Unicamp launched this Wednesday (3), in a ceremony held in the University Council room, the scholarship program Women in Stem (acronym in English for science, technology, engineering and mathematics), aimed at female undergraduate students enrolled in exact and technological science courses at the University. In its first stage of implementation, the program will pay student retention grants worth R$700, for one year, to 30 students selected, through socioeconomic assessment, by the Student Support Service (SAE). The resources come from a donation made by the company Qualcomm to the Lumina Patrimonial Fund in the total amount of US$ 750 thousand (around R$ 3,8 million).
The launch of the program was attended by the selected girls. In addition to them, Antonio José de Almeida Meirelles, rector of Unicamp, Maria Luiza Moretti, general coordinator of the University, Luiz Tonisi, president of Qualcomm Latin America, Paulo César Montagner, chief of staff at the rectory, Cristiano Torezzan, teaching advisor, participated in the event. staff, Mariana Nery, coordinator of the SAE, and Laura Rifo, teaching advisor at the Dean of Undergraduate Studies (PRG).
Luiz Tonisi pointed out that the initiative contributes to the desire of large corporations to promote gender equality in their teams. “Companies are faced with a commitment to promote the advancement of women in their leadership teams, but there is also a problem at the base, in women's access to scientific careers”, he explains. According to him, the company's investment in scholarships is also a way of promoting the country's development, strengthening the structures that generate scientific talent. “We can have an international role for which we have not yet started working. This is a first step. I hope that Qualcomm can take new steps together with Unicamp.”
“The great virtue of this program is that we can count on a company that has the sensitivity to help us with what is the great challenge facing universities and Brazilian society: overcoming the centuries-old inequalities that exist in the country”, highlighted Meirelles. The rector recalled that Unicamp and Qualcomm have a history that reflects the importance of the University in training talent. Current CEO of the company, Brazilian Cristiano Amon was a student at the Faculty of Electrical and Computer Engineering (Feec). In 2019, he received the title of Doctor Honoris Causa from the University. “The Women in Stem program, sponsored by a company led by a Unicamp graduate, is proof of our potential.”
Generations of women in science
Despite being at the beginning of their scientific career, the young women covered by the new scholarship program already realize the inequality that exists in areas that still have a male predominance. “My class has a lot of men, a lot of them! [laughs]”, reflects Rebeca Santos (19), third-year Telecommunications Engineering student. She believes that the scholarship is a good incentive for students to dedicate themselves diligently to their studies and excel in their careers. “As the subjects progress and the difficulty increases, we see several male students excelling and we think: 'I wonder if this is an area for them, not for me?'”, she asks.
For Raíssa Santos (18), freshman in Environmental Engineering, women need to face barriers early in their career. “We are far from home, arriving in a new environment. There's a lot we need to take care of. The scholarship is an important help in this initial phase.”
The students are inspired by the experiences reported by other women at the University. Graduated in medicine at Unicamp, Maria Luiza Moretti says that, throughout her career, she also questioned herself about how she could stand out in the academic space. At the event, she gave an important message to the students: “Sometimes I looked at the horizon and thought that it wasn't for me, because there were only men on it. Don't look at that horizon. The new horizon has women, they exist and they are you”, advised Maria Luiza Moretti.
For Mariana Nery, SAE coordinator, the program Women in Stem appears as yet another of the policies adopted by Unicamp to mitigate social inequalities. “Alone, time cannot balance the scales. Although we have seen many advances in female participation at undergraduate and postgraduate levels, we know that there are barriers at more advanced stages of the scientific career that cause female participation to greatly decrease,” she analyzes. “It’s great to participate in the process of building a future in which women are not spectators, but protagonists.”
Mariana's hope is reflected in the expectations of Letícia Marques (19), a third-year Production Engineering student. For her, the changes have already begun: “My course already has a good balance between men and women. This makes me very happy and very hopeful for the future.”
endowment
Created in 2019, the Lumina Heritage Fund aims to attract permanent resources to the University and finance teaching, research, extension and innovation projects and initiatives. Equity funds, also known as endowments, are made up of resources donated by individuals or legal entities that are invested in the financial market. Proceeds are directed to University projects, without the original amount being consumed, ensuring long-term sustainability.
To date, Qualcomm's donation of US$750 was the largest made by a company to the fund. “It was the most important [donation] received not only due to the volume of resources, but also because it came from a graduate of our University and, mainly, for the direction of this investment”, commented Cristiano Torezzan. Thanks to the value, the scholarship program should have two more stages of implementation over the next two years. “We believe that Women in Stem will be a perennial program and we hope that new companies will also join it”, he noted.
