Tag: Students

Same Auld Lang Syne: Dearth of Diversity in 2016 American Chemical Society Awards

Same Auld Lang Syne: Dearth of Diversity in 2016 American Chemical Society Awards

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Four days into the new year and it’s déjà vu all over again. The American Chemical Society (ACS), which has 158,000 members, just announced its 2016 National Award winners. Once again, gender inequity and lack of diversity are glaringly apparent:  95% of awardees are men, and a higher proportion present as White.

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The Society only includes one award to promote women, the ACS Award for Encouraging Women into Careers in the Chemical Sciences, awarded this year to Dr Carol Fierke.

The ACS data show that men are overrepresented not only in award nominations, but also in award success whereas women are underrepresented:

“In the 2015 nominee pool, 83% are male and 17% are female compared to ACS membership demographics of 71% male and 29% female.”

Why is this important? Awards and prizes are widely accepted markers of professional achievement that influence salary, promotion and tenure decisions, to shape and advance careers. The typical explanation for the dearth in gender diversity in award line-ups is that of a pipeline problem, with the prediction being that as more women join STEM fields and make their way up the academic ladder, their share of prizes will concomitantly increase. But this has not happened: contrary to the pipeline hypothesis, women’s share of prestigious awards has fallen in the past decade, compared to the decade before [1]. Closer analysis shows that women receive a disproportionate share of teaching and service awards, at the expense of prizes that recognise research contributions. This is known as The Matilda Effect. Read more ›

Gender Bias in STEM: A Southern Perspective

Gender Bias in STEM: A Southern Perspective

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By Cathy Newman

Cathy Newman gives a postgraduate student perspective on how local culture impacts on the careers of women in STEM, and why it’s important for women students to learn about the challenges of gender bias as part of their education and career planning.

Last month, the College of Science at Louisiana State University hosted a Women in STEM event. The event consisted of a keynote address followed by a panel discussion, the latter of which I attended. All speakers were LSU alumni holding or retired from prominent STEM positions.

Panelists were the following:

  1. Dr. Karen Adler Storthz: professor emerita at the University of Texas Health Science Center,
  2. Sorcha Clary: project engineer for Marathon Petroleum.
  3. Judea Goins-Andrews: director of school engagement for Louisiana at Project Lead the Way,
  4. Rebecca Guidry: clinical medical physicist at Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center,
  5. Pat Bodin: former chief information officer and VP of global information for ExxonMobil.
Louisiana State University Women in STEM
LSU Women in STEM panel (Left to right): Dr Adler Storthz; Sorcha Clary; Judea Goins-Andrews; Rebecca Guidry; Pat Bodin. Photo: Cathy Newman (copyright)

As a graduate student in biology at a major research university, I rarely have the opportunity to interact with women in STEM careers outside of academia, so I especially appreciated that the panel included women in industry and education/outreach. The panel also spanned a wide range of career stages, from a few years out of college, to retired. Despite the wide range of careers and career stages represented on the panel, the advice to early career STEM women was remarkably consistent, emphasizing self-confidence, assertiveness, and patience.

I live tweeted the panel discussion. Here are some of the highlights.

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Get out of the Kitchen: Inger Mewburn’s Advice for Academics

Get out of the Kitchen: Inger Mewburn’s Advice for Academics

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Professor Inger Mewburn is Director of Research Training at the Australian National University. Her research focuses on student experiences, which are used to inform University practices. We asked her about gender differences in the way men and women PhD students negotiate their relationships with their supervisors. Dr. Mewburn began by acknowledging that there is a dearth of female role models in academia and those that are there have tended to assume the dominant culture that is heavily masculinized. She then made a really interesting observation: during informal academic gatherings, women students find themselves in the kitchen!

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Women in Tech: From College to a Career with Google

Women in Tech: From College to a Career with Google

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We recently spoke to Erin Leverton and Samantha Schaevitz from Google’s Information Technology Residency Program (ITRP). We chose to highlight this program because it is an career opportunity that allows many new graduates the opportunity to get their ‘foot in the door’in a technology career. Watch the video below, or keep reading for a summary of our conversation!

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Monkey Business: Erin Kane on Field Research in Cote d’Ivoire

Monkey Business: Erin Kane on Field Research in Cote d’Ivoire

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Erin Kane is a graduate student in physical anthropology who recently returned to Ohio State University, USA, after conducting field research in Tai Forest, Cote d’Ivoire, from June 2013 to March 2014. She spoke about her study on monkeys, her thrilling experiences in the field (interacting with local educators and surviving an ant attack!), as well addressing the need for better training on sexual harassment for researchers. Erin also discusses how blogging helped her make sense of her data. She provides advice for early career researchers looking to establish a niche expertise and wondering how they might apply their research later in their careers. Read on below for a summary of our conversation.

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STEM Parenting: Nurturing Young Scientists From Pre-K through College

STEM Parenting: Nurturing Young Scientists From Pre-K through College

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We recently had a Panel discussion where we spoke to three ‘STEM Parents’ about how they support and encourage their children in STEM education, from pre-school, high school and college. Joining us was Professor Rajini Rao, Dr Bill Carter and Dr La Vergne Lestermeringolo Thatch. Watch the video or keep reading below for a summary!

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