it to be an organization via the internet. Mainly for issues related to COVID-19. 

In the future, I would like to carry out the project in person, reaching hidden communities, schools around the world; encouraging thousands of women to give their best, to take risks and to leave behind what they will say.

HerScience seeks to empower women around the world to get involved in STEM through a web platform and face-to-face workshops where they can learn about physics, websites, chemical experiments and get to involved in all branches of science.

Develop a web platform creating a kind of "school" and in an advanced period start with a day of workshops in which girls and women from different communities around the world get to know the world of science. Create campaigns and a community with the help of social networks to promote and make more people know about the project.

An interactive website is what we want to create. A safe place where women feel capable of achieving everything they want to, improving themselves day by day.

I haven't launched my solution but I want to talk to the directives of many high schools and universities in my community to invite them to talk to their students about HERScience and invite them to the online courses. Even in the future I'd like to make workshops at their school and if one day we have a HERScience building, invite many schools from all over the state to participate in our workshops.

Next year I plan to serve 1000 people from my community Morelos in the first 6 months (including children and adolescents from rural and urban communities) and 4000 people from all over the world (online) with MIT's help.

Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) are widely regarded as critical to the national economy.  HERScience started as a project willing to empower women and to end all. this stereotypes about STEM.

How can all young women learners have access to quality, safe and equitable learning environment if we have the perception that STEM is not for women?

Not only because we make all our girls feel uncomfortable by expressing their passion, but also because we judge their potential without even knowing what they can do. 

The stereotype that men are better than women in STEM areas can affect girls’ per- formance, how they judge their performance, and their aspirations. 

Main HERScience’s goals:

• To low scores that increase uncertainty in all students, but they have a more negative effect on students who already feel like they don’t belong, as many women in STEM majors.
• Help girls recognize their career-relevant skills. 
• Encourage high school girls to take calculus, physics, chemistry, computer science, and engineering classes when available.
• Promote a growth-mindset environment. 
• To create college environments that support women in science and engineering.
• Recruit women into STEM majors.

And the MOST IMPORTANT:

• Take proactive steps to support women in STEM majors. 

1. Sponsor seminars, lunches, and social events to help integrate women into the department. 
2. Provide a welcoming student lounge open to all students to encourage interaction outside of class.

To me, everything related to science and technology means progress.

The UN Sustainable Development Goals are the main HERScience's goals like:

Goal 4: QUALITY EDUCATION

Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all.

Goal 5: GENDER EQUALITY

Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls.

Goal 17: PARTNERSHIPS FOR THE GOALS

Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development.

Financial and technical barriers mainly. I'd love to have an office where HERScience can have the workshops in the urban sector and to have transport so we can get into the most remote communities. I know that this won't be soon, but it is good to even imagine it.

Also, I need STEM professional's help to create the online workshops and I need to publish the website I'm currently working on (financial barriers).

I will share the project on Instagram (@herscience_) and in every social media I can (twitter, facebook, tiktok). We can make a schedule of the first online workshops so people can register.

I’ve always been in the science camp and I’ve met the best people and had the best experiences. Unfortunately, not everything has been as perfect as it seems. I was born and raised in Mexico. Starting from the fact that our culture is “machista”.

Refers to the sense of being "manly". It refers to the idea that men are better than women in any thing, including school and mainly STEM majors.

This feeling of not being capable was the first thing I noticed when I first entered into my classroom in my last year of highschool. We needed to choose a field of specialization to prepare before college.

It was weird mainly not only because for the first time in 20 years the biology/chemistry class was the one that had the biggest amount of people, but also because more than half of the class were women. I remember that my English teacher at that moment was amazed and he told me just before I entered to take my chemistry class “Oh my God,I can’t believe there are too many women in here”. I was shocked.

In the physics/math classroom, starting from the point where there were 14 people, only 2 of them were girls. I didn’t realize how excluded women are in both fields until that moment. 

When I first entered college I took a chemistry lab and this professor was complicated.We were 18 in the class, only 2 girls. In a classroom full of boys you would think girls were admired, it was the opposite. He said jokes with a “machista” background all the class and one day he told us “I don’t know why you are here, this career is not for girls”. It turns out we were the ones with the highest score in the class.

I haven't partnered with any organization but I'd love to create a partnership with an organization related to science and technology that has the same vision and mission to change the world and to involve all young women to start doing it.

I'd like to contact some labs in the region and also some schools and universities to start the project.

I want to change this percetion that STEM is not for girls. I don’t want any girl to live the  humilliation I’ve suffered. I want them to raise their voice, or tolerate the noise.

My project is for girls. HERScience wants to empower all the girls around the world to follow their dreams and to change the world.

From my point of view, education is essential for economic sustainability and for progress. According to the Network for Business Sustainability, poverty and youth unemployment are one of the sustainability issues. 

“In emerging and developing markets like Nigeria, poverty and youth unemployment should gain traction. That means looking at issues like job creation and integration of the underserved in businesses’ target market and supply chain.”(by Oreva Atanya, Sustainability Practitioner, Researcher and Project Manager at Lagos Business School, Nigeria.)

According to UNESCO in the article “Buscar el Código”, education is UNESCO's top priority because it is an essential human right and it is the basis for consolidating peace and promoting sustainable development.

Only 17 women have won the Nobel Prize in physics, chemistry or medicine since Marie Curie won it in 1903, compared to 572 men. Currently, only 28% of all researchers in the world are women.

These great differences, this profound inequality, do not happen by chance.

Too many girls are prevented from advancing because of discrimination, biases, social norms and expectations that impact the quality of the education they receive and the disciplines they study.

Gender differences in participation in STEM studies to the detriment of girls can already be seen in early childhood care and education (ECCE) and becomes more visible at higher educational levels. It seems that as they get older, girls lose interest in STEM subjects and lower levels of participation can be seen in the later years of secondary education.

I want to change this perception that STEM is not for girls. I don’t want any girl to live the things and humiliation I’ve suffered. I want them to raise their voice, or tolerate the noise, that's why the prize would help a lot with my project.

I'll invest in education for girls. Campaigns, online workshops to make them powerful and smart, but also to create a cultural exchange; making them feel capable of everything.

1. Generate interest.

When girls and adolescents have extensive and relevant information about the benefits and impact of technology in people's lives, their interest in STEM careers doubles.

2. Provide real experiences.

Girls who are involved in science or technology workshops or laboratories show a greater interest in developing their careers in this field.

3. Support them

Increase the number of mentors and role models in STEM, to help build girls' confidence that they can succeed in science. Girls who are motivated by parents are twice as likely to stay in STEM.

4. Give visibility to female references in science and technology.

Girls who know women who develop their work in STEM show greater interest in this field than girls who do not have identified female characters.

I'd use the prize to do that.

Education systems and schools play a central role in determining girls' interest in STEM subjects and in providing equal opportunities to access and benefit from quality STEM education.

HERScience's mission is to promote gender equality and empower girls and women through education.

UNESCO estimates suggest that only about 35% of all students enrolled in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) related sectors are women.

According to a study conducted in 14 countries, the probability of female students graduating with a bachelor's, master's, and Ph.D. in science is 18%, 8%, and 2%, respectively, while the percentages of male students are 37%, 18 % and 6%. The full and equitable participation of women and girls in science can play a vital role in ensuring diversity in research, expanding the pool of talented researchers, and bringing new perspectives.

I’ve always been in the science camp and I’ve met the best people and had the best experiences. Unfortunately, not everything has been as perfect as it seems. I was born and raised in Mexico. Starting from the fact that our culture is “machista”. 

According to the Merriam Webster Dictionary, “machista” refers to the sense of being "manly" and self-reliant, the concept associated with "a strong sense of masculine pride: an exaggerated masculinity". It is associated with "a man's responsibility to provide for protection and defend his family". It refers to the idea that men are better than women in any thing, including school and mainly STEM majors.

This feeling of not being capable was the first thing I noticed when I first entered into my classroom in my last year of high-school. We needed to choose a field of specialization to prepare before college. There were 3 different options: business administration, biology/chemistry and physics/math.

It was weird mainly not only because for the first time in 20 years the biology/chemistry class was the one that had the biggest amount of people, but also because more than half of the class were women. I remember so much that my English teacher at that moment was amazed and he told me just before I entered to take my chemistry class “Oh my God I can’t believe there are too many women in here”. I was shocked.

I know that he didn’t mean that, but it felt like that. The second part of this story starts in the physics/math classroom. Starting from the point where there were 14 people, only 2 of them were girls. I didn’t realize how excluded women are in both fields until that moment. 

Also, when I first entered college I took a chemistry lab and this professor was complicated. I’m not talking about the subject he taught me, I mean that he was a complicated person to talk to; starting from the fact that apparently he hates women. We were 18 in the class, only 2 girls. In a classroom full of boys you would think girls were admired, it was the opposite. He said jokes with a “machista” background all the class and one day he told us (the 2 girls) “I don’t know why you are here, this career is not for girls”. 

It turns out that the 2 girls were the ones with the highest score in the class: me and another friend.

1. Generate interest.

When girls and adolescents have extensive and relevant information about the benefits and impact of technology in people's lives, their interest in STEM careers doubles.

2. Provide real experiences.

Girls who are involved in science or technology workshops or laboratories show a greater interest in developing their careers in this field.

3. Support them

Increase the number of mentors and role models in STEM, to help build girls' confidence that they can succeed in science. Girls who are motivated by parents are twice as likely to stay in STEM.

4. Give visibility to female references in science and technology.

Girls who know women who develop their work in STEM show greater interest in this field than girls who do not have identified female characters.

I'd use the prize to do that.