D. Besadío – DUVI – 23/10/2025
21 women versus 15 men. Female professors are leading the new appointments to the ranks of full and associate professors at the University of Vigo. This was confirmed on Thursday during the swearing-in ceremony for teaching and research staff who, over the past year, achieved the rank of full or associate professor. The event took place in the auditorium of the Ernestina Otero building and was attended by the university’s rector, Manuel Reigosa; the Vice-Rector for Faculty and Academic Planning, Adela Sánchez; and the Secretary General, Mª José Bravo Bosch.
With these new appointments, the number of full professors now stands at 272 and associate professors at 576, to which 180 tenured doctoral and permanent contract lecturers must be added. In total, there are 1,028 faculty members with permanent ties to the University of Vigo, in addition to other tenure-track positions, including those hired for teaching needs—such as assistant professors—and research staff with long-term commitments (Ramón y Cajal, Beatriz Galindo…).
“This is an event to thank and congratulate you,” emphasized the rector, who also made a request: that they do everything possible to help make the University of Vigo an institution that serves society. “Here, we always value effort, merit, and ability, and that’s why we believe that those who truly work hard deserve to be promoted,” he said, encouraging associate professors to aim for full professorship within the next two years, and urging new full professors “not to step aside but to continue contributing to your research groups, where you are truly indispensable.”
Although not all attended the event, a total of 16 new full professors—10 women and 6 men—and 20 associate professors—11 women and 9 men—were accredited on this occasion.
Marta Mª Pazos: “The hardest part was balancing family life”
Among the new full professors present at the Ernestina Otero building was engineer Marta María Pazos Currás, a lecturer at the School of Industrial Engineering and researcher with the Bioengineering and Sustainable Processes group, Biosuv, affiliated with Cintecx. She admits that the most difficult part of the long journey to becoming a university professor “was, without a doubt, balancing family life.” In her view, staying in the research career and achieving all the necessary merits for accreditation—teaching, high-impact publications, supervising theses, leading competitive projects, international stays, knowledge transfer—while also caring for a family is a constant challenge. “I’ve sacrificed many hours of sleep to make progress. The support of my family was, without a doubt, the most important thing, and without them, I wouldn’t have made it this far,” she said.
In her opinion, the most rewarding part of the process is seeing how all that effort turns into recognition and opportunities to continue contributing to science and training new generations. In her case, she doesn’t believe there is explicit discrimination in academia, at least not in the early stages of a research career, “but it’s true that tasks traditionally associated with women—like family care—can delay or hinder professional growth.” Along those lines, she notes that although progress has been made, these responsibilities are not always recognized or shared equally. “Fortunately, that wasn’t my case, as I had a lot of support from my husband. Today, it’s very important to have more female role models and support networks that help make women’s talent in engineering and research more visible.”
La catedrática, Marta Pazos Currás, de CINTECX
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