The Right to Be Female Scientists: A Collection of Essays. Volume 1

Authors

María Elena Tejeda Yeomans, University of Colima; Dulce María Vargas Bracamontes, University of Colima; Julia Tagüeña Parga, National Autonomous University of Mexico; Ana Júlia Silveira Mizher, Universidade Estadual Paulista; Carmen Dagmar Mariaca Hajducek, University of Waterloo; Elizabeth Ivonne Rovere, Geological Mining Service of Argentina; Isabel Cordero Carrión, University of Valencia; Maura Elizabeth Ramírez Quezada, University of Johannes Gutenberg Mainz; Olga Olinca Galván de la Cruz, National Autonomous University of Mexico; Sara Guillermina Centeno Leija, University of Colima; Xyoli Pérez Campos, National Autonomous University of Mexico
DOI: https://doi.org/10.53897/LI.2025.0021.UCOL

Keywords:

Female scientists, Scientific dissemination, Essay

Synopsis

What is needed to be a female scientist? What obstacles do women who want to pursue science face? How can we open paths so more girls and young women are able to achieve it? This book collects the voices of eight female scientists from Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, and Spain, who share, from their personal experiences and reflections, how their interest in science originated, the challenges they have faced and the achievements they have accomplished along their professional careers. Their stories reflect not only a deep commitment to knowledge, but also their perseverance upon facing structural obstacles that continue to limit the access to the scientific realm to women. Within these stories that are told by their protagonists, actively and in control, is the motor of change for being able to enjoy science. Through their stories, we come to understand that the right of becoming a scientist is not only a matter of equity and justice: it is the key to moving forward in our societies and in our collective well-being. It’s and invitation to imagine new futures, to be inspired by those who are already opening the path and join the construction of the diverse and inclusive scientific endeavor. The right to be female scientists. This collection of essays was thought of for you, who perhaps is discovering what you’re passionate about, who asks If you too could form part of that universe that is called science. The answer is not written in only one story, but rather in all these voices that, upon uniting, invite you to find yours, because the future is also built with women in science.

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Author Biographies

María Elena Tejeda Yeomans, University of Colima

ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4938-7563

Malena Tejeda is a Mexican physicist with a PhD from Durham University, UK. She is a titular professor and researcher at the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Colima. She has a level III in the National System of Researchers and was recently acknowledged as a Simmons – Emmy Noether Fellow (2020-2021) by Perimeter Institute in Canada.

Dulce María Vargas Bracamontes, University of Colima

ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5482-6391

Dulce Vargas is a Mexican vulcanologist with a PhD from the University of Leeds. At present, she is a researcher for the Secihti  at the University of Colima working in Volcanic Monitoring, Volcanic Seismology, and Volcanic Thermography.

Julia Tagüeña Parga, National Autonomous University of Mexico

ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8312-285X

Julia Tagüeña is a Mexican physicist with a PhD from Oxford. She is a titular researcher at the Institute for Renewable Energy Sources and an associate member at the Center for Complexity Sciences of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM). She received The Public Understanding and Popularization of Science Award 2021, TWAS-LACREP and is a participant at the Mexican Academy of Sciences. 

Ana Júlia Silveira Mizher, Universidade Estadual Paulista

ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9502-9815

Ana Julia Mizher is a research professor at Universidade Cidade de São Paulo and at Universidade Estadual Paulista and coordinates the Latin American Network of Electromagnetic Effects on Strongly Interacting Matter.

Carmen Dagmar Mariaca Hajducek, University of Waterloo

ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0006-0365-6613

Dagmar M. Hajducek is an associate researcher at the University of Waterloo School of Pharmacy. In her capacity as statistician, she has contributed to the field of Pharmacometrics by way of developing pharmacokinetic models for the prophylaxis in hemophilia. Moreover, she participates as research collaborator, academic mentor and instructor. 

Elizabeth Ivonne Rovere, Geological Mining Service of Argentina

ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0418-8958

Elizabeth Ivonne Rovere is chief of projects of the Geological Mining Service of Argentina. She is a representative member of the International Association for Promotion of Geoethics (IAPG) and of the International Association for Vulcanology and Geochemistry of the Earth’s Interior (IAVCEI).

Isabel Cordero Carrión, University of Valencia

ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1985-1361

Isabel Cordero Carrión is a titular professor of Applied Mathematics at the University of Valencia (Spain). She is the present Coordinator of Dissemination of the Virgo Collaboration. Her lines of research deal with the development of numerical methods for the resolution of equations in partial derivatives, numerical relativity, and gravitational waves. 

Maura Elizabeth Ramírez Quezada, University of Johannes Gutenberg Mainz

ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2321-0759

Maura E. Ramírez-Quezada is a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Johannes Gutenberg Mainz since October of 2023 and has actively participated in the La Biozona dissemination program since 2021 to inspire and encourage women to follow an academic career. 

Olga Olinca Galván de la Cruz, National Autonomous University of Mexico

ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3409-2690

Olga Olinca holds a master’s degree in Science (Physical Medical) from the UNAM and a PhD in Advanced Technology from IPN. She is a Hospital Physicist from the National Institute of Neurology and Neurosurgery and a professor in the UNAM. She is also an active member of AAPM (American Association of Physicists in Medicine) and a founding member of the Mexican Society of Physicists in Medicine.

Sara Guillermina Centeno Leija, University of Colima

ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8573-4577

Sara Centeno has a PhD in Biochemistry from the UNAM and is a researcher of the Secihti at the University of Colima and is a member of the American Society of Microbiology.

Xyoli Pérez Campos, National Autonomous University of Mexico

ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8970-7966

Xyoli Pérez Campos is a passionate seismologist who enjoys teaching, advising students, actively participating in professional associations, and doing dissemination. She was the coordinator of the National Seismological Service of Mexico and since 2023, she is the Director of the International System of Surveillance of the Treaty on the Complete Prohibition of Nuclear Tests.

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July 4, 2025

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Copyright (c) 2025 María Elena Tejeda Yeomans, Dulce María Vargas Bracamontes (Coordinador de obra); Julia Tagüeña Parga, Ana Júlia Silveira Mizher, Carmen Dagmar Mariaca Hajducek, Elizabeth Ivonne Rovere, Isabel Cordero Carrión, Maura Elizabeth Ramírez Quezada, Olga Olinca, Sara Guillermina Centeno Leija, Xyoli Pérez Campos (Autor/a)

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978-607-8984-93-0

How to Cite

Tejeda Yeomans, M. E., Vargas Bracamontes, D. M., Tagüeña Parga, J., Silveira Mizher, A. J., Mariaca Hajducek, C. D., Rovere, E. I., Cordero Carrión, I., Ramírez Quezada, M. E., Galván de la Cruz, O. O., Centeno Leija, S. G., & Pérez Campos, X. (2025). The Right to Be Female Scientists: A Collection of Essays. Volume 1. University of Colima. https://doi.org/10.53897/LI.2025.0021.UCOL