Botánica: una ciencia femenina en Latinoamérica

Abstract

Botany was considered the first scientific area suited to women’s cognitive understanding. In the 19th century, while men took part in naturalistic expeditions, women’s participation was limited to the analysis and classification of the plants and materials that were collected. Women’s names were not mentioned in scientific works, and as such, a great number of women had “invisible careers”. The scientific contribution to botany by women differs from their contributions to other branches of science. This article analyzes the present-day role of women botanists in Latin America using data gathered from 1,567 scientific articles, 448 herbariums, and 10 botanical societies from 19 Latin American countries. Although the consensus is that Botany is an inherently women-dominated branch of science, this article demonstrates that female participation as curators of herbaria, presidents of botanical societies and conferences, as well as authorship in scientific publications is equal between men and women. This participation is not equally balanced across the region. In Argentina, Brazil, and Mexico there are more herbaria and botanical publications, even as women have higher rates of participation than men, compared to most other Latin American countries.