Women’s Work in Science Matters

To mark International Women’s Day, OWSD Ecuador Chapter carried out a set of activities that combined dialogue, visibility, and collective presence in public space. This year’s commemoration brought together an academic conversation, a digital campaign, and participation in the 8 March march in Quito, reaffirming the chapter’s commitment to women in science and to the wider struggles for equality, justice, and recognition.

One of the central activities was the dialogue event “OWSD Ecuador in Action: Women Who Research, Networks That Transform”, held on Friday, 6 March 2026, at 10:00 a.m., in the Manuela Sáenz Hall at Universidad Andina Simón Bolívar, Ecuador Campus, with both in-person and online participation via Zoom. The event was organized by OWSD Ecuador in collaboration with the Academic Area of Management at Universidad Andina Simón Bolívar, Ecuador Campus, and REMCI (Ecuadorian Network of Women Scientists).

The event featured an outstanding panel of invited speakers: María Quintana, OWSD Regional Representative for Latin America and the Caribbean and member of the OWSD Executive Board; María Fernanda Rivera, lecturer and researcher at the Escuela Superior Politécnica de Chimborazo and recipient of the OWSD-Elsevier Award for Early-Career Women Scientists; and Mariana Lima Bandeira, lecturer at Universidad Andina Simón Bolívar, Ecuador Campus. The session was moderated by Genoveva Espinoza Santeli, Coordinator of the Master’s Programme in Management for Sustainable Organisations and Coordinator of the UASB node of REMCI.

A key theme that emerged throughout the discussion was the importance of networks in the trajectories of women in science. The conversation highlighted that networks are not only channels for professional contact or academic collaboration. They are also spaces of mentorship, mutual recognition, emotional support, and collective strength. For many women researchers, especially in contexts shaped by structural inequalities, institutional barriers, and unequal care responsibilities, networks play a crucial role in sustaining participation, opening opportunities, and reducing isolation. In this sense, the dialogue reaffirmed that building and strengthening networks among women scientists is both an academic and a political task.

As part of the chapter’s 8 March activities, OWSD Ecuador also released a video campaign on social media highlighting women’s contributions across fields of knowledge. The video was developed in two parts. The first looked back at the history of 8 March, emphasizing the struggles and collective demands that gave rise to International Women’s Day and reaffirming its historical and political meaning. The second featured the voices of OWSD Ecuador members, who spoke about how they strive, through their daily work and commitments, to protect and sustain the rights that women have fought to gain. By linking memory, voice, and action, the initiative offered a meaningful way to highlight the demands that still persist and the importance of March 8th in society.

In addition to these academic and digital activities, members of OWSD Ecuador also took part in the 8 March march in Quito, joining the broader collective of women scientists. This participation reflected the understanding that women in science are not separate from the wider social realities affecting women’s lives. Being present in the march was also a way of affirming that scientific communities are part of the ongoing struggle against inequality, violence, and exclusion. The march in Quito brought together multiple collectives, artistic expressions, and public demands, creating a shared space in which women from different sectors made their voices visible.

Taken together, these activities reflected a common conviction: that women’s work matters, that women’s voices must be heard, and that networks remain essential to transforming the conditions under which knowledge is produced. Through dialogue, digital visibility, and collective participation, OWSD Ecuador marked 8 March not only as a commemorative date, but as a moment to reaffirm solidarity, strengthen connections, and continue building a more inclusive and equitable scientific community.

Let us keep building networks.