{"id":162882,"date":"2024-06-06T13:59:33","date_gmt":"2024-06-06T19:59:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tecscience.tec.mx\/en\/?p=162882"},"modified":"2024-06-12T17:53:39","modified_gmt":"2024-06-12T23:53:39","slug":"claudia-rangel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tecscience.tec.mx\/en\/human-social\/claudia-rangel\/","title":{"rendered":"Studying Math Gives You Freedom: Claudia Rangel"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

From the age of 14, Claudia Rangel<\/a> knew she wanted to be a mathematician<\/strong>. Her third-year junior high<\/strong> algebra teacher didn\u2019t let students use pencils or paper: All exercises had to be solved by exercising their memory and only those who answered the problems correctly could sit down. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

 This was a challenge for Claudia: \u201cI didn\u2019t want to keep standing up,\u201d she says in an interview for TecScience<\/em><\/strong>. That\u2019s how she began to enjoy math,<\/strong> \u201cFor me it was a real pleasure to sit down and solve a matrix, spend the whole afternoon doing math.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today, Claudia Rangel<\/strong> is a research professor at the School of Engineering and Sciences<\/a> on Tecnol\u00f3gico de Monterrey\u2019s Quer\u00e9taro campus<\/a>. She earned a bachelor\u2019s degree in mathematics at the Autonomous Metropolitan University (UAM) in Mexico, and a master\u2019s degree and Ph.D. in mathematics at Claremont Graduate University in California.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She has dedicated over 17 years to genomic medicine research<\/strong>, where the work of mathematics and mathematicians is essential since genomic data<\/a> is very large and complex, which is why it requires people who can \u201cdevelop new mathematical and statistical methods<\/strong>, strategies, who know about computing, can develop algorithms, and analyze data<\/strong>.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cMath has made me feel powerful.\u201d – Claudia Rangel (Illustration: Blair Frame)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

What Are You Going to Live On?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Claudia remembers that when she told her father she wanted to study mathematics<\/strong>, he said, \u201cWhat are you going to live on?\u201d But she has never lacked job opportunities<\/strong> or professional development. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen you study math<\/strong>, they teach you to think, to develop analytical thinking<\/strong>, to visualize, to analyze, to question, to try to understand with all our might what a problem is about, and all of these are skills that are required for you to be good at your job, regardless of what that is,\u201d she tells us. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat\u2019s why I believe that if you study mathematics, you can devote yourself to whichever field of work you\u2019d like<\/strong>, whether that be social sciences, law, medicine, the environment, finance, or wherever you want, because you should contextualize your work. This gives you a lot of freedom<\/strong>,\u201d she adds. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For Claudia, math<\/strong> has been a source of pleasure, work, and also empowerment. The feeling of being able to solve a problem and find a solution \u201chas made me feel powerful<\/strong>.\u201d  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What would you say to girls or women who want to study or pursue mathematics? <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The impact of mathematics<\/strong> can be seen in practically everything we do, so if you study math, you have the power to make an impact. The more women study math, the more the gender gap begins to narrow<\/strong>, because if you\u2019re a mathematician you have the ability to think differently, and I believe that it gives you self-confidence. This is the recipe for success in any work environment.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Do you think it\u2019s important there are more and more female mathematicians? <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Absolutely<\/strong>. For example, I used to have all male students. Now, I have all female students. This is because I teach graduate school, so they see me. They see me start to talk about my world, about math, about data, and it seems achievable to them<\/strong>.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Does that mean that more women in mathematics inspire or encourage other women? <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yes.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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