The Past
Jennifer Barker
(née Buttle)
BSc Hons 1951, MSc 1953, PhD 1960
In Senior High School I was in the
science stream, was encouraged to go to university by teachers and my parents
were supportive even though finance was not particularly easy. The absence of
lecture fees at The University of Western Australia (UWA) in that era helped,
especially for those from the country who had to pay for accommodation. I
intended to be a mathematician but developed a strong interest in zoology
stimulated by Professor Harry Waring and did an honours year, then an MSc in
that subject, at UWA. After two years as a senior demonstrator in zoology at
The University of Melbourne, I returned to UWA in 1954 to the newly formed
Physiology Department, the precursor of the Medical School. There I had a
heavy teaching load and did my PhD at the same time. My research interest was
in comparative physiology of marsupials, at that time a largely unexplored
field. Part of the work led, in 1960/61, to postdoctoral work on cation
transport across cell membranes in the USA. Although I always enjoyed the
contact with students while teaching, it was research that I found most
stimulating and in retrospect, the decade or so from 1950 when I did my own
research was the most satisfying period from a work aspect.
Less satisfactory were the years
when I returned to the workforce after my two children were small. I then had
a series of part-time teaching or research work at The University of Adelaide,
with similar work elsewhere when away on (husband’s) study leave. After
retraining in biochemistry while tutoring in biology in the late 1970s, I
worked for four years as a research assistant in the Biochemistry Department
(I was not employed as a research associate because my PhD was not in
biochemistry), then the grant on which I was employed was lost and that job
ended. An opportunity to be personal assistant to the Vice-Chancellor,
Professor Don Stranks, arose and I enjoyed that work. Also, for the first time
I was in permanent employment with superannuation. However he died suddenly
and, not wanting other jobs offered in the University Administration, I
foolishly resigned to take a scientific job which then did not eventuate. A
real tale of woe. Finally, five years in road accident research gave
experience with epidemiology and computing, but it was casual work and not
what I had once hoped to be doing at the end of my working life. I did,
however, develop outside interests, notably through long-term membership of
the Australian Federation of University Women. In its fellowships and status
of women work, I did what I could to support women in achieving career
ambitions. An ongoing oral history project gave a great perspective of the
factors important in the careers of university women in the first half of the
20th Century. In retirement I’ve assisted work on the Mawson Antarctic
artefacts and a museum of agricultural science.
During the last fifty years it has
been good to see the expanding opportunities and support for women working in
science. With more women being successful in areas previously considered the
prerogative of males and having their work publicised, there are increasing
numbers of role models to counter conservative views. Encouragement and
assistance from mentors are still important, especially if they are
influential males as Harry Waring was for me and others at UWA, and as Don
Stranks became as Vice-Chancellor at The University of Adelaide. However I
believe that the most difficult aspect of a scientific career for women is
parenthood. It’s hard to develop fully as a scientist after a prolonged
maternity break whereas women who opt for combined parenthood and career with
only standard maternity leave often have to contend with fatigue and emotional
stress to a degree that is not the normal lot of men. Women scientists who are
also mothers of young children therefore need the understanding and support of
colleagues, family and friends, and ready access to high quality child care
centres. To have their contributions as scientists is the reward.
The other women whose biographies are included here were contemporaries of mine at UWA in the late 1940s and early 1950s. I met most of them in the Zoology Department, others on the hockey field. This small sample illustrates the diversity of achievement possible, by women who were given a chance.