{"id":9348,"date":"2017-03-08T10:38:38","date_gmt":"2017-03-08T09:38:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.embl.de\/?p=9348"},"modified":"2020-03-25T12:22:00","modified_gmt":"2020-03-25T11:22:00","slug":"1703-women-in-science-glass-half-full","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/lab-matters\/1703-women-in-science-glass-half-full\/","title":{"rendered":"Women in science: Glass half full?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Catherine Gater<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The Wellcome Genome Campus<\/a> 2017 Sex in Science programme<\/a> kicked off with a talk by Ottoline Leyser, Director of the Sainsbury Laboratory and Professor of Plant Development at the University of Cambridge. Frustrated by what she saw as pessimistic attitudes to those who have children during their science careers, Leyser collated a collection of inspiring short stories called Mothers in Science \u2013 64 Ways to Have it All<\/a>.<\/em> And her key messages to the audience echoed this sentiment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Value diversity<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDiversity is fundamental to a healthy research culture,\u201d she says. \u201cScientists expect to be challenged by different ideas and alternative ways of thinking. If everyone in the room thinks the same way, then alternative views will struggle to emerge and to provide that essential role of challenge.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An important factor in diversity in the research environment is the proportion of male to female researchers. Whereas 60% of life sciences graduates are female, a mere 12% of professors in the field are female. Citing a Wellcome survey, Leyser identifies the transition between postdoc and principal investigator as the stage where many female life science researchers leave the field. What\u2019s happening? The answer may not be straightforward.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rekindle the passion<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The Wellcome study identified three factors that may dampen an initial passion for science in researchers: a lack of funding and instability; pressure to publish; and a culture of long working hours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe problem is the pressure you feel to work hours that you don\u2019t have,\u201d Leyser explains. She calls this the \u2018publish or perish pressure cooker,\u2019 and argues against a culture that judges a scientist\u2019s contribution by key performance indicators and the number of zeros on the end of their grant cheque.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Take the pressure off<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Leyser points out that stepping off the academic career path is often seen as a \u2018failure.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis is profoundly wrong,\u201d she asserts. \u201cIt is not as simple as assuming that women lack confidence to succeed, and so \u2018fail,\u2019 while men naturally have the confidence to pursue the hallowed path to professorship.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If everyone in the room thinks the same way, alternative views will struggle to emerge and to provide that essential role of challenge<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Men and women suffer equally from lack of confidence but handle it differently, she says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFor men, it can be much harder to make a decision that could be seen as a \u2018failure\u2019 option,\u201d she said. \u201cWomen are too scared to stay in science, and men are too scared to get out of it. Fear should not come into it. We should take the lid off the pressure cooker!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Drive culture change<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Taking the fear out of the equation requires a fundamental culture change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe should move away from condemning taking steps off the academic career path as \u2018failure\u2019 and celebrate the sheer diversity of careers that are open to those with scientific training,\u201d says Leyser.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Find out what success means to you, and define your own life goals<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Teaching, policy making, international relations and project management are just a few of the excellent opportunities beyond research. Leyser believes that both men and women who are considering leaving science are more likely to stick with it once they know how many career options are available to those with a background in science.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Do what works for you<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

There are no hard-and-fast \u2018rules\u2019 for success in an academic career, nor indeed is there a fixed definition of success. If and when to have children, where to do your postdoc, how many hours you work are all personal choices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFind out what success means to you, and define your own life goals,\u201d she urges.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ottoline Leyser on the fallacy of failure and the road to self-determination<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":9365,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[492,36,493],"embl_taxonomy":[],"class_list":["post-9348","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lab-matters","tag-diversity","tag-embl-ebi","tag-women-in-science"],"acf":{"article_intro":"

Ottoline Leyser on the fallacy of failure and the road to self-determination<\/p>\n","related_links":[{"link_description":"EMBL-EBI Women in Science ","link_url":"http:\/\/www.ebi.ac.uk\/about\/women-in-science"},{"link_description":"Wellcome Genome Campus ","link_url":"http:\/\/www.sanger.ac.uk\/about\/campus"},{"link_description":"Ottoline Leyser\u2019s group at the Univeristy of Cambridge","link_url":"http:\/\/www.slcu.cam.ac.uk\/research\/leyser-group"}],"article_sources":false,"vf_locked":false,"featured":false,"color":"#007B53"},"embl_taxonomy_terms":[],"yoast_head":"\nWomen in science: Glass half full? 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