Representation of Women Scientists in the Press:

Evidence from Mexico and Brazil

Abstract

In this study, we analyze how the press portrays women scientists in Mexico and Brazil (2019–2025) based on a corpus of 2,772 headlines. The headlines were processed using text mining and analyzed through inductive qualitative coding. We identified four categories that reveal differentiated representations across dimensions involving individual and structural aspects, as well as practices of invisibilization and recognition. (1) Headlines that position women as objects of science and tend to reproduce essentialist discourses. This category has a marginal presence in both countries (5.3% in Mexico; 6.8% in Brazil). (2) Headlines that address gender inequalities. Here, Mexico (16.9%) displays a more critical narrative regarding structural gaps than Brazil (11.1%). (3) Headlines that amplify the institutional push for women in science. This is the dominant category in both cases (43.4% in Mexico; 36.5% in Brazil), demonstrating a reliance on official agendas and commemorative events. (4) Headlines that highlight women scientists and their work. Brazil (26.7%) surpasses Mexico (21.1%) in recognizing specific figures or achievements, which are typically presented as individual accomplishments. We conclude that media coverage of women scientists in Mexico and Brazil is seasonal and operates as a process of selective amplification of attributes aligned with institutional discourses, albeit with a shift toward the consolidation of women’s academic authority, especially in the Brazilian context.