Science is catchy
“Seeing that there are female scientists around you, perhaps in your family or neighbourhood, and getting to know them closely, is a way of visualising that there is no gender barrier; that science is accessible to everyone who likes it, and that it can be very enjoyable”, stated the rector’s delegate for scientific dissemination, Gemma Marfany.
On the occasion of the International Day of Women and Girls in Science, which the University of Barcelona is commemorating with numerous activities, we talked about these issues with two women who live and share research in their closest environment: at home. They are Marta Giralt, professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and researcher at the Institute of Biomedicine of the UB, who works on energy metabolism and the functioning of adipose tissue, and her daughter Palmira Llorens, a PhD student in genetics at the UB who studies the processes that regulate the regeneration of organ tissues.
“Seeing that there are female scientists around you, perhaps in your family or neighbourhood, and getting to know them closely, is a way of visualising that there is no gender barrier; that science is accessible to everyone who likes it, and that it can be very enjoyable”, stated the rector’s delegate for scientific dissemination, Gemma Marfany.
On the occasion of the International Day of Women and Girls in Science, which the University of Barcelona is commemorating with numerous activities, we talked about these issues with two women who live and share research in their closest environment: at home. They are Marta Giralt, professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and researcher at the Institute of Biomedicine of the UB, who works on energy metabolism and the functioning of adipose tissue, and her daughter Palmira Llorens, a PhD student in genetics at the UB who studies the processes that regulate the regeneration of organ tissues.
Science inside and outside the family
Marta Giralt: “I remember my grandmother as a strong person, who always told me that what women should do is study. And that is what she did. We are talking about a person who studied during the Spanish Republic. I also saw this eagerness to study in my mother, who also studied Pharmacy like my grandmother. In my case, I decided that I wanted to dedicate myself to research. I wanted to know the reasons behind things”.
“When I studied at the Faculty of Biology, most of the professors were men, but there were already some very important women. I remember Roser González’s genetics classes very well, I remember her involvement, and how she motivated us all. I remember her giving classes when she was pregnant. We also have the historical mentorship of Mercè Dufort in this faculty”.
Palmira Llorens: “I have always seen my mother very happy and proud of what she does. For her, working is not just an obligation to bring money home, she does enjoy what she does. I also remember that in sixth grade they explained chromosomes to us and I came home excited. Apart from what they could tell me at home, I also experienced science intensely at school. I remember a lecture about stem cells that I found fascinating. It is true that I was able to ask my mother about all the doubts I had, and that makes you more motivated. I don’t think that this has shaped me, but it has helped me”.
“In my degree studies, I did have many female lecturers. In fact, I remember my thesis supervisor, Montserrat Corominas, as a professor, because she taught us cancer biology and I remember what I liked about her: right from the start, instead of giving a class with a power point and making us memorise things, she made us think. She always made us go one step further. Now that I think about it, women made us think and go a bit further. They weren’t so obsessed with making us memorise things like other male teachers”.
Difficulties and support
Marta Giralt: “There is a colleague who says that ‘our work is like riding a bicycle, if you stop pedalling, you fall off’. There are far fewer resources here than in many other European countries, and everything is very competitive. Scientists are evaluated according to our performance, and the motherhood stage makes it very difficult. You establish yourself as a scientist, but you have your family and you have to balance both lives. There is always that feeling of guilt, of not being able to get everything done, of not being able to pick up your children from school every day, of being the mother who doesn’t bake the birthday cake because she doesn’t have time…. Although at home, just like the case of other colleagues, I don’t think they can say that there was much difference in the day-to-day running of the household between my husband and me. This helps a lot, but not necessarily everyone has this facility and this supportive environment. I think this is the time when a significant number of people drop out. Mostly women, but I see that there are also men who say that the pressure gets a bit too much”.
Palmira Llorens: “When I started my PhD I was trained by a postdoc, Paula Climent. I think that both she and I really enjoyed working together and we were able to do so and make more progress. With her, I was able to work with this model perfectly well, but with other male lab colleagues, this is not the case. Since Paula left the group, I’m surrounded by men, and it’s not the same. I’m sorry, because they are very close friends of mine, but that collaboration and that sorority, if you want to call it that, doesn’t exist with men”.
Marta Giralt: “The environment is still male in some ways. Sometimes you get the feeling that when there is power, there is a man; when there is work to be done, there is a woman. I always think a lot on the fact that, in scientific projects, women don’t ‘sell themselves’ as much. Men are generally much more daring when they sell a project. I think women analyse things and are much more cautious. You are much more aware of the weaknesses of the project, you place yourself much more in context, you evaluate much more what other laboratories are doing. Men don’t think about these things that much. That’s why many time,s when you evaluate for awards or grants, for whatever reason, you get the feeling that a man’s project is much more solid. And this is very important in science. This is sometimes transported to the faculty and to teaching. There are studies that show how the same notes, identical, are presented by a male professor and the student values it much more than if they are presented by a female professor”.
The future
Marta Giralt: “It is necessary to think positively. Now we have a woman dean in the Faculty of Biology, I am a department director… and as Palmira said, I think there is a lot of sorority among women. We have to change the way we do things and try to work in a positive way. Not having meetings at eight in the morning, for example, because people have to take their children to school”.
“On the other hand, here, the scientific career is based on being the principal investigator. And if you are not the principal investigator, it seems that they don’t have to give you a permanent position. And science should be based on research teams. There are very well-trained people in the lab, but these people are not recognised”.
Palmira Llorens: “It’s complicated. As I’m doing my PhD, I realise that I really like research, I like reading papers and running a project, every day is different…. However, it’s very hard. I am by far the worst paid of all my friends, but I am the one who has received the most training. In the department, I see girls who are doing postdocs, women who are managing motherhood… and I see that they have a hard time. This constant competition, this surviving, not living, is complicated. I don’t want this, I want to do the work I like, but with good, normal conditions”.
The UB is working to reduce the additional difficulties faced by women when embarking on a research career within the framework of the Third Plan for Equality. In this context, “there are several initiatives to highlight the figure of women scientists; for example, the Rosalind Franklin awards are given to the best Master’s degree final project with a gender perspective and the bibliography of teaching plans includes reference authors”, says the vice-rector for Equal Opportunities and Gender, Montserrat Puig. Like every year, all the activities for the International Day of Women and Girls in Science, to be held on 11 February, can also be seen on this website.