In order to discuss gender issues and their impact on the development of mathematical research, Salomé Martínez, researcher at the Center for Mathematical Modeling (CMM) of Universidad de Chile, was invited as a plenary speaker at the World Meeting of Women in Mathematics (WM)² for its acronym in English, to be held on July 31 in the framework of the International Mathematics Congress 2018 to be held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
The meeting will bring together mathematician women from all over the world to think and debate about gender issues in this discipline, its challenges, initiatives, and perspectives. Speakers will emphasize the situation in Latin America.
“It is an opportunity to create networks and make women visible in mathematics along with the discussion of mathematics and the problems related to gender gaps in this discipline, which are crucial in the current context,” explained Martínez, who also directs the Diversity and Gender Direction at the Faculty of Physical and Mathematical Sciences (FCFM).
The scholar will lecture the talk ‘Reaction equations-diffusion, population, and gender dynamics’.
Reaction-diffusion models are used to study changes in a population and how the context influences it, among other issues. They provide a way to translate the assumptions related to the movement, growth, and interactions of individuals into global group features. This provides a theoretical framework for questions that have to do with the conservation of a species, invasions or the coexistence of groups that compete.
“I’ll link this issue to the distribution of women in science and engineering in my faculty. We will also discuss the challenges and opportunities that we and the scientists have to change this reality”, explains Martínez. His idea is to understand the cultural phenomena that explain the career choice of women.
The exhibition will also explore some issues related to the persistence and dispersion of women in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, in an environment in which they represent less than 17% of the population.
There will also be other conferences given by researchers from Argentina, Brazil, France, and Holland. The meeting will end with a panel on women’s networks in mathematics by academics from Brazil, Burkina Faso, the United States, France, India, and Mexico. Finally, a tribute to Maryam Mirzakhani, the first woman to earn the Fields Medal, will be held.
