Professor Juliana Borges, who is part of the coordination team for Business courses at MUST University and currently resides in Portugal, received wide recognition when she published a prominent article in a renowned scientific journal, exploring the topic of women in science. Former Master’s student in International Business and currently teaching courses at the Business School at this university, the article was developed as part of her PhD in Management.
Juliana has stood out not only for her academic excellence, but also for the significant impact her work has on promoting inclusion and diversity in the scientific field. She is an active advocate of female empowerment, dedicated to breaking down historical and cultural barriers that still limit the presence of women in science.
Women in Science: Challenges and Opportunities
In the study developed by prof. Juliana, the focus was on analyzing the challenges faced by women in the field of science, addressing issues such as the lack of representation, the pressure to balance personal and professional life and the absence of adequate mentoring. This research aligns with the work of Carol Gilligan (1982), who argues that women often adopt a moral approach based on care and interpersonal relationships. This challenges the traditional perception that only rationality and objectivity would be valid for the production of knowledge, ignoring the ethical proposition of care, which can represent an important advance in traditional knowledge.
In addition to facing numerical inequality, women are frequently questioned about the nature and subject of their research, being criticized for focusing on emotions and relationships. As Gilligan and his colleagues argue, the story of Western science has been told by white, Christian, property-owning men, to the exclusion of the narratives of women and the enslaved. This perpetuated the unconscious perception that men had more intelligence and knowledge, since women did not formally publish their ideas and did not have their narratives authorized.
The professor’s research. Juliana also revealed that this historical exclusion still reverberates in modern science. Traditional epistemology often treats the field of emotions with disdain, suggesting that emotional influence would be an impediment to the production of knowledge, while care is stereotyped as something compulsory and minor. Black women, for example, face the prejudice of being seen as activists when addressing issues related to race, while white men have historically spoken about themselves without questioning their own objectivity.
The Impact of Research for the Inclusion of Women in Science
Juliana Borges’ study revealed the urgent need to build a more inclusive and equitable scientific environment. Their findings indicate that women face invisible obstacles, such as the devaluation of their methodologies and research topics, which are often seen as “less objective” because they focus on emotional or relational aspects. Contrary to this, their study emphasizes that care ethics is a valuable contribution to the construction of knowledge and should be more recognized in the scientific field.
By highlighting the importance of support networks among women, institutional policies to encourage gender equity and mentoring programs, this study offers practical solutions to mitigate the barriers faced by women in science.
One of the main points highlighted by the professor is the need to value scientific approaches that integrate care and human relationships, which expands and enriches the way of thinking and producing science.
By challenging the traditional view of knowledge that excludes emotions and care from the scientific process, professor Juliana Borges contributes to the construction of an environment where women can stand out without their approaches being devalued. She believes that, to truly transform science, it is necessary to expand acceptance of different ways of thinking and acting, where the female contribution is fully recognized and valued.
Check out the full study at this link: https://ojs.studiespublicacoes.com.br/ojs/index.php/cadped/article/view/7823/4746
