The International Day of Women and Girls in Science, which takes place on the 11th of February each year, aims to promote the full and equal access and participation of females in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) fields. This year will focus on the role of Women and Girls and Science as relates to the UN's Sustainable and Equitable Development Goals.
We are proud to celebrate this day by inviting some of our female representatives in Science to share their thoughts and experiences of being female in the field of Science.
Florencia Arrosio, F&B Chemistry Lab R&D
Based in Germany
What’s your current role?
I joined the F&B R&D team in Mannheim as a Scientist 8 months ago. Currently, I perform chemical and physical analysis in the development of efficient and sustainable cleaning agents and disinfection solutions. I support existing products in all F&B portfolios and actively participate in developing new products.
What did you study?
I studied chemical engineering at the National University of Mar del Plata in Argentina, where I come from. There, I also got my PhD in Material Science studying the water degradation of glass fiber reinforced epoxy pipes used in the oil and gas industry.
What was your favorite subject at school?
My favorite subject at school was chemistry. I have always enjoyed doing lab experiments. I even took extra classes so I could participate in the Argentine Chemistry Olympiad and travel around the country competing.
What makes you most excited about working with Diversey?
What I like the most about my current role is that no day repeats itself. Currently, I’ve been mostly working on business support requests with Barbara, and I like to feel somewhat detective-like, identifying unknown soils discovered in different customer sites or helping to optimize our customers' cleaning processes.
How did you end up here? Why did you become a scientist? What drew you to this field?
When I was in high school, my chemistry teacher, Patricia, inspired me a lot and encouraged me to pursue a scientific career. In addition, during my last years of my undergraduate studies, I had the opportunity to work in a research group. The experience was so enriching that I decided to do my PhD there, where I discovered that I wanted to pursue a career in research and development.
Do you think that women in science still have disadvantages nowadays?
I believe a lot of progress has been made in the inclusion of women in science. However, I would love to see more representation of women in technical and scientific positions and also more recognition. Did you know that, according to UNESCO, women in academia often receive fewer research grants than their male counterparts? Or that women still account for only 28% of engineering graduates and 40% of graduates in computer science and informatics? I think that there is definitely still room for improvement.
Below you will find links to more interviews from the Diversey Team.
