• Question: Do you think that the world of science is dominated by men? Do you think it's fair? Is it difficult to make decisions? How many years have you been studying to reach your goals?

    Asked by 226cesk27 to Natasha, Ester on 6 Nov 2017.
    • Photo: Ester Gil Vazquez

      Ester Gil Vazquez answered on 6 Nov 2017:

      This is a great question, thanks for rising it up. Yes, unfortunately science is still dominated by men. However, things are improving little by little. Every year, more and more women realize that science is not gender-related and that they are perfectly able to engage with it. Truth is that many women start careers in science, but the number of them that get to high positions (boss) is still low. I think it is about time to change that, right?
      I have been studying all my life haha. When you are a scientist you never stop studying and learning new things. That is part of the charm.
      And finally, it is difficult to make decisions. I always thing that if you are doubting about whether doing something or not…if it is not going to hurt nobody, you may as well give it a try. It may turn out okay or not, but at least you win an experience! 🙂

    • Photo: Natasha Myhill

      Natasha Myhill answered on 6 Nov 2017:

      Haha, great question! Yeah, I do think that science is still male dominated. I think this is most obvious in academia (science carried out at universities). It is definitely not fair but one of the reasons that this happens is because women still have to choose between having a family and having a career. I mean, it is definitely possible but its not easy to balance both, and this can lead to men having an advantage. I hope it becomes easier for women to have a family and a career in science! After my A-levels, I did a Bachelor in Science (BSc) in Biomedical Science – 3 years. Then I did a Masters of Research (MRes) in Biomedical Research which was 1 year. I am now in year 2 of my PhD. So post-A-levels, I have been studying for 6 years!

Comments

  • Photo: Paul

    Paul commented on :

    Hi, not to butt in – I can see you’ve asked this question to the women and rightly so.

    But I’m very enthusiastic about this issue too and wanted to add a couple of points. I work in an institute of nearly 300 people, of which about 60% are female. So there is definite progress in terms of getting girls into science! However while there is a very equal balance at my level, so PhD students, technicians and postdoctoral scientists, at the higher positions (lecturers etc) it starts to get a bit biased towards men. We’re pretty close to 50:50 in my institute but there are still far more men at Professor level. The good news is that there is a lot of effort being put into fixing this balance. There’s an organisation called Athena SWAN which enforces certain rules preventing discrimination of women based on having commitments to their children, during pregnancy and through to school. It also supports progression and promotion for everyone. I’m on the committee in my institute as an early career rep (along with a colleague who is a woman!).

  • Photo: Ildiko

    Ildiko commented on :

    It is still dominated by men, which is unfortunate (and definitely not fair!), but there are as Paul said a lot of changes being made. It’s not just about women, but about society changing to allow men to have different roles. That said, in my own career I have certainly faced situations where being a woman made it a lot harder to do things. The key is that with everything if it’s what you want, you should always work hard towards succeeding at it, and not let anyone tell you that you can’t!