In Commemoration of the International Women’s Day
Dear members of our community,
We'd like to commemorate the International Women’s Day, which history goes back to over a hundred years ago with women in New York City protesting demanding shorter hours, better pay, and voting rights. This is a day to recall the achievements of women and raise awareness about gender equity. We strongly recommend you to explore the plethora of resources available which detail the history of the movement.
This year, the Committee at CUMEXSOC is strongly committed to issues related to social justice and inequality in Mexico. In a country with approximately 10 feminicides daily (UN WOMEN, 2020), we have a long way ahead of us. Before the COVID19 pandemic disrupted the globe, the World Economic Forum predicted that at current rates of progress it will take 257 years to close the economic gender gap. Recent evidence is showing that the socio-economic implications of COVID19 are impacting women disproportionately. According to the OECD, in Mexico, the rate of young women who are not in employment, education or training (NEET) is 33%, 18 points higher than the OECD average. Mexican women are four times more likely than men to be NEET. This year, the CEPAL declared that Latin America lost one decade in the inclusion of women in the workforce.
With an ethos of solidarity at the core of our mandate and in an effort to close this gender gap, the CUMEXSOC is delighted to announce the first stage of our new Mentorship Programme ‘Tsunami: Women* Supporting Women*’. Our goal is for Mexican women* who have had experience / are familiar with the application processes at the University of Cambridge to mentor a potential Mexican woman* applying to the 2021/22 admission period. Although the mentorship is focused on the University of Cambridge, mentors are encouraged to provide general advice related to postgraduate applications in the United Kingdom (how to write a CV, motivation letters, visas, funding, and so on). The idea here is to transform our movement from waves into an unstoppable tsunami!
This first stage of ‘Tsunami: Women* Supporting Women*’ looks to identify potential mentors. If you are currently (or were) working/studying at the University of Cambridge, please fill in this form to know more and join our initiative! The time commitment is really flexible! We calculate eight hours of mentorship between May to November/December 2021.
*The asterisk in women* is intentional as it recognises this category to be open and fluid. This means that anyone who identifies as a woman* (and/or queer, and/or non-binary), regardless of their sex assigned at birth, can apply to our scheme!
Meet our awesome mentors so far!
Armandina Almanza (aga32@medschl.cam.ac.uk)— Treasurer of CUMEXSOC
I am working on a research project funded by the Wellcome Trust at the Autism Research Centre, University of Cambridge. Prior to Cambridge, I obtained an MA (Hons) in Psychology at the University of Edinburgh, and completed an MSc in Clinical Mental Health Sciences at University College London.I am happy to mentor students interested in wellbeing, genetics, and improvement of access to care and support in mental health.
Elizabeth Figueroa (eif20@medschl.cam.ac.uk) —Welfare Officer of CUMEXSOC
I am a PhD candidate in Metabolic and Cardiovascular Disease at the Institute of Metabolic Science. I am currently working with brown adipose tissue fibrosis in obesity. I hold an MSc in Biomedicine from the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) and an MRes in Metabolic and Cardiovascular Disease from the University of Cambridge.I did my undergrad in Food Chemistry at UNAM. I am happy to mentor any women interested in scientific graduate courses either in Cambridge or any other University in the UK.
Laura Reyna (lmr53@jbs.cam.ac.uk)
I hold a PhD on Public Administration (INAP) and I am currently studying Technology Policy at Cambridge Judge Business School. I founded PuentechLab a Laboratory for Technology Policy in Latin America. My passions are technology, public policy and gender equality. I am interested in mentoring women interested in studying topics related to them in Cambridge or the UK. #HereToServe
Saide Mobayed (sam270@cam.ac.uk)—President of CUMEXSOC
I am a PhD candidate in Sociology where I work with human rights and gender-based violence in the digital space. My dissertation looks specifically into how data on fem(in)icide is being globally collected and locally contested by data activists. I am happy to mentor women applying to any social science degree (at either undergraduate or postgraduate level) at the University of Cambridge (or another University in either the UK or Germany).
Sofía Meléndez (sm2272@cam.ac.uk)
I am a second year PhD student at the Philosophy Faculty of the University of Cambridge. My research project consists of a critical analysis of a number of strands and versions of fictionalism, a theory situated within the intersection of metaphysics and philosophical logic; and I am also interested in the philosophy of mathematics, and the philosophy of music. I hold an MPhil in Philosophy from the University of Cambridge, and an BA in Philosophy from the University of Guadalajara. I am happy to mentor any women interested in pursuing to apply to any graduate program in social sciences and the humanities.
Finally, we would like to invite you to the ‘Igualdad de Género y Nuevas Tecnologías’ panel event on Wednesday 10th of March (6 pm MX). Supported by the CUMEXSOC, this talk will bring together four prominent women (including Laura Reyna, one of our Society’s members and Tsunami mentors), to discuss the state of new technologies in Mexico from a gender perspective. Please click here for more information. This event will be in Spanish.
Wishing you all the best,
Your CUMEXSOC