Hopeless, burnt out, sad: how political change is impacting female researchers in Latin America
Paleontologists Ana Valenzuela-Toro and Mariana Viglino outline some of the challenges shared by researchers across Latin America. These include funding, language barriers, journal publication fees and conference travel costs. But the two women then list some of the extra burdens faced by female researchers who live and work there, many of which will resonate with female colleagues based elsewhere.
\u201cWhen you are in a room sharing a scientific idea or project, nobody listens to you. Then another person, usually a male researcher, says what you said,\u201d says Valenzuela-Toro, who is based in Caldero, Chile.
Mariana Viglino, a Puerto Madryn-based researcher at CONICET, an Argentine government science agency, says the election of far-right governments inevitably results in science funding cuts. \u201cAnd that means many people having their careers cut. Many research projects that are not going to be able to continue,\u201d she warns.
\u201cIt makes me feel really hopeless, and really burnt out, and really sad. I really don\u2019t even know how to put it into words. You want to give back to the government who has invested in you. You want to give back to society. You just feel like they are just pushing you out.\u201d
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