En búsqueda de la ciencia: las estudiantes de secundaria en Chile y la mediación del saber científico en los primeros periódicos escolares femeninos (1897-1907)

Objective/Context: This paper studies the first Chilean school newspapers led by women and the role of high school students as mediators of scientific knowledge at the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th. The analysis is part of the expansion and modernization of the press and publishing industry, as well as the influence of positivism and the educational reforms that were implemented in Chile during that period, a context in which the ruling class considered scientific knowledge, both its development and access to it by the population, as a priority. Methodology: The article is based on the studies of historians of science who have understood audiences as active agents in generating new knowledge, problematizing categories such as expert, amateur and layman, and examining the types of relationships they sustained. This theoretical perspective is applied to analyzing the magazines of four women’s high schools that took advantage of the valid study plans to access the university in the period and is complemented with other sources, such as prospectuses and relevant administrative documents. Originality: The study makes visible the role of women in science and, specifically, Chilean schoolgirls in this context, which have not been studied from the perspective presented here. Conclusions: Despite the lack of attention given to this population group in terms of scientific contribution, it is shown that high school students were active readers, disseminators and producers of knowledge, managing magazines, generating networks and circulating the knowledge beyond the walls of their educational establishments.