“If when you think of a scientist, you picture a man…

08/02/2010

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If when you think of a scientist, you picture a man…

…. Then you’re part of the problem.

This claim was part of the American For Women in Science campaign three years ago. Some of you may wonder: What’s the point after all? That “Science” could be a “male” discipline? That this could still be considered valid in 2010? Or do you also picture a man?

And if all this is still true, why should we care? Well, guess what, it is true, truer than ever and we care a great deal.

You can’t blame it on Albert Einstein…

… but his crazy look and funny hair shaped our vision of scientists. And if you’re not an “Albert” fan, then you easily picture tall, strict and silent figures with perfectly greased hair with big eyes behind thick glasses – and they are all male. You can’t really rely on Marie Curie and her sad face to come to the rescue. Unfortunately, women are not linked to modern science in the popular imagination and even less to a happy and balanced life as scientists.

Do the math: less than 1/3 is not enough

Behind these mental pictures, what is the status of women in science today?
According to a survey published by UNESCO recently, there are 7 million researchers around the world, including 2.7 million in the developing countries. Women represent 29% but with great variations between the different regions of the world. In Latin America, women attain 46% while they’re 18% in South Asia. Did you know that among the 540 Nobel Prize awardees in science to date, there have been just 16 women — 2,96%?

The challenge of maintaining the balance: science vs family

Many reasons could explain these figures: politics, economics, traditional mindsets… and above all, education. In any case, many scientific women explain that their career was stopped or slowed down because when they founded a family. It seems obvious that combining any career with a family life is a challenge for most women scientists. Having a family “condemns” female scientists to make unfair choices, sometimes to give up on their career. But is there any other way?

In “Family vs Science”, Edyta Zielinska wrote, “Association for Women in Science president Phoebe Leboy explored some of the reasons why women, who enter most scientific fields in equal numbers to men, only occupy some 30% of the highest echelons in academia. Leboy suggested that universities weren’t doing enough to promote their female researchers” (see full article here).

Adaptation and flexibility, too much to ask?

A point of view shared by the two 2009 Nobel Prize awardees in Medicine, Prof Elizabeth Blackburn and Prof. Carol Greider, who urge institutions to even-out the gender gap in top science posts. They say that the career structure is still very much geared toward men — and that promising female researchers fall away from the work not because they can’t do it, but because it isn’t compatible with having a family. Elizabeth Blackburn, 2008 For Women in Science Award laureate (see her portrait here), said a more flexible approach to part-time research and career breaks would help women continue to advance their careers during their childbearing years. “I’m not talking about doing second-rate science, far from it,” she said. “You can do really good, quality research when you are doing it part-time.” Greider added that she especially wants to see measures to get more women onto committees and into decision-making positions.

What about adapting the way research is traditionally organized in a lab to allow the best talents in the world to pursue a career in Science? Too much to ask?….

To ask of whom?… that’s another story.

Still a long way to go. Small steps achieved every day.

An “online community” for women in Science? what for?

Because being a woman in science today is still a big challenge, Agora will be the meeting place for all those who are looking for support, concrete ideas, worldwide best practices and a community of vocation and passion. This blog is an energy spot, a place for you to find strength — through the mutual exchange of reading and writing posts — and the understanding that you are part of something important, that you and your work are building a better future, that you are part of a large and global family that strongly believes the World needs Science and that Science needs Women….

This blog is open to all those who share this vision, who believe in a modern and progressive Science. Who believe that education for young girls in developing countries is essential, who believe that no social, economic or political barriers should prevent a woman from pursuing her vocation and professional “call”.
Who believe that women have a great role to play in the future of science.

Who think, in the end, that equity and fairness are essential to sustain progress.

To all of you, Welcome to Agora!

Anne – L’Oréal corporate Foundation

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Venetia - UNESCO-L'oreal Fellow 29/03/2010

Exceptionally eloquently said…Women ARE changing the face of Science but it is up to YOU to accept and welcome these changing faces!