Editorial
Pathways and Passions
Why are there beach boxes on the front cover?
This is the first time that the Victorian group has edited a WISENET journal, so we thought it would be appropriate to use a Melbourne icon. The more we thought about using the beach boxes the more they also seemed to fit with the theme developing through this and many other issues of the WISENET Journal - diversity. We are all women in science, but like the beach boxes we are all unique. We have tried to capture that uniqueness and diversity.
A common response from the women we asked to write articles
for us was that they
didn’t think they were good enough, or notable enough, to be profiled on the
pages of a WISENET Journal. Fortunately many of them sent us great articles
anyway and we think you’ll agree that it’s nice to see “everyday” women
profiled as well as high fliers. Although these “everyday” women seem quite
extraordinary to us, we wonder if women value themselves highly enough, and by
what standards achievement is measured. This view lead us to change the title
of the “Women Achieving in Science” column, contributed for many years by
Diana Temple, to “Women Achieving Recognition in Science”. Recognition is
currently a hot topic for women in science. The articles by Andrea McAdam and
Diana Temple on Rosalind Franklin and Women Crystallographers, and indeed
Paula Gould’s article on the portrayal of women in biographies reinforce that
view.
We would like to draw your attention to the many different pathways women have followed after their degrees. We hope that the idea that science, and science-related, degrees, can lead only into careers in research is completely dispelled by the articles presented here. While some women do follow that path, for example the articles by Margery Kennett, Jennifer Newstead, Joy Bear and Alena Glaister, others use their science degrees as stepping stones into fields as diverse as law, conference planning and advocacy; for example Susan Corbett’s article on the patent system, Jenny Seabrook’s profile and Pauline Gallagher’s thoughts on reasonable working hours. Jenny Seabrook writes “that a science degree is definitely a recipe for success, as long as you have the courage to follow where it leads”. We believe that science-related degrees can lead to unique and extraordinary lives.
Editing this issue has been a challenge for us. The motto of the family-friendly University featured in this issue, with which we are proud to be associated, is Ancora imparo - which translates as “I am still learning”. That is certainly an appropriate motto for us as editors! We would like to extend special thanks to Julie Evans, Rosemary Sutton, Andrew Netherwood and Anna Robinson who helped to demystify the editorial process, to everyone who contributed articles for this issue, and to the people who helped with the proof-reading. We would particularly like to thank the contributing authors and our partners and families for their patience. Putting this issue together has been a lengthy process, but it’s been a great deal of fun and provided the wonderful privilege of working with so many fantastic women.
We hope you’ll join us in celebrating the diversity of science in the 63rd issue of the WISENET Journal.
Jo O’Neil and Diane Webster