FAPERJ announced on October 10 the results of the 2024 Edition of the Program Support for Mother Scientists linked to ICTs in the State of Rio de Janeiro (FAPERJ Public Notice No. 10/2024). Marina Nucci, a researcher at the Latin American Center on Sexuality and Human Rights (CLAM) and an adjunct professor at the Institute of Social Medicine at the State University of Rio de Janeiro (IMS/UERJ), had her project “A (neuro)science of maternal love and care? An analysis of gender, science, and morality in contemporary discourses on ‘motherhood’ and ‘attachment'” selected by the notice.
The Program Support for Mother Scientists aims to support, through competitive selection, research by scientists who have become mothers in the last twelve years. Exceptions were made for mother scientists of children with disabilities, who could apply regardless of their children’s age.
Eliete Bouskela, the Scientific Director of FAPERJ, highlighted that the foundation has implemented important policies to support motherhood, such as differentiated evaluations of the Lattes curriculum for mother scientists, maternity leave for scholarship holders, among other actions. This program is part of those policies.
Marina Nucci’s research aims to analyze scientific discourses on motherhood, maternal love, and child care. Nucci points out that although motherhood has been critically examined by some feminist movements, the role of mother is still socially viewed in a romanticized and almost sacred manner. The researcher also emphasizes how child care is still heavily assigned to women. In the health sector, concerning the production of knowledge and medical-scientific practices, sets of beliefs and moral values intertwine with prescriptions, dictating health care as well as the behaviors deemed appropriate for mothers. From the theoretical perspective of social studies of science, Nucci questions the supposed neutrality of scientific knowledge, emphasizing the importance of contextualizing its productions, while also considering cultural behavior patterns and values. “We are interested in investigating how such scientific discourses are appropriated and activated by mothers, fathers, or parental educators, and how they are disseminated on social networks. Thus, we hope to better understand the relationship between nature, science, and morality in discourses on motherhood and care. From a broader perspective, the research may aid in critical reflections on care policies and reflections on gender inequalities,” explains Nucci.
The research grant has a duration of 36 months, and the results will be presented in an article to be published in a relevant open-access journal. At the appropriate time, we will be pleased to announce the publication of this article on CLAM’s website and social media.
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