Maria Fe (Peru)
Access to education
Full-time MBA student Maria Fe Aguilar states that equal rights to education in Peru have had a great strain on
Regarding her own access to quality education, Maria Fe is very grateful and fortuitous that she did not face any obstacles thanks to the support of her parents: “My parents worked very hard to provide the best possible education for me and my siblings, pushing us to reach our goals, whatever that meant to each of us, regardless of our gender. I remember when I was young, I wanted to learn how to play football/soccer, regarded as a “manly sport” in Peru, but my parents proudly signed me up for classes with 20 boys and one other girl. They encouraged us to be part of the change towards an egalitarian world, even with small actions."
“I remember a teacher scolding a small girl who had fail to do her homework and she nervously responded that she had to look after her little brother.”
However, throughout the years she witnessed different situations that hindered the access to education of many young women. “During my last years in high school, I attended after school voluntary activities, helping children in low-income districts with schoolwork, with most of them being boys. Many girls had to go back home to help around their house. I remember a teacher scolding a small girl who had fail to do her homework and she nervously responded that she had to look after her little brother. My only solution at the time was to sit down and take care of her little brother while she worked on her homework as fast as she could because later, she had to go back home and prepare dinner before her mother arrived. I have seen similar experiences with women of all ages, and I felt frustrated to witness how ashamed and scared they were.”
Personal inequality encounters
In Peru, women experience inequality in everyday situations, Maria Fe explains: “Peru has a chauvinistic society, filled with stereotypes about how we should dress, speak and live. We are constantly told that we are bad drivers, asked when we are going to get married, and if we do, when we are going to have kids, and many other stereotypical things. Personally, in my professional life I have been required to use tighter clothes by a superior, to “get my way” and in a different job someone joked that I was only wearing a skirt to get a promotion. I have been asked to cook because “I might know more about it” and I have constantly felt that many opportunities have been given to men before being offered to women because we are not strong enough or could not bear the pressure.”
“…in my professional life I have been required to use tighter clothes by a superior, to get my way”
“When facing these experiences, we also face the challenge of how to react and act to respond,” Maria Fe continues: “For me, every situation presents different possible responses and there is no right formula. But we must always remember that our actions and words are part of a collective effort to end inequality in everywhere. To tackle inequality, we must work together, support each other and always #ChooseToChallenge instead of staying silent.”
Choose to Challenge
Maria Fe is very clear on how she chooses to challenge: “I #ChooseToChallenge with small actions that have greater repercussions. Interacting with woman, and specially this year in an international scenario, helps me understand how women fight against gender bias and inequality and how powerful we become with other women by our side. I choose to challenge this sickness by reminding women to stand by each other, by encouraging them to be brave, pushing them to be better and reinforcing their strengths.”
How the Women Ambassadorship Scholarship and the MBA help
Maria Fe is currently following the MSM Full-time MBA and has high ambitions for the future: “The MBA and the Women Ambassador Scholarship will not only help me to further develop my leadership skills, but also put into practice what I have learned, while continuing to build my expertise as a woman in a leading role in any given situation. I want to learn how to be a leader for young women, how to help them thrive and empower themselves to become limitless women. I envision a future in which women will no longer be the minority in leadership positions and I want to contribute to make that happen.”