Annabelle
Duncan, Chief, CSIRO Molecular Science
Until I was asked to run this workshop I had never really thought of myself as working in a non-traditional role. I had ended up in such a role by default, not through any proactive plan. I had trained as a biologist and biology is a field which attracts a large number of women. In my undergraduate years there were more females than males in my classes. This changed as I progressed through my postgraduate studies and now I find there are usually very few women at any of the meetings I attend. But I certainly never planned to take on a "non-traditional" role.
So how did I end up working in a role which, for whatever reason, does not have a high female participation rate? Like many people, much of my career has been serendipidous; if I have had a guiding philosophy, it has been to "give it a go" and to take on things that looked like they might be fun. I always figured that I could leave if I found I didn't like a job.
I guess a lot of things have helped me in my career, including a lot of luck. Opportunities came my way which have had an enormous influence. Some did not seem like such a great advantage at the time. Take the time for example when I failed all my courses in my second year of university (no need to go into reasons, my mother did not believe my excuses either). While I was repeating the year, I was offered a job in the research laboratory of one of the senior lecturers. There were two important aspects to this opportunity. Firstly, I got to work in a research lab, an experience that not many people are lucky to have at this stage of their education. This experience was important because until then I had planned to complete my Bachelors degree and find a job. Women did that, didn't they, well women like me anyway. It was different for the really bright ones. This job showed me that I might have a future in research and that a higher degree wasn't totally out of the question. Furthermore, I was very lucky, my boss was a great person to work for and importantly she was both a role model and a mentor.
This was important to me. I have never really considered whether to chose between career or family, though I know there was a time when this was a consideration. I had a role model from this time who had a good career and a happy family. If she could, why couldn't I? Which brings me to one aspect of role models which is very important. Your role models have to be relevant; you need to be able to relate to them, to get to know them. We can read biographies of people like Jill Ker Conway; she is a great role model, but if you are like me you think, "Yes that's all very well, but she is different, I couldn't do that." When you get to know the people who have achieved in your chosen field and you realise that maybe they aren't all that different at all, then you have a role model you can relate to.
I have also been lucky in that I have had not just this one, but four, very good mentors in the course of my career. These people have also been important not only because they each taught me so much, but also because they put opportunities my way which have helped to shape my career. These opportunities have given me a breadth of experience which has been invaluable. While it is important to focus on a core discipline when getting established in a career, I think it is also important to realise that science is not enough. You need a broad experience and you should take every opportunity to broaden your experience. Whether this is serving on committees, working in different environments for periods of time or working in totally different fields, all the experience helps. Another thing to remember is that opportunities never seem to come at the "right" time. They also don't usually come twice. Grasp them when they are presented and make it the "right" time. But equally, if you take something on and then find you don't like it, drop it. If it's not fun, don't do it. By taking advantage of a range of opportunities if they come your way, you also enlarge your networks and support structures.
I guess, as I analyse my career there are a number of factors which I think have been instrumental in enabling me to survive and indeed to thrive in the roles I have taken on. I have had a broad range of experience; this has given me relatively large networks involving a diversity of people. It has also given me some skills which have been a big help to me over the years, some political appreciation, negotiating skills, delegation skills (don't underestimate this, you can't do justice to a new role if you are unable to give up the previous responsibilities and you can't look after a family and have a career if you can't trust others to look after your children).
The nature of science and technology is changing. It is now imperative that we get research adopted to show an economic return on investment. This requires skills far broader than just scientific skills and networks broader than your discipline base. Network widely, take the opportunities as they are presented to broaden your experience and appreciate the need for diversity, whether it be discipline, ethnic, gender.
Annabell Duncan is Chief of Division at CSIRO Molecular Science, the first woman to have been appointed to that role internally. She is an adviser to Dept of FA&T on biological weapons control and has been a Biological Weapons Inspector for the UN Special Commission on Iraq.