A look into the gender demographics of Brazilian Paleontology

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Abstract
In 2020, a group of Brazilian female paleontologists from various universities and public institutions conducted the study “Brazilian Paleontology Gender Profile,” whose main objective was to assess the current demographic diversity of Brazilian paleontologists and how the role of women has evolved throughout the history of the Brazilian Society of Paleontology. Initially, the project aimed to determine the number of professionals working in Paleontology and their demographic distribution in the country. However, our research expanded, encompassing race, Indigenous representation, LGBTQIAP+ data, parenthood, harassment, and gender violence. The present work presents the first installment of three sets of unpublished data, shedding light on gender issues and how to combat gender discrimination through the proposal of affirmative action policies that could be taken within the Brazilian Society of Paleontology and other scientific associations in South America. Keywords: gender profile, women in science, gender biases.