When Chona Vince Cruz-Abeledo asked young students to draw a scientist, the drawings depicted different scientists: Albert Einstein, Elon Musk, or cartoon character Dexter from Dexter's Laboratory. But what do they all have in common? They are all male.

It didn't surprise Abeledo, a molecular biologist professor at the De La Salle University, because there are 30 percent fewer women and girls who are portrayed as scientists and engineers in popular media.

"As a Pinay in STEM , these drawings sometimes make me sad. Bakit hindi babae? Bakit hindi Filipina ang dino-drawing nila? (Why didn't they draw a woman? A Filipina?)" Abelado said during the launch of Pinays Can STEM digital toolkit.

According to statistics from the Commission on Higher Education, in the Philippines, just two in seven engineering students are female, only 41 percent of students taking information technology-related courses are women, and women make up only 43 percent of STEM enrollments.

Busting myths about Filipinas in STEM

Yes, you can be both feminine and a scientist.

"A woman can be feminine, a woman can be boyish, a woman can be tough and soft all at the same time," she added.

"One thing that we must always remember is that a woman's manifestation of self, mahinhin o matigas, palaban o tahimik, hindi tayo dapat de kahon. Dahil ang babae kayang maging kahit na ano (whether you're modest or tough, strong or quiet, we should not put ourselves in a box). Higit pa sa lahat (Above all), our strength goes beyond our physical appearances," she furthered.

Do Filipina STEM majors need to leave the Philippines first and study abroad in order to be considered good or respected scientists? Abeledo doesn't think so.

"Studying abroad and studying locally both have their strengths. If you have the opportunity to study abroad, it would expose you to other cultures and you would grow from these exposures," Abeledo said.

You will also get to learn about alternative techniques in the laboratory or in the field, and this is exciting because you know have the knowledge and the wisdom to bring that home," she added.

However, being a homegrown talent has its pros too.

"When you study here in the Philippines, you will get a deeper knowledge of local problems, araw-araw kang gigising sa kanila (every day you will wake up to these problems) and the more exposed you are to them, the more appreciation you would have to the people who are bearing these problems and trying to solve them on their own," Abeledo said.

"You will also get early awareness of local processes, paano mag-submit ng (how to submit) research proposals sa DOST , paano magbigay ng talk sa isang local event (how to give talks in local events), how to communicate with the right people and talk to the correct government or local agencies," she added.

Abeledo noted that the Philippines still needs 90,000 scientists in "order to catch up with the development" in Southeast Asia and the rest of the world.

Scientists are not geniuses

You don't have to be good at math to be a scientist. Even Abelado herself almost failed math in college.

"To be a scientist, you have to be curious about the world. How does this experiment work? How does this living thing react to climate change? How do we grow better food for the next generation? Having those questions in your mind and being curious about the answers will make you a good scientist," she stressed.

"You also have to be committed in uncovering the truth kahit mahirap (even if it's hard), kahit paulit-ulit, basta gusto mong malaman ang totoong sagot (even if's repetitive, as long as you want to know the real answer). Kung kaya mong maging matsaga, ikaw ay isang magiging kapakipakinabang na siyentipiko (If you can be patient, you will be a useful scientist). You will be a good scientist as long as you are resilient enough to pursue truth," she added.

'Sana babae'

Abeledo hopes more women and girls could be involved in STEM and inspire the next generation of female scientists.

"Bilang isang Pinay in STEM, ang pangarap ko balang araw, when I ask young students, when I ask children to draw what a scientist looks like, sana babae ang i-drawing nila and sana Filipina and sana ang i-drawing nila, ang sarili nila (As a Filipina in STEM, my dream is one day, when I ask young students and children to draw what a scientist looks like, hopefully, they will draw a woman, hopefully, a Filipina, and hopefully they will draw themselves)."