Women in Science Video Narratives

In 2014/2015, the University of Oxford interviewed 39 women scientists, all working at Oxford. From this they have created a website (Women in Science) with information and links to the video interviews. The themes which are covered include obtaining funding, career progression, mentorship, and taking parental leave.

From the website – ‘The aim of the project was to provide support to women making career decisions, by offering them the opportunity to explore a broad range of experiences shared by other women through video interviews. The women talked about many issues, including the culture of science, publishing, obtaining fellowship funding, having a mentor and Athena SWAN. This project focussed mainly on women working in the Medical Sciences Division at the University of Oxford. The project team acknowledges the many other inspiring women working in scientific disciplines across Oxford and hopes in time to include their views here too. This project was funded by the Vice Chancellor’s Diversity Fund and supported by the Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences, the Radcliffe Department of Medicine and the Medical Sciences Office. The grant holders are Chris Price and Sue Ziebland. Alison Chapple conducted the interviews. She also analysed the data with Sue Ziebland.’

Is this something we could/should do here at Reading spanning across all disciplines?

Have as much fun in science as I have!   Prof. Dame Sally Davies, first female Chief Medical Officer of England, encourages you to use this website as a resource to support your career.

Have as much fun in science as I have!
Prof. Dame Sally Davies, first female Chief Medical Officer of England, encourages you to use this website as a resource to support your career.

Manifesto for Change

Published on the 28th March, Athene Donald has written a new blog post discussing women in science, discrimination, and the recent L’Oreal/UNESCO For Women in Science awards.  Athene also highlights a new initiative – the L’Oreal Manifesto.What do you think about the manifesto?

‘There is no point getting angry, since this too often is simply misplaced energy and a waste. But there is every point in highlighting transgressions – small and large – whenever possible to emphasise the structural inequities that exist. The sad fact is, however, that too often circumstances mean that speaking out can backfire. Every genuine supporter of equality has to walk that tightrope. In the meantime, signing the L’Oreal Manifesto is one small action to spell out that enough is enough. We need to shout about the deep-seated societal problems and we need to do it loudly and persistently.’

Do you feel like you are walking a tightrope when you highlight equality issues?

Loreal

 

Applications are open for the 2016 L’Oréal-UNESCO Women In Science Fellowships

What are the L’Oréal UK and Ireland Fellowships For Women in Science?

‘The L’Oréal-UNESCO UK and Ireland Fellowships For Women in Science are awards offered by a partnership between L’Oréal UK & Ireland, the UK National Commission for UNESCO and the Irish National Commission for UNESCO, with the support of the Royal Society, to promote, enhance and encourage the contribution of women pursuing their research careers in the UK or Ireland in the fields of the life and physical sciences.

The National Fellowships are offered under the umbrella of the L’Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science Programme, which has promoted women in scientific research on a global scale since 1998.

Five Fellowships will be awarded in 2016 to outstanding women scientists in the early stages of their career to enable and/or facilitate promising scientific research. The Fellowships are tenable at any UK or Irish university or research institute to support a 12-month period of postdoctoral research in any area of life, physical and computer sciences, engineering and mathematics.’

Key Dates 2016
Applications open: Thursday 28th January
Applications close: Friday 11th March
Shortlist published: Monday 30th May
Awards Ceremony: Wednesday 22nd June

See the L’Oréal-UNESCO website for more information.  Good luck!

2016 winners

2016 winners

Female success rate dips to 10 per cent in latest ERC grant round

Announced toady (30th June) – ‘female academics have won just 10 per cent of the latest tranche of the European Research Council’s flagship advanced grants

female_scientists_examining_specimen

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In an article published in the Times Higher Paul Jump notes that ‘according to the statistics for the 2014 round, released on 30 June, women account for just 19 of the 190 awardees. Of the 25 award-making panels, 12 made no awards to females, including two out of the nine panels in the life sciences, six out of 10 in the physical sciences and engineering, and four out of six in social sciences and humanities.  In the previous round of advanced grants, in 2013, women accounted for 13 per cent of awardees. However, a spokesman for the ERC said that significantly fewer women had applied in this round. Of the 2287 applications, just 310 came from women, or 13.4 per cent of the total. The female success rate was 6.1 per cent, compared to 8.6 per cent for men. The spokesman also pointed out that in the most recent round of consolidator grants, aimed at mid-career researchers, women were slightly more successful than men, taking 28 per cent of the grants, with a success rate of 15.2 per cent, compared to 14.9 per cent for men.  He said the issue of low female representation among grantees was “something we are working on”.

The full article can be seen here – https://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/news/female-success-rate-dips-10-cent-latest-erc-grant-round

 

What do you think? Is there anything that can be done to encourage more female staff to apply for these grants?  Should Departments/School’s/University’s be offering more support and/or encouragement?

The women whom science forgot

On 19th June Jawad Iqbal published this article on the BBC Science and Environment page –  The Women whom science forgot

‘A quick web search for the world’s most famous scientists lists, among others, Galileo, Einstein, Newton, Darwin, Stephen Hawking and Alexander Fleming.  One of the few women to receive a mention is Marie Curie, a physicist and chemist who basically discovered radiation and helped apply it in the field of X-rays.

The Nobel laureate Sir Tim Hunt was heavily criticised for his disparaging remarks about women in science last week, which for some raised the issue of where women stood in the scientific community. But many female scientists in the past were not given the credit they deserved for their achievements. As a result, their names have all but disappeared from public consciousness ……..’

sther Lederberg  - an American microbiologist

Esther Lederberg – an American microbiologist

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The list includes:

  • Esther Lederberg – a microbilogist who undertook groundbreaking research in genetics
  • Rosalind Franklin – a biophysicist who pioneered X-0ray crystallography
  • Ida Tacke – conducted groundbreaking research in chemistry and atomic physics
  • Lise Meitner – her research led to the discovery of nuclear fission
Rosalind Franklin

Rosalind Franklin

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jawad Iqbal notes that ‘the Royal Society, swift in its condemnation of Sir Tim’s remarks, was founded in 1660 and has yet to elect a female president.  Some say that the comments from Sir Tim, a prominent fellow of the society will damage the efforts it is making to improve diversity.  It has been reported that only 6% of its fellows (a prestigious title in the world of science) are women.  That statistic, some say, sums up the scale of the wider problem of the difficulties faced by women in the scientific world’

What do you think?  Have any female scientists in your field of research disappeared from public consciousness?

Time to keep score on female scientists

‘The success of female scientists at securing research funding has never been under closer scrutiny. Earlier this year, the Royal Society published the results of a detailed investigation into why so few women managed to get their 2014 University Research Fellowships.

Now, as reported by Holly Else in Times Higher Education this week, Research Councils UK has published data for the first time on female success rates for each specific research council’s grants and fellowships. http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/news/time-to-keep-score-on-female-scientists/2019408.article

What is emerging is a new understanding of why so few women manage to get ahead in science: they simply do not apply for research grants and fellowships at the same rate as men.’

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Female science writers celebrated

‘A Royal Society discussion has considered the behind-the-scenes and often neglected roles that women have long played in the advancement of science. Held on 10 March to tie in with International Women’s Day, “Women Writing Science” brought together three historians to explore and celebrate the major contributions made by women even at a time when the doors to universities, learned societies and laboratories were largely closed to them.’

The full article in the Times Higher by Matthew Reisz can be seen here – http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/news/female-science-writers-celebrated/2019101.article

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L’Oreal UK and Ireland Fellowships for Women in Science

Applications for the 2015 L’Oréal-UNESCO UK & Ireland For Women in Science Fellowships now open.

What are the L’Oréal UK and Ireland Fellowships For Women in Science?

Loreal

 

 

 

 

The L’Oréal-UNESCO UK and Ireland Fellowships For Women in Science are awards offered by a partnership between L’Oréal UK & Ireland, the UK National Commission for UNESCO and the Irish National Commission for UNESCO, with the support of the Royal Society, to promote, enhance and encourage the contribution of women pursuing their research careers in the UK or Ireland in the fields of the life and physical sciences.

The National Fellowships are offered under the umbrella of the L’Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science Programme, which has promoted women in scientific research on a global scale since 1998. http://www.womeninscience.co.uk/

 

FWIS-footercarousel-example2Five Fellowships will be awarded in 2015 to outstanding women scientists in the early stages of their career to enable and/or facilitate promising scientific research. The Fellowships are tenable at any UK or Irish university or research institute to support a 12-month period of postdoctoral research in any area of life, physical and computer sciences, engineering and mathematics.

2015 Key Dates
Applications open: Monday 2nd February
Applications close: Friday 13th March
Shortlist published: Tuesday 2nd June
Awards Ceremony: Tuesday 23rd June

In a special edition of ‘International Innovation’ focusing on ‘A Passion for Progress’ our four 2014 fellows showcase their pioneering research of as an example of what women scientists around the globe are working on.

When it comes to forging a successful scientific career, women in the 21st Century have much better prospects than their female counterparts from previous generations. Yet in spite of significant gender equality advances – set in motion during the 1960s and 1970s – women continue to be underrepresented at all levels of R&D in every region of the world.

For instance, the UNESCO Institute for Statistics estimates that just 30 per cent of researchers worldwide are female, while in the UK and Ireland women comprise only 13 per cent of STEM employees. Multiple studies have identified a number of recurring barriers to women in STEM, including a male dominated working culture, a ‘chilly’ classroom environment, the insecure nature of science research and a lack of access to mentors.
http://www.internationalinnovation.com/build/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/p15-17_Loreal_Intl_Innovation_171_Research_Media.pdf

L’Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science Programme

 

Loreal

 

 

 

 

newsimage0The L’Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science Programme recognises the achievements and contributions of exceptional females across the globe by awarding promising scientists with Fellowships to help further their research. Over 15 years ago L’Oréal and UNESCO founded the For Women in Science Programme to promote and highlight the critical importance of ensuring greater participation of women in science. Each year the Programme recognises the achievements of exceptional female scientists across the globe, and awards them with Fellowships to help further their research. Since the Programme was founded in 1998 more than 1,300 women in 106 countries have been recognised for their research and received funding to further their careers.

The UK and Ireland Fellowship application process re-opens in February 2015.  More information can be found here:

http://www.womeninscience.co.uk/index.php

 

Athene Donald’s Blog

On 11th January Athene Donald wrote a blog post focusing on women in science and the role of Athena Swan – ‘We’ve Come a Long Way But ……’

http://occamstypewriter.org/athenedonald/2015/01/11/weve-come-a-long-way-but/

Athene Donald is a Professor of Physics in the Cavendish Laboratory at the University of Cambridge working on soft matter and Biological Physics. She has an active interest in issues around women in science within the University (WiSETI) and outside (Athena Forum), as well as in equality and diversity more generally; and a growing interest in education and science policy. Athene holds a variety of positions on committees etc, but her blog (see the link above) is written in a purely personal capacity.

athenaswan