Interview with María-del-Mar Gallardo, ITIS Software, University of Málaga
Dear María, what is your role in your organization?
I am currently a full professor of Computer Science at the Institute for Software Engineering and Software Technology of the University of Malaga (ITIS) (Spain) (itis.uma.es). The institute comprises around 140 researchers and technicians, including permanent staff (approximately 60%) and trainees. Its activities are carried out in five research areas: Automatic Software Engineering, Data Science and Artificial Intelligence, Cybersecurity, Intelligent Networks and Services, and Applications. At the Institute, I co-lead the Morse group, which focuses on contributions in the areas of mobile communication networks and formal methods.
I have been teaching and researching different aspects of Software Engineering for more than 30 years. During these years, I have witnessed first-hand the predominance of men in the computer science profession. Specifically, women have been and continue to be a minority at universities and research centres. It is well known that the number of female professionals in computer science is alarmingly low, and although in recent years the presence of women seems to be growing, it is doing so very slowly.
I have carried out various management tasks at the University of Malaga. Specifically, for two years I chaired the commission for university accreditation in the area of computer science at the Spanish Agency for Quality Assessment and Accreditation (ANECA). In my opinion, while being aware of the limitations of the procedure that logically has to be gradually improved, the mere existence of a national agency that evaluates the competence of all Spanish researchers and teachers is an important step to guarantee access to university positions on equal terms for all applicants without deviations due to their gender.
Why do you think it is important to promote inclusion and diversity in research institutes and universities?
From my point of view, policies should be formulated to promote inclusion and diversity in all areas of research. In the specific case of computer science, this promotion is essential because there are many economic interests related to computer technologies in which women are not participating as main actors in reasonable numbers. If work teams were more diverse, surely the areas of research and development would produce different contributions, making them in turn more attractive for all sectors of society.
What we are seeing now is only a slice of the pie, because the teams are mostly made up of male personnel. Work teams with more diversity would lead to more inclusive technologies, which benefit society as a whole. Consequently, yes, I think we have to continue working on promoting more diverse and inclusive work teams.
Can you briefly explain some initiatives in which your organization has started to promote diversity and inclusion? Any initiative that you are particularly proud of?
For about five years, I have been part of the coordination team of the “Como Tú” (“Like You”) project at the University of Malaga (comotu.uma.es). About 150 researchers and professionals from the STEM fields participate in the project, which aims to make the role of women in science and technology careers visible to school-aged girls and boys (from 5 to 17 years old). For this purpose, the project participants go to interested schools to carry out practical workshops or give talks so that girls and boys have a direct contact with professional women in the different areas of science, technology, engineering and maths. The final objective of the project is to overcome gender stereotypes that, in many cases, discourage girls from following their vocation in science or technology.
The ITIS Institute is very involved in diversity actions and gender issues. In particular, the Institute contributes financially to the project, and most of the Institute’s researchers participate in the activities described.
Depending on the age of the children to whom the activity is directed, participatory workshops are prepared in which students are challenged to use their analytical intelligence to programme more or less complex devices by applying algorithms they know or have developed themselves.
The experience with this type of initiative is very positive. The surveys carried out after the workshops show that, in general, students rate the activities very positively and are interested in learning more about technology.
Have you faced any challenges in promoting inclusion and diversity?
No, in general, schools are aware of the problem and are increasingly including the participation of the “Como Tú” project in their annual activities. On the other hand, the experience of the researchers and professionals is so good that practically all of them repeat every year, preparing and carrying out the workshops in different primary and secondary schools in the province of Malaga.
The challenge is to obtain more funding to be able to reach more schools, including provinces bordering Malaga.
Is there any “mistake” that is important to avoid?
I think that the main mistake when promoting diversity is creating the impression that it is about giving preferential treatment to women or other groups. Some men may think, and in fact do, that some women take advantage of equality policies.
Once you have reached university as a student or researcher, promotion should be the same for everyone. An effort should be made to establish mechanisms to avoid negative discrimination. This is obviously not at odds with the idea of giving visibility to women’s work in professions that are mostly dominated by men. If this is not done, the stereotype that certain professions, such as IT, are for men will be perpetuated.
For this reason, the “Como tú” project attempts to address the problem from the time children are small, showing that neither science nor technology have a gender, that they are not “male activities”.
However, when dealing with children, you have to be very careful not to segregate by gender to make sure they all feel equal. This way, all children participate in the same way in the activities and workshops carried out within the framework of the project, although the ultimate objective is to highlight that the instructors are female researchers.
Are there lessons learned or best practices that you would like to share with other organizations that want to work on these themes?
I believe that any project to promote diversity must be implemented taking into account all groups involved. Male researchers should not feel attacked by policies; on the contrary, we should be able to convince everyone that it is good to have diversity in teams, and that diversity enriches us as researchers and as individuals.
A question that male researchers ask me from time to time is why science and technology need to be promoted among female students. They say that girls should be free to do what they want, they should not be “forced” to choose a technological career. I think that the issue cannot be addressed from that perspective. Of course girls must be free to choose the profession they want. The problem lies in the context in which that decision is made, and if it is linked to a stereotyped idea of what it means to be a researcher. Many years ago we would have been surprised to see a female police officer, a female judge, a female bus driver, or a female doctor, for instance. These were traditionally male professions. With a little effort and luck, in a few years’ time it will be normal to see female computer scientists working in research and technological development.
The interview was conducted by Monica Divitini of NTNU, chair of the ERCIM Human Capital Task Group.
Please contact:
María-del-Mar Gallardo, ITIS Software, University of Málaga
