Explaining science to young people to combat the gender gap
At 27, Virginia Banzi is already an inspiration to thousands of boys and girls. She spreads content about physics and fights against gender inequality in science subjects. But don't call her an influencer
3' min read
3' min read
Virginia Benzi, 27, aka Quantum girl, has 300 thousand followers on Instagram and over 100 thousand on YouTube and TikTok. But don't call her an influencer. "I have nothing against influencers,' she replies from the stage of the Trento Festival of Economics, 'but I don't consider it my job. I would rather call myself a content creator, because I create content in the field of Stem subjects (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics, ed). If you really want, call me a Stem content creator'.
A graduate in Physics of Fundamental Interactions, since 2023 she has been managing social outreach channels and disseminating content on this scientific discipline. She edited and hosted "GenQ", a series on physics aired on RaiPlay. In October 2024, he won the TikTok Award in the 'education' category. She collaborates with universities and research organisations and is one of 90 girls in the Generazione Stem community. "We narrate science against the gender gap in science subjects, which is just the tip of the iceberg generated by the error of those who, still today, distinguish the abilities of human beings on the basis of gender".
During the meeting 'Stem Quiz Challenge: science in the hands of young people to build tomorrow', Benzi told her story. "Even before I finished university, as a first-time user of social networks, I said to myself: let's try to see if what I studied can be of interest to someone. I soon realised that, yes, social media could be an incredible megaphone for the scientific world. But also that science, as well as any other form of culture, can contribute to making social networks a better place'.
Addressing the many young people who had come to listen to her, Virginia Benzi recounted her course of study. "Before enrolling in physics, I went to art school. It was philosophy that led me to physics, making me realise that in the study of fundamental interactions I could find everything I was interested in: philosophy, on the one hand; and the desire to understand how everything around us works, on the other. Because fundamental interactions are just that: they are the forces that govern everything around us'.
First he studied its beauty. Then its complexity. And finally Virginia Benzi got a clear idea about the world. "I realised that in every century, every generation feels it has arrived. But that in reality we are only at the beginning of discovering what surrounds us. Not only of the natural world. But also of the technological one. Scientific progress, compared to human history, is a very recent fact. In the mid-19th century, physics did not yet exist'.
