“Girls who broke a glass ceiling while stargazing”

Fotograma del primer vídeo de la serie “Niñas que rompieron un techo de cristal mirando al cielo”, del IAC y la FECYT. Crédito: Inés Bonet (IAC).
Fotograma del primer vídeo de la serie “Niñas que rompieron un techo de cristal mirando al cielo”, del IAC y la FECYT. Crédito: Inés Bonet (IAC).
Advertised on

Even though more and more women are choosing to study scientific and technical university careers, according to the latest data in the She Figures  report of the European Commission, Physics, and by extensión Astrophysics, is a speciality in which the presence of women is much less than that of men. The fraction of women studying Physics is no greater than 30%, and as one climbs the research ladder women barely make up 13% of chairs in the subject.

This series of videos, whose title Girls who broke a crystal roof while stargazing is inspired by the project “No-Nancies” by the astrophysicist Pilar Montañés , is a part of the activities foreseen within the project “The Return of Henrietta Leavitt: from school to a research career via the theatre” which is an initiative of the IAC, in collaboration with the Spanish Foundation for Science and Technology (FECYT), of the Ministry of Economy, Industry and Competitivity of the Spanish Government. In these videos, which last for five minutes, whose aim is to encourage young girls to opt for scientific and technical careers, women astrophysicists and engineers at the IAC explain what they wanted to do when they grew up, what they studied at university, and what they are doing now.  

The first chapter of this series was presented in the Gender in Physics Day (GiPD) Spain 2017, in the framework of the European project GENERA, (Gender Equality Network in the European Research Area) an event organized by the IAC which took place on October 23rd and 24th in La Laguna. At that meeting there were discussions about the presence of women in research careers in Physics, with stress on the importance of school in tipping the balance towards scientific and technical careers for girls.

In this first video, produced by the Unit of Communication and Scientific Culture of the IAC, the following people take part, in order of appearance: María Jesús Martínez González, Icíar Montilla García, Begoña García Lorenzo and Pilar Montañés Rodríguez.

Ficha técnica:

Dirección: Carmen del Puerto Varela

Realización: Inés Bonet

Producción: Laura Calero y Alejandra Rueda Moral

Coordinación: Elena Mora Cuesta, José Peña Coto y Nayra Rodríguez Eugenio

Infografía 3D: Inés Bonet y Gabriel Pérez

Timelapses: Daniel López

Imágenes solares: SST/IAC/UiO, y NASA/SDO

Música: Black Mirror y Moby

News type
Press release
General public
Communications media

It may interest you

  • Falcon 9 de SpaceX con el satélite ALISIO-1
    Press release
    El IAC envía al Espacio el primer satélite canario
    ALISIO-1, el primer satélite propio del Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC), ha iniciado su viaje al espacio este viernes, 1 de diciembre, a bordo de un cohete de SpaceX. El lanzamiento que ha tenido lugar a las 18:19 horas desde la Base Vandenberg de la Fuerza Aérea Estadounidense situada en California (EEUU), se ha desarrollado sin ningún contratiempo El presidente del Gobierno de Canarias, Fernando Clavijo, que ha presidido el lanzamiento del primer satélite canario, ha valorado el exitoso trabajo que viene realizando el Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias y ha dicho que “sitúa a
    Advertised on
  • Cadena de resonancias del sistema HD110067
    Press release
    The synchronized dance of a system of six planets is revealed
    An international collaboration, with participation by the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC), has found a system of six exoplanets orbiting a central star with a precise rhythm.This phenomenon, known as orbital resonance, is common during the starting phase of planet formation, but it is exceptional to find a system with such a large set of planets which conserves this kind of gravitational synchronism. This finding shows that the system has not undergone major changes during its six billion year history, so that it gives an unusual view of the formation and evolution of planets. The
    Advertised on
  • Claude Nicollier tells of his experience as an astronaut at the IAC / Inés Bonnet (IAC)
    Press release
    Claude Nicollier tells of his experience as an astronaut at the IAC
    On Wednesday 30 October, the headquarters of the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC) received a talk by the first Swiss astronaut, Claude Nicollier, who wanted to share his experience in space with the personnel of the IAC. Claude Nicollier is the first Swiss astronaut to have flown into space. After his studies at the Universities of Geneva and Lausanne, Claude joined ESA as a member of their first group of astronauts. Since 2007 Nicollier has been a Professor at the Federal Polytechnical School at Lausanne. He has spent more than 1000 hours in space (more than 42 days) including a
    Advertised on