Men are quoted as experts in the media three times more often than women. Maldita.es is not immune to these dynamics: of the more than 1,000 people who lend us their superpowers in the scientific field, only 26% are women. In addition, as we explained when we reached 1,000 collaborations with the superpowers community, just over 30% of the collaborations we have carried out with our superpowered contributors have been with women.
These figures show that many perspectives are left out. The goal of Maldita.es’s superpowers community is to increase the diversity of voices in the media. For this reason, and thanks to the collaboration of the Spanish Foundation for Science and Technology (FECYT), we are doubling our efforts to increase the presence of women among the contributors who share their superpowers with the foundation, with more women scientists and experts who will collaborate in our content. They will be our Superpowered Women.
Superpowered Women on podcast, Twitch and TikTok, and partnerships with scientific societies and universities
Superpowered Women will take a leading role this season in our Malditas Twitcherías. They will host a live science Q&A in which they will answer our community’s questions in real time, they will have their own interview space where they will talk about their areas of expertise, and they will also take part in the Twitch streams of Maldita Educa to support media literacy and bring scientific culture closer to the public.
We will also feature our Superpowered Women on TikTok, with science Q&A sessions in which the questions come from teenagers who use this social network. In addition, the Superpowered Women will be the main voices of the new Maldita Ciencia podcast, where our contributors will use their superpowers to debunk hoaxes related to science, the environment, and health, and help explain current scientific topics in a simple way. Their outreach work will be recognized with a certificate of collaboration with the Maldita.es Foundation.
TAKE PART IN SUPERPOWERED WOMEN
At Maldita.es we know that to be more effective, the best approach is to work as a team. That is why we are also working on building partnerships with different scientific and medical societies, universities, and research centers. The goal is for them to invite their Superpowered Women to contribute their expertise, join the fight against science-related hoaxes, and take part in our outreach work.
Female role models in science and STEM for younger generations
Increasing the visibility of women experts is the main goal of Superpowered Women. A greater presence of women in the media helps create more role models for younger girls and encourages their interest in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) careers. In the 2018–2019 academic year, only 12.9% of students enrolled in computer science were women, according to data from the Ministry of Education and Vocational Training. In engineering, construction, and industry, the figure rose slightly to 28.5%.
Impostor syndrome, lack of role models, thinking they cannot contribute much, or having little time available are some of the reasons that hold experts back from stepping forward; we discussed this in one of our Twitch streams. But the fight against disinformation belongs to everyone, and you can do your part too. Help us fill Maldita.es with female role models in the fight against disinformation.
JOIN AS A SUPERPOWERED WOMAN IN THE FIGHT AGAINST DISINFORMATION