The Guinovarda Institute of Piera invited researchers Lara Maestripieri (Principal Investigator) and Victoria de Castro (PhD Student) from the NEXT-UP project at IGOP to participate in Científiques, an initiative promoted by the Catalan Foundation for Research and Innovation (FCRI), coordinated by the Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology (BIST), and developed in collaboration with the Department of Education of the Government of Catalonia. The project aims to highlight and make visible the work of women in science by bringing female researchers closer to secondary school students across Catalonia.
Within the framework of this initiative, Lara and Victoria shared their academic trajectories and reflected on how their personal experiences led them to become social scientists. The meeting was especially meaningful for students from vulnerable backgrounds, as it demonstrated that an academic career is not only possible but also attainable. It also created a space where students could see their own experiences and aspirations reflected in the researchers’ stories.
Lara spoke about her childhood in a rural area near Milan, describing a landscape and range of opportunities similar to those familiar to many students in Piera. Victoria, for her part, shared her experience as a migrant, navigating both the education system and everyday life in a new country. Her story deeply resonated with many students who also come from a migrant background, who felt encouraged to imagine themselves following similar academic paths.
The session was lively and highly participatory. Students actively engaged in the discussion, asking thoughtful questions such as: What does a sociologist do? Can you name examples of women in science? These exchanges helped broaden their understanding of what it means to be a social scientist.
By the end of the day, students discovered that a scientist is not only someone in a white lab coat conducting laboratory experiments, but also someone who studies people, their relationships with institutions, social structures, and inequalities, and who works to understand and address some of the most pressing challenges of our time.