The Brazilian
Academy of Sciences
Lucia Mendonça Previato
Instituto de Biofísica Carlos Chagas Filho
Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro
February 2011
Country
Brazil
Population
According to the Brazilian Census 2010 (Brazilian Institute of Geography and
Statistics), the total population of the country is of
190,732.694 citizens
97,342,162 (51.04%) women
93,390,532 (48.96%) men
Brazilian Academy of Sciences
Does the Academy serve as an adviser to government?
Yes
Does the Academy keep membership data broken down by sex?
Are these data open to the public?
Yes
This information is available upon request. The Academy is currently in the
process of structuring a Working Group on Women for Science.
A specific area for this WG will be created on the Academy’s website and one of
the ideas is to make this information available in the website.
How many members does your academy have? How many, or which percentage,
are women?
How many are women in S&T?
Note: The following data was collected on Jan 27, 2011
Member by sex
Full Member by sex
97
13.02 %
Woman
Man
648
86.98 %
Total
745
100 %
Woman
51
11.70 %
Man
385
88.30 %
Total
436
100 %
Full Members are native or naturalized Brazilians, or foreigners living in
Brazil for more than 10 years, with outstanding scientific achievements
Corresponding members are outstanding foreign scientists that have
contributed significantly to the development of Brazilian science
Corresponding Member by sex
Woman
Man
Total
8
149
157
5.10 %
94.90 %
100 %
The Associate Member category, created in 1949, has been extinguished. This
decision was based on the comprehension that there was no reason for the
maintenance of two different levels of association for Brazilian scientists, since
the sole criterion for membership is merit. The existing Associate Members will
have preserved their rights and obligations, being guaranteed to them the
possibility of election as full members.
Associate Members by sex
Woman
Man
Total
17
51
68
25.00 %
75.00 %
100 %
Collaborating Members are personalities who have rendered outstanding
services to the Academy or to the national scientific development
Collaborating Member by sex
0
1
1
Woman
Man
Total
0.00 %
100.00 %
100 %
Affiliate members are talented young Brazilian researchers elected to the
Academy for a period of 5 years, non-renewable
Affiliate Member by sex
Woman
Man
Total
21
62
83
25.30 %
74.70 %
100 %
Full Members by Area
Area
Membership
Woman
%
Man
%
Social Sciences
19
5
26.32 %
14
73.68 %
Biological Sciences
27
7
25.93 %
20
74.07 %
Biomedical Sciences
102
15
14.71 %
87
85.29 %
Chemical Sciences
50
7
14.00 %
43
86.00 %
Agrarian Sciences
22
3
13.64 %
19
86.36 %
Health Sciences
23
2
8.70 %
21
91.30 %
Physical Sciences
69
5
7.25 %
64
92.75 %
Earth Sciences
44
3
6.82 %
41
93,18 %
Mathematics
51
3
5.88 %
48
94.12 %
Engineering Sciences
29
1
3.45 %
28
96. 55 %
How many woman members of your academy presently participate at
decision-making levels?
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
President
Vice-President
Regional VP North
Regional VP Northeast
Regional VP South
Regional VP Minas & CenterWest
Jacob Palis Junior
Hernan Chaimovich Guralnik
Adalberto Luis Val
Cid Bartolomeu de Araújo
Francisco Mauro Salzano
Regional VP Rio
Regional VP São Paulo
Director
Director
Director
Director
Director
Elisa Reis
Francisco César de Sá Barreto
Adolpho Melfi
Carlos Henrique de Brito Cruz
Evando Mirra de Paula e Silva
Iván Izquierdo
Jerson Lima da Silva
Luiz Davidovich
MEMBERSHIP COMMITTEE
Jacob Palis Junior
Cid Bartolomeu de Araújo
Elias Ayres Guidetti Zagatto
Fernando Cosme Rizzo Assunção
Fernando Garcia de Mello
Francisco Mauro Salzano
President
Physical Sciences
Chemical Sciences
Engineering Sciences
Biomedical Sciences
Biological Sciences
Helena Bonciani Nader
Biomedical Sciences
Health Sciences
Physical Sciences
Agrarian Sciences
Earth Sciences
Social Sciences
Mathematics
Jorge Luiz Gross
José Fernando Perez
Paulo Arruda
Reinhardt Adolfo Fuck
Ruben George Oliven
Welington Celso de Melo
CONSULTATION COUNCIL
By Section
Agrarian Sciences
Biological Sciences
Biomedical Sciences
Chemical Sciences
Earth Sciences
Engineering Sciences
Health Sciences
Paulo Arruda
Francisco Mauro Salzano
Guilherme Suarez-Kurtz
Angelo da Cunha Pinto
Alcides Nóbrega Sial
Nelson Maculan Filho
Wagner Farid Gattaz
Mathematics
Physical Sciences
Keti Tenenblat
Social Sciences
Elisa Reis
Adalberto Fazzio
By Region
North / Center-West
Northeast
South
Southeast
Horacio Schneider
João Lucas Marques Barbosa
Gerhard Jacob
Sérgio Henrique Ferreira
FISCAL COUNCIL
Erney Plessmann de Camargo
Gerhard Jacob
Jailson Bittencourt de Andrade
Luiz Bevilacqua
Sérgio Henrique Ferreira
Percentage of women on the Brazilian Academy of Sciences
Strong/weak points of your academy regarding
gender issues
Your country’s barriers to women’s education
and careers in S&T
Actions for WfS-WG
Strong/weak points of your academy regarding gender
issues
Your country’s barriers to women’s education and careers
in S&T
Actions for WfS-WG
The scientific and technological entrepreneurship must belong to all,
independent of nationality, religious belief, social background,
ethnicity, or sex.
The Brazilian Academy of Sciences (BAS) decided to establish and fund a
Women for Science Working Group. This WG will be holding its first meeting
in the beginning of 2011 to discuss its objectives and working plan, and in the
second semester of the coming year a national workshop will be organized,
aiming the discussion of strategies for the sensitizing of the Brazilian scientific
community to the need of promoting a more favorable environment for the
participation of women in the areas of Science and Technology (S&T) in
Brazil.
Strong/weak points of your academy regarding gender issues
Your country’s barriers to women’s education and careers in S&T
Actions for WfS-WG
One step by the BAS in the effort to collaborate more effectively in the
development of a more inclusive environment for women in Brazilian
science was the establishment of a partnership with L’Oreal –UNESCO
Brazil in January 2006, when a national “For Women in Science” prize
was launched.
In June 2010, the BAS hosted the 7th Meeting of the National Focal Points
of the Inter-American Network of Academies of Science (IANAS) Science
Education Program in Rio de Janeiro. Understanding the shortcomings of
traditional science education that affect girls and women, the meeting
focused on gender issues in science education and discussed the
empowerment of girls and women in S&T, and the role of the Academies
in removing obstacles to this enterprise.