What if we looked for talent in Black women in Physics? | Sonia Guimarães | TEDxBlumenau
My talk addresses the global talent shortage we face today. Worldwide, 75% of employers struggle to hire—three out of every four. In Brazil, the scarcity is even higher at 81%. But this raises an important question: what gender and skin color are these “talents” employers are truly looking for? Sonia is an Associate Professor at the Aeronautics Institute of Technology (ITA) and the first Black woman in Brazil to earn a PhD in Physics (University of Manchester, 1989). In 1993, she became ITA’s first Black woman professor, at a time when women were not yet admitted as students. With over 30 years of academic contributions, she has been recognized with the Santos Dumont Medal of Honor (2023), named one of Latin America’s 100 most innovative people by Bloomberg Línea (2023), and listed among Forbes Brazil’s Most Powerful Women (2025). In the same year, she was honored as one of the 35 leaders of IT Forum Mulheres and received the Inspiring Women Award from the Brazilian Institute of Petroleum and Gas. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx
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