Vitoria Guardieiro's career shows that talent and dedication lead to remarkable achievements

The infinity symbol, represented by a lying eight, took on a special meaning for Vitoria Guardieiro when, in 2012, she advanced to the second phase of the Brazilian Public School Mathematics Olympiad (OBMEP). Her father, always a great supporter of her studies, gave her an earring in this shape, which represents the unlimited possibilities before her. This simple gesture, but full of meaning, today perfectly symbolizes the trajectory that has unfolded in her life: a career that, like infinity itself, knows no limits.

The researcher, who completed her undergraduate degree in Applied Mathematics and her master's degree at the School of Applied Mathematics of the Getulio Vargas Foundation (FGV EMAp), began her doctorate at the University of Pennsylvania (UPenn) at the end of August. UPenn is one of the institutions that make up the Ivy League, the distinguished group of eight elite universities in the United States.

“I’m excited! Not only does the program align perfectly with my interests and research goals, but my colleagues were very friendly. I believe it will be a very stimulating environment,” said Vitoria.

Vitoria in front of the University of Pennsylvania building, where she will do her doctorate | Photo: Personal archive

Trajectory

Born in Uberlândia, in the Triângulo Mineiro region, the student revealed an early aptitude for mathematics. Alongside her cousin João Paulo, she developed a genuine enthusiasm for studying. During her time at the Messias Pedreiro State School, she won six medals in the OBMEP: three bronze, two silver and one gold. These achievements were decisive in her decision to pursue this field and attracted the attention of the Center for the Development of Mathematics and Sciences (CDMC). In 2017, the CDMC was developing a program to identify young talents from public schools, offering them the opportunity to enroll in undergraduate and graduate courses at FGV, in Rio de Janeiro. “When I received the invitation to take the entrance exam and learned that I could have the chance to enroll in FGV EMAp, I went home and shared the news with my father. He was excited and encouraged me to take advantage of this opportunity,” she says.

Despite not having higher education, Vitoria's parents always valued education highly, saying that it was the best way to succeed in life. And, despite their fear of having their daughter away from home, they gave her full support when she passed the entrance exam with honors and received an offer to study at the School. Missing her family and the challenges of the big move were overcome with resilience and scheduled visits every three months. Over time, she adjusted her expectations and adapted to the academic rigor of the institution. Throughout her undergraduate studies, she was able to study with a full scholarship, received financial and housing support, as well as emotional support from coordinator Cássia Pessanha.

“She was essential when I arrived in Rio de Janeiro and helped me adapt to the new routine. In addition to guiding me with regard to the scholarship, she was always by my side, offering support with bureaucratic issues. To this day, I can count on her to help me solve any problem, which made my life much easier and allowed me to focus on my academic and professional development,” she emphasizes.

As a woman in an industry where female representation is still limited, Vitoria developed a deep interest in investigating the ethical issues and challenges of bias and discrimination that these models can face. Her final thesis focused on an area known as fairness, and she explored techniques to ensure that machine learning models are non-discriminatory, taking into account factors such as race, gender, and age.

“I proposed a new approach to training these models, seeking to minimize possible biases and ensure greater fairness in automated decisions,” he explained.

The resulting TCC article, entitled “Enforcing Fairness Using Ensemble of Diverse Pareto-Optimal Models” was published by the renowned academic publisher Springer.

Vitoria during the defense of her dissertation in 2023 | Photo: Personal archive

During her master's degree, Vitoria continued exploring the area of ​​machine learning and its associated ethics. Her second scientific article addressed the issue of assessment and scoring algorithms, with a specific focus on the National High School Exam (ENEM).

“I investigated whether the grading process could be discriminatory and analyzed item response theory, which requires uniformity in question difficulty across groups. However, I found that on some 2019 tests, particularly in English and, to a lesser extent, in Spanish, there were significant differences in accuracy rates between groups. I also found notable variations in accuracy rates across income, race, and gender groups,” he explained.

According to the researcher, the article entitled "Analyzing the Equity of the Brazilian National High School Exam by Validating the Item Response Theory’s Invariance", presented at the "15th International Conference on Educational Data Mining", highlighted the impact of the application of algorithms on the equity of educational assessment.

Vitoria also had the opportunity to do an exchange at New York University, where she worked at the VIDA laboratory (Visualization Imaging and Data Analytics Research Center). “It was an enriching experience, as my research interests aligned with the work developed at the VIDA laboratory,” she said.

After receiving feedback from PhD universities and following her professor's advice to reapply, Vitoria was accepted to the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Utah, and New York University, ultimately opting for UPenn.

During her exchange period in New York, Vitoria was able to experience cultural and artistic experiences | Photo: Personal archive

The student says that the training she received at FGV EMAp was crucial to her getting a place at the University of Pennsylvania. “At the School, I had the opportunity to take courses in both mathematics and computer science, while many programs focus on just one of these areas. This multidisciplinary approach was essential for me, since my research focuses precisely on the intersection between these fields,” she highlighted. 

With determination and the crucial support of her family and the School, Vitoria is ready to face the new challenges of her doctorate at the University of Pennsylvania. “My goal is to continue as a teacher and researcher. Therefore, my focus is to continue studying and allow opportunities to unfold naturally,” she concluded.