On Friday, Feb. 11, Poder Latinx, a national nonprofit organization that works to bring more Latinx individuals into the political sphere, hosted a webinar on Facebook Live to commemorate the International Day of Women and Girls in Science. 

In 2015, the United Nations General Assembly declared Feb. 11 as the International Day of Women and Girls in Science. Poder Latinx used this day as an opportunity to uplift the voices of women of color with backgrounds in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics).

The three panelists, Mayra Vargas, Amritha Karthikeyan and Gabbie Paduano, spoke about the challenges they faced in higher education, the importance of representation in their respective fields, and how they work to fight climate change.

This year’s theme is “Equity, Diversity and Inclusion: Water Unites Us,” so the webinar’s host, Justice Climate Organizer Melissa Martinez, focused in part on the impending water shortage taking place in Arizona.

Globally, only 33% of researchers are women, and they are awarded less research funding than men, and are less likely to receive promotions. Women account for just 22% of professionals working in artificial intelligence and 28% of engineering graduates.

Vargas, a fellow organizer at Poder Latinx who received a degree in biochemistry from St. Mary’s University, spoke about a challenge she faced when first entering the workforce.

“I started to look for a lot of employment related to lab work. I was working in a laboratory previously, but one of the basic things that I faced was I didn’t have enough experience. And the starting job I was going to take was going to be like $11 an hour,” Vargas said.

Paduano, a science communicator and environmental scientist, said she experienced similar struggles in terms of finding a job and with finances. But her biggest challenge was dealing with imposter syndrome, and feeling like she is being judged differently as a woman, as a person of color, and as a young person. 

“You just have to remind yourself that you're doing great work, you're doing awesome and, you know, just keep just keep doing what you're doing and chugging along and not letting other people kind of impact the goals and the passions that you have,” Paduano said. 

Karthikeyan, who is currently a sustainability and data science student at Arizona State University, highlighted the significance of diversifying her field in particular.

“At least for data science…data nowadays determines everything and it needs to be analyzed and collected in an unbiased manner. And there needs to be more women and people of color behind the scenes who are handling this data so that we can get the proper resources that we need,” Karthikeyan said. 

Martinez then transitioned the conversation to the theme of this year’s celebration, which is water. Martinez explained that Arizona is currently headed down a road that will eventually lead to a major water crisis if action is not taken. 

In Arizona, there are constantly bills being passed that are using the state’s already limited water supply. Martinez asked the panelists to share their thoughts on the issue and what people can do to mitigate the situation.

Vargas said the most important thing is education, for oneself and for others, and becoming active in the community through volunteer work. 

“It’s going to affect us all at one point or another. So we need to have those conversations. And what better way to [do this] than being educated and being able to educate others?” Vargas said.