Analyzing gender disparities in STEAM: A Case Study from Bioinformatics Workshops in the University of Granada

Abstract

Bioinformatics is an interdisciplinary area that has raised a high interest for both academia and corporations in recent years. This rising area combines knowledge and skills from Bio and Science, Technology , Engineering, Arts and Mathematics (STEM) areas. One of the advantages of the synergy between these two work areas is that it offers an opportunity for closing the traditional STEM's gender gap. Despite this opportunity and the significance and wide application of bioinfor-matics field, this topic has still not gained enough visibility in the graduate programs for the Bio Bachelor Degrees at the University of Granada. This has motivated the organization of an annual "Educational Workshop on Bioinformatics" at the University of Granada by the Department of Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence. Results of the analysis of the first two editions of this workshop show a great interest on the topic by the university community at all levels (e.g. undergraduate and graduate students, teachers and researchers) without significant distinction among genders at global level. When analyzing student group, women did show a higher interest on the subject. However, this interest was not reflected in the higher university strata (teachers and researchers), which represents a glimpse of the spanish general current situation on the area.