Dr. Carla Hernández, professor and researcher at the Department of Physics of USACH’s Faculty of Science

“My interest in researching physics teaching methods stems from a need to change people’s experiences of physics. The first experiences that arise at school are often not as positive as we would want them to be, and this can lead to a distorted view of scientific knowledge and physics in particular. So, I took it as a personal challenge to change these experiences”.

“I believe that science education involves many challenges, but two of them need to be addressed urgently. On the one hand, we need to promote a science education that is much more interdisciplinary, where the boundaries between different scientific disciplines are increasingly blurred, and where it is understood that the problems faced by society today are complex and therefore require a comprehensive view from the sciences. And on the other hand, to be able to combine scientific knowledge with these current problems of society”.

Why is gender equality in science, technology and innovation important?

“Because the challenges and problems we face today require comprehensive solutions and approaches and, in this sense, it is very important that women go work in spaces where they may be more invisible.

Incentives are needed for women to be more involved in STEM, but without neglecting the way in which experiences and careers develop. In addition, we need to be concerned with the space where women develop and the real opportunities, we need to have to have an academic career and play leadership roles”.