International Women’s Day: ‘I Belong Here’ – Taking Your Place As A Female In The World Of The Sciences With Dr Noelia Dominguez Falcon From University of East Anglia

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As part of UEA’s programme for International Women’s Day, we are delighted to welcome Dr Noelia Dominguez Falcon, lecturer in Biomedicine at UEA and host of the “I belong here” podcast, which advocates the role and contribution of women in scientific study and careers.

Did you know that in 2017 only a 30% of scientists worldwide were identified as female? Were you aware that between 1955 and 2020 only a 27% of scientific papers were published by women?

“The Leaky Pipeline” phenomenon is a metaphor that is used to explain this. Even though the proportion of male and female graduates is similar at bachelors’ level, the higher we move up the academic postgraduate ladder, the less proportion of females we will find. In fact, females represent only a 20% of professors in universities.

What can we do to change this? Well, the answer relies on you! The newer generations are key for the future of the scientific community. With your contributions to science, whatever those might look like, you could be the next scientist that develops next-generation therapeutics, discovers novel energy resources that guarantee a better management of the actual planet’s natural reserves, or even create better medicines for poorly prognosed diseases. You could even design virtual reality games to make science accessible to schools and high schools!

But how can we expect that from you? What do you think a career in science looks like? What’s it like being a woman working in science today?

In this talk, Dr Noelia Dominguez Falcon, a lecturer in Biomedicine at the UEA, will showcase an initiative she started in 2020 that promotes scientific education, gender inclusivity, and visualisation of female role models in STEMM careers. Dr Noelia developed a women in STEMM podcast, titled “I belong here”. She interviews female scientists across the globe with the main aim of showcasing their stories and know the person behind the science. During the session, Dr Noelia will go through different case studies of female scientists she has interviewed (including herself), alongside particular challenges they faced during their careers and how they carved their way through their careers. These case studies are excellent examples of diverse scientists with assorted stories and backgrounds.

The main aim of the session is to inspire the next generation of females who aspire of being a scientist, but they think they will not fit in, or have pre-conceived ideas of what a career in science looks like. Dr Noelia hopes the audience feels related to the role models showcased. In these unprecedented times, it is imperative that we continue to tackle women underrepresentation in science, and science communication events such as this talk plays a pivotal role in this.

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Speaker Profile (Please Click): Dr Noelia Dominguez Falcon is a multidisciplinary scientist that has worked in different fields such as molecular biology, pharmacology, cancer therapeutics, stem cell biology, and tissue engineering. Noelia dedicates her spare time to women in STEMM advocacies, hosting the “I belong here” podcast, interviewing female scientists across the world to know the person behind the science, demystify a career in science, and educate all generations by the exemplification of female role models.

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Our events are designed so that a group of students can take part from a classroom or students and teachers can take part as individuals, either from school or from home. This means that sessions will continue irrespective of possible school closures.

As a live, participative event, this session will not be recorded but slides and other resources will be shared after the event, where available.

Suitable for: Year 11, 12 & 13 (and equivalent) students with a potential interest in further study and careers in the Sciences.

Preparation/Pre-Reading: Students may wish to check out the “I belong here” podcast which is available on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. Students can also consider questions they have or ideas they might like to discuss about their future place in Science.

The IT Setup: The event will be run on Bluejeans (similar to Zoom) and participants will be able to join using laptops, tablets, and mobile devices. If you are joining as a school group, we recommend connecting with one device and projecting on to a whiteboard. You will be able to interact with the university via a microphone and/or typed comments and questions. Full details will be sent to those who have registered (see below) prior to the event.

Booking a Place: This is free for schools and colleges. If you would like to take part in this event, please register your interest using the link to the registration form below:

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