“The notion that women should just stay at home or women scientists should just focus on science must be eradicated. We are able to do both, and we are successful in doing our tasks as homemakers and as career women.”

Having a successful job as an Assistant Professor in the Institute of Biology and being a mother of three children, Dr. Daisy May Santos is a true epitome of this women-empowering statement.

Dr. Santos grew up with a budding interest in plants. This interest later became her passion as she took the Biology program in UP Baguio. After her undergraduate studies, she taught for a semester before taking a career shift as a call center agent. She eventually went back to the academe to work as a research assistant in UP Diliman, while pursuing her masters and doctorate studies.

Dr. Santos focuses her research on plant genetics and molecular biology; She currently studies the molecular genetics of coffee. Their research team is looking for molecular markers in coffee that are related to aroma, disease resistance, and yield to help in improving existing Philippine coffee varieties.

While pursuing higher studies, Dr. Santos met her partner in life in the Institute of Biology, Dr. Brian Santos. They have three adorable children. It was a big adjustment for her and her husband but they figured out how to manage being scientists and parents at the same time.

Dr. Santos also shares the credit for achieving her scientific goals while being a mother, to the faculty and staff in the Institute of Biology who have been very supportive of her motherhood journey.

“There would be times when we had to bring the children to the office and even to class. Some faculty and staff would also take turns babysitting the kids. I received the support I needed from them and somehow, they have made my life as a scientist mom easier.”

Dr. Santos highlights the importance of giving women opportunities and fostering a nurturing environment for them to be able to grow and become successful in their chosen career.

“Yes, having the opportunity and being in the right environment contributes to a woman’s success in both endeavors, but I still believe it is the capabilities and determination of a woman scientist that matters in order for her to have a successful career, while also being a mother.”

Dr. Betchaida Payot, Associate Professor of the National Institute of Geological Sciences, started her scientific journey as a way to help her family make ends meet. She grew up in Bukidnon and is from a big family—she has 6 brothers and 2 sisters! Constantly, her parents always reminded her and her siblings the importance of education and how it can help them get better opportunities in life.

“My parents only attained secondary education, they did not even go to college, which made them work harder in the pineapple fields in order for us to get an education and eventually pursue our dreams. They saw education as the equalizer to our situation.”

With the overwhelming support from her family, Dr. Payot pursued a science degree in UP Diliman and was a DOST Scholar. A physics major at first, she had a hard time dealing with the subjects and she had to contemplate whether science was really for her. A good friend of hers, a geology student, told her to not give up science and suggested she try geology instead. Dr. Payot shifted to Geology on her second year and from then on, things went uphill and she finally envisioned herself building a career in geosciences.

When Dr. Payot graduated, there was a decline of jobs for Geology graduates, so most of her batchmates pursued graduate school and she applied as a research assistant for a project in NIGS. She also needed a job to support herself and her family.

“The project actually wanted a male research assistant since the terrain was difficult and the project staff were concerned if I could do it, but I really needed that job and I insisted that I could do anything I set my mind to. I got the job and I finished it! It was my first project and it was very rewarding! It fueled myself even further to continue research.”

Dr. Payot is thankful for the support she is getting from her colleagues in NIGS and she never felt she can’t do certain things because she is a woman. She is also thankful that there were female professors that came before her, which paved the way for younger faculty members like her to excel in a male-dominated scientific field.

Dr. Payot is currently working on the research program “Growth of an island arc (GAIA): Tectonic consequences and human impacts”, a DOST-PCIEERD funded program under the Manila Economic and Cultural Office – Taiwan Economic and Cultural Office (MECO-TECO) initiative. The program comprises two projects namely: “Project 1. Evolution of the Luzon Arc: From Igneous to Sedimentary Processes” and “Project 2. Tectonic Consequences of Subduction in Northern Luzon”.

Despite the scientific breakthroughs and accomplishments women scientists achieved, Dr. Payot says they still receive misogynistic remarks from men, and even women, regarding their careers. She wants everyone to do away with this patriarchal thinking and respect the choices of women.

“There are instances when women scientists, who are not married, would receive questions and unsolicited advice about marriage and starting a family. It’s already 2021, we should do away with the notion that this is the only role a woman plays. Women should be free to do what they want in life.”

Dr. Payot emphasizes the need for more opportunities and proper education for every girl in the country in order for them to achieve greater things and pursue their dreams. She is a living testament to this and she is still in awe how an educational opportunity made her successful in her field and achieve the dreams her family always wanted for them.

“We need to provide more platforms and opportunities for young girls. When young girls are really given the right opportunity and support, they grow up to become empowered women, doing and achieving mighty things. It happened to me, so it could happen to others as well! Who would’ve thought that a Probinsiyana like me, who used to imagine life beyond the pineapple plantations in Bukidnon, would become a scientist achieving things beyond I imagined.

Dr. Cecilia Conaco, an Associate Professor of the Marine Science Institute, has always been curious and passionate about science ever since she was a kid. She remembered reading “Mutation” a book about the perils of genetic engineering. From that moment on, her interests in molecular biology piqued, which made her pursue a degree in Molecular Biology and, eventually, a career in Science.

Dr. Conaco started her scientific training in molecular biology, with the goal of becoming a neuroscientist someday. While she was doing her Ph.D. and post-graduate study in the United States, she worked on mouse brain development but later became more fascinated with the evolutionary aspects of neuroscience. This led to an interest in the origins of the nervous system of early-diverging animals such as sponges and corals. She eventually made the switch to marine science and is now dedicated to studying all kinds of marine life to find out what makes each one unique and resilient.

“My colleagues in MSI have been supportive of my journey. Doing fieldwork was really new for me, that was a struggle at first, however, my mentors, which are mostly women, were really supportive and helpful when I started at MSI. I grew up surrounded by women role models, so it was nice to be surrounded by empowered women in MSI as well.”

Dr. Conaco believes in the importance of women taking roles in scientific fields because women have different perspectives and ideas to contribute. However, despite the achievements and contributions of women scientists, people would still discount these, diminishing the importance of their roles.

“The general populace really has an image of what a woman should be doing. People would, sort of, discount the achievements of young, women scientists because we have ‘more time’ to devote to science compared to women devoted to raising children. Our achievements do not come without sacrifice.”

Despite the preconceived notions regarding women in science, Dr. Conaco highlights the role of social media in breaking these notions and how it has become an important tool for recognizing women achievers in the field of science. Learning about the many contributions of women scientists worldwide could be a source of inspiration for young girls to pursue a career in the sciences.

“Science is for everybody! Everyone should know that science is an open field— everyone can take a part in it especially here in the Philippines where there is still a lot to discover. You just have to be curious!”

Dr. Pia Bagamasbad is currently an Associate Professor and the Principal Investigator of the Molecular Endocrinology Laboratory.

Dr. Bagamasbad, together with the Molecular Endocrinology Laboratory, is devoted to studying the role of hormones in the development of the nervous system and hormone-dependent cancers. 

Dr. Bagamasbad’s research interests include hormone action and neuronal development, hormone-related/hormone-driven cancers, and long-term and epigenetic effects of stress on the brain.

While working as a Research Assistant in Boston, Massachusetts, Dr. Bagamasbad witnessed first-hand the existing gender inequality in the life sciences field, which is pervasive in the United States and other western countries. When she came back to the Philippines, she saw that there is an almost equal number of male and female scientists. She realized that it is more advantageous as a woman to pursue a career in life sciences in the Philippines compared to the United States.

“In the field of life sciences, I would say that here in the Philippines, there is not much of a difference between the number of men and women scientists, especially in the academe—It is an achievement! However, when we talk about tenure track positions, it is still dominated by men.” 

Dr. Bagamasbad believes that women should take up more space, especially in scientific fields, because women need more representation, and stereotypes about women only staying at home to take care of the family shouldn’t exist anymore.

“Some people tend to have gender bias towards women because they are taking up multiple roles apart from their career. Women, for me, are excellent multitaskers which makes them efficient with the tasks they are handed!”

For Dr. Bagamasbad, despite women thriving in the academe and scientific fields, there is still a need for more women to take up more leadership roles, especially now where countries with great COVID response are led by women. According to Dr. Bagamasbad, there is also a need for more students to pursue sciences.

“In the life sciences field, the struggle right now is not necessarily gender inequality, but to get more students, male or female, to pursue careers in sciences and for scientists/professionals to stay in the country. Right now, in this pandemic, that is what we need and what should be prioritized.”