CienciaPR unveils virtual collection of profiles of Latina scientists
Looking to showcase outstanding women in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) disciplines, Ciencia Puerto Rico (CienciaPR) has published the Seeds of Success Women in STEM Collection, which currently features almost 160 Puerto Rican and Latina scientists.
The collection — the largest of its kind in the world, according to the nonprofit — highlights women who are undergraduate and graduate students or professionals in academia, industry, government, and nonprofit organizations.
“The Women in STEM Collection is a culturally relevant resource in Spanish that will allow young Puerto Ricans and Latinxs to identify with them, learn from their experiences and be motivated to explore these disciplines,” said Giovanna Guerrero-Medina, executive director of CienciaPR.
“We’re very excited about its launch because for the first time, families, schools and educational organizations in Puerto Rico, the United States and Latin America, will get to know the stories and trajectories of hundreds of women,” she said.
The collection is one of the educational resources created for the Seeds of Success: IF/THEN Edition. This program gives 121 students from seventh to ninth grade from all over Puerto Rico the opportunity to become STEM ambassadors, developing their skills and leadership in these disciplines, the nonprofit said.
Each profile in the collection includes a poster with a photo, a biography, and a short video in Spanish, so that people get to know the scientists better.
The posters can be downloaded for use in schools, museums, youth educational centers, and other places. All content in the Seeds of Success Women in STEM Collection is free, in part thanks to the support of Lyda Hill Philanthropies’ IF/THEN initiative, CienciaPR officials said.
The collection provides a search engine by discipline and links to the women’s profiles on the CienciaPR.org website, which includes other details about the women and their careers. CienciaPR.org has a collection of profiles of more than 12,000 STEM professionals, students and educators, of which almost 8,000 are women.
“There are many STEM disciplines that have very low female representation and one of the biggest challenges in motivating young women to pursue these careers is the lack of visibility and access to role models,” said Greetchen Díaz-Muñoz, Director of the Science Education Program for CienciaPR and creator of Seeds of Success.
“Puerto Rico has many women who stand out in STEM and that’s precisely why we created this Collection, to give them the visibility they deserve and inspire future generations of pioneers,” she said.
The launch of the collection goes hand in hand with the motto of Seeds of Success: IF/THEN Edition which is “IF we support a girl in STEM, THEN she can change the world,” she said.
