On January 15, in a ceremony attended by more than 1,500 people at the Simon Bolívar Auditorium, at the Latin America Memorial in São Paulo, chemist Maysa Furlan was officially inaugurated as dean of São Paulo State University (UNESP). She is the first woman to ever hold this position. For the next four years, she will head an institution with campuses in 24 cities across the state of São Paulo. Established in 1976, UNESP has 3,200 faculty members and over 50,000 undergraduate and graduate students. It is the second-largest producer of master’s and doctoral graduates in Brazil, second only to the University of São Paulo (USP). This year, the university’s budget stands at R$4.69 billion.
Furlan specializes in natural product chemistry and has been a professor at the Institute of Chemistry on the Araraquara campus since 1987. Born in Mirassol, a town in São Paulo State, southeastern Brazil, she earned her chemistry degree from UNESP in 1981. She then pursued a master’s (1985) and a doctorate (1990) at USP, followed by a postdoctoral fellowship at Washington State University (WSU, 1993). Between 2004 and 2008, she served as director of the Institute of Chemistry. In 2021, she became vice dean alongside nephrologist Pasqual Barretti, a researcher from the Botucatu campus. In October 2023, she won 67.6% of the votes in a university-wide consultation to select the next dean, with biologist Cesar Martins, also from Botucatu, as vice dean. On the first day of her tenure, Furlan gave the following interview via videoconference.
You are the first woman to ever serve as dean at UNESP, although when you became vice dean in 2021, you were not the first—Professor Marilza Rudge had preceded you a decade earlier. Why is it so challenging for women to rise to the top of academia and break through what is known in the private sector as the “glass ceiling”—a metaphor for the often-invisible barriers that hinder women’s advancement into higher roles?
This is a deep-rooted issue that reflects a still-conservative and male-dominated society where high-ranking roles are still largely held by men. Universities are a reflection of broader challenges within Brazilian society. Women have to juggle homemaking, motherhood, and their careers, and this affects their academic and professional advancement. Even so, women are becoming increasingly present in São Paulo’s state universities, and this is not the first time they have reached leadership roles. About 20 years ago, the University of São Paulo (USP) appointed its first female dean, Professor Suely Vilela. Universities are actively discussing and gathering data on the challenges that female researchers encounter in advancing their careers. One significant finding is that women take longer than men to attain the rank of full professor. And this is a prerequisite for becoming dean. In São Paulo’s public universities, there is a relatively equal gender distribution at the start of an academic career. At UNESP today, the distribution of male and female faculty members is roughly 50-50. However, women make up only 25% of full professors, a trend that is consistent across other institutions. Some progress has been made, but there is still much that needs to be done to improve conditions.
What do you think needs to change?
Universities must offer better infrastructure to support mothers, whether they are faculty members or students. This includes facilities like nursing and diaper-changing rooms, creating a more supportive environment. Initiatives like Parent in Science have sparked global conversations about these challenges in academic careers, with the barriers being especially pronounced in STEM [Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics] fields. At my inauguration ceremony, a 40-year-old woman approached me, visibly emotional, to share that she had only been able to pursue her undergraduate degree after raising her children. Her story underscores deep-seated societal barriers that restrict opportunities, regardless of talent or ability. Universities must actively address these challenges, and can play a key role in building a more equitable and just society while driving national progress.
In 2020, you coauthored an article in the journal Tecnologia e Tendências that explored the barriers women face in scientific careers, particularly in materials science. The study noted the heightened physical and emotional strain that female researchers experienced during the pandemic. Could you share some examples of this?
Together with chemist Karina Fontanin, I analyzed data from CAPES (the Brazilian Federal Agency for Support and Evaluation of Graduate Education) on women’s participation and career progression in materials science. Our analysis revealed that during the pandemic, women were overworked, balancing professional responsibilities with caregiving and household duties. On top of teaching and research, they were also responsible for supervising their children’s online education and caring for elderly or vulnerable relatives. This had a profound impact on their careers, leading to a greater drop in scientific productivity compared to men—even though men were also working from home. This showed that women continue to bear the bulk of household and caregiving responsibilities. Women play an important role in maintaining family stability as primary homemakers, but this takes a toll on their physical and mental well-being.
During the pandemic, women were overworked, balancing professional responsibilities with caregiving and household duties
You are a member of Rede Equidade, a coalition of women leaders from São Paulo’s public universities. What progress has the network achieved so far?
Establishing the network was a significant milestone and a valuable experience. Our discussions focused on several key issues, including gender equity, affirmative action, and racial and ethnic inclusion, all aimed at creating a more just and inclusive university environment. The data we collected underscored the importance of raising awareness about these issues within the academic community. We created and distributed educational materials not only on gender and racial equity but also on accessibility—ensuring that students and faculty with disabilities are properly supported. We developed protocols and training programs. At UNESP, all newly hired faculty and administrative staff are now required to complete these courses, learning to address racial and ethnic issues as well as accessibility needs. This is important because simply providing access to universities isn’t really inclusion if you don’t create an environment where everyone can truly thrive. At UNESP, we created a Guide to Autism Spectrum Disorder, which was later adopted by the São Paulo State Office for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities for use in universities as well as primary and secondary schools. We also created a course on designing affirmative action policies, a joint effort by USP, UNESP, and UNICAMP [University of Campinas]. The course is now available online for educators across São Paulo’s public school system.
At your inauguration ceremony, you announced that UNESP would establish a new associate dean’s office focused on equity, diversity, and student retention. What will the new office do exactly?
We need to coordinate all the initiatives we’ve implemented—programs for student retention, affirmative action, food security, student health, and sports activities. When students enroll at the university, they have access to various forms of support to help them persist in their studies. We revised the terminology, replacing “fellowship” with “grant,” so that students can take part in scientific initiation programs without it being perceived as holding multiple fellowships. We’ve also implemented food security measures—UNESP operates 10 cafeterias and provides takeaway meals or alternative food programs for campuses without cafeterias. We also launched E-Care Sentinela, an online mental health support service introduced during the pandemic to provide counseling to students, and AcolheUNESP, a direct channel connecting students with the university’s ombudsman to report cases of harassment or violence. The new associate dean’s office will enable the various departments overseeing these initiatives to interact more effectively, gaining greater visibility and influence within the university. We plan to prioritize this office as one of our main initiatives in the first 100 days.
UNESP has campuses with long-standing research traditions that predate the university’s official founding, alongside other, more incipient campuses. How can UNESP create a more cohesive research community, given that its faculty is spread across the state?
First, I want to note that UNESP has seen unprecedented research growth in recent years. Over the past four years, our research funding from grant agencies has exceeded R$1 billion. We have seen a major increase in project approvals, thanks in large part to the stellar work of our researchers. Many of these projects have been funded by FINEP (the Brazilian Funding Authority for Studies and Projects). Through FAPESP, we established our first RIDC (Research, Innovation, and Dissemination Center), led by Professor Patrícia Morellato from the Rio Claro campus. This center specializes in biodiversity and climate change research. We’ve made progress not only through large-scale initiatives but also through collaborative research networks in research areas that have evolved within the university. UNESP campuses have differing research profiles. Our younger institutes, established in the early 2000s, coexist alongside century-old institutions like the School of Pharmaceutical Sciences and the School of Dentistry in Araraquara. Many of our campuses extensively engage in international research collaborations. As a way to ensure a more balanced research ecosystem across campuses, we have integrated newly hired faculty joining younger units into our more mature, world-class graduate programs. While these faculty members are highly qualified, some of their campuses may lack the necessary research infrastructure or a critical mass of researchers to create new programs. This approach has been highly valuable—faculty members are now collaborating across campuses, gaining valuable experience that will enable us to expand into new research areas and create new graduate programs at our younger institutions. One of our pressing concerns today is that a considerable number of our faculty researchers are nearing retirement. How can we continue to sustain research fields like agricultural sciences, which are essential in addressing the unprecedented challenges of the twenty-first century? One major hurdle is recruiting new faculty researchers in these fields.
How do you plan to tackle the decline in graduate student enrollment and waning interest in these programs?
This is a nationwide concern. Universities across the country are grappling with this issue, and it has been a major topic of discussion with CAPES. One key strategy—already being pursued by São Paulo’s six public universities—is shortening the time required to complete graduate degrees. Today’s society is fast-paced and results-driven, and this shift is reflected in students’ expectations and engagement with higher education. At USP, we signed an agreement to introduce a fast-track PhD program (see Pesquisa FAPESP issue no. 347). This pilot program will be tested within top-ranked graduate programs. I’m really excited about this initiative. However, we must also turn our attention to undergraduate education. In some disciplines, both in federal and state universities, undergraduate programs struggle to fill seats—especially in teacher education programs.
Why do you think this is happening?
We’ve observed that many young people are losing confidence in certain career paths. However, there are other factors behind this trend. Certain academic programs also experience high dropout rates. Take computing programs, for instance—they are highly sought after, with an extremely competitive applicant-to-spot ratio. However, it’s not uncommon for students to reach their third year, secure an internship, and then quickly receive a high-paying job offer—at which point they drop out without completing their degree. It’s an interesting phenomenon: students leave in their third year and learn the rest on the job. We’re conducting data-driven studies using business intelligence (BI) tools at both the undergraduate and graduate levels to analyze student needs and evolving workforce demands. These insights will help expand and remodel our academic programs.
Today’s society is fast-paced and results-driven, and this shift is reflected in students’ expectations and engagement with higher education
How do you plan to reconcile your research career with your role as dean?
The responsibilities of the dean’s office are extensive, making it harder to maintain research activities. Since stepping into the role of vice dean four years ago, I have had to significantly scale back my number of graduate students. At one point, my lab had seven postdoctoral researchers and five PhD students. However, I still supervise a few students. I am currently supervising a FAPESP-funded PhD student, Otávio Aguiar, who is completing a sandwich period in France. I told him: “You’ll have to manage more on your own now.” We’re currently researching a compound that is naturally found in very low concentrations in plant tissues. Through metabolic engineering, we’re trying to produce it in microorganisms like Saccharomyces cerevisiae (brewer’s yeast) or bacteria. It’s a highly complex, long-term project that has already played a role in training many scientists. I’m very keen to continue my research. I have built my career as a researcher in natural product chemistry, with strong interdisciplinary ties, and I have always found research to be incredibly stimulating. Now it’s time to train the next generation of researchers so they can pick up the torch, leaving a lasting legacy. We’ll see how much I can manage.
