Issue 72 Contents

Women in Science What Next?

In 1986, I joined the American Society for Cell Biology (ASCB), mainly so I could get the cheap (postdoc) registration

Rosemary White, Manager Black Mountain Microscopy Centre CSIRO Plant Industry GPO Box 1600 Canberra, ACT 2601

 rate to go to the annual conference in Washington, DC. The meeting was a mind-blowing experience. It was huge (about 3,000 registrants), fantastic science and all the top people were there. I’ve remained a member of the society ever since, partly because it’s such an active society, and partly because of my positive experiences with the Women in Cell Biology Committee.

Just before going to this conference, the few women postdocs and PhD students in our department had met a few times because some of them were concerned about the biased, and in some cases openly sexist, behaviour of their male supervisors. I hadn’t really detected discrimination against me, but, looking back, perhaps there was some subtle favouring of ‘the boys’ over the years. We exchanged stories and wondered what we could do about it, so at the ASCB conference I went along to the Women in Cell Biology lunchtime meeting to see if I could get any handy hints.

The main thing I learned was that this problem was universal, but that there were strategies to cope. Some of these involved becoming more assertive, both about what you needed from your supervisor and about your achievements. For more blatant behaviour, seeking assistance from senior women on campus, through formal and informal pathways, helped other junior women. Above all, I learned that if we got together, discussed our problems, thrashed out some ideas about solutions, kept in touch with each other about how we were getting on and supported each other, it made all the difference.

I also discovered the huge literature about women in science and academia that I’d been completely unaware of until then. Recent articles in society newsletters [1] and in newspapers [2] confirm that, apart from the very significant pressures of child-rearing, there is still a subtle, persistent and deeply ingrained discrimination hindering women. Both men and women are slightly biased against women in this way, even if they think they aren’t. For example, surveys of teachers’ behaviour in the classroom show that whatever their sex, they consistently pay more attention to male rather than female students. In another example, two versions of a resumé were sent out to academics for assessment, identical except that in one version the candidate was female, in the other the candidate was male. Both male and female academics ranked the male resumé higher than the female one, and by a similar amount. We can’t seem to help ourselves – unless we’re aware of our internal biases. And finally, women still do tend to undervalue themselves, whereas men seem more comfortable with self-promotion.

So, what do we still need to work on; what are the main things still holding women back? These points are addressed in a recent book [3] (which I have not read) and in the two articles reprinted below, both from the monthly newsletter of the ASCB. The first article [See Reprint 1] is by the 2005 president of the society, Prof. Zena Werb. (Note that of the last 20 presidents of the ASCB, 9 have been female.) As her article outlines, and as discussed in detail in [3], although women are hired in good numbers to junior positions in many professions, including science, they become very sparse in senior positions. This article refers specifically to academic cell biologists but it applies to just about any profession in the country. These themes are reiterated in a recent Women in Cell Biology column, in which the retiring Executive Director of the ASCB reflected on whether the Women in Cell Biology Committee was still needed [see Reprint 2]. Both articles highlight that the persistent gaps in male and female salaries, continuing dearth of women at higher levels in organisations, and lip service paid to “work-life balance” and childcare needs, mean that we’ll need these types of committees for some time to come. And as some wit once said, when a mediocre woman is hired above an excellent man, then we’ll have achieved equality!!

1. Women in Cell Biology Column, ASCB Newsletter.

http://www.ascb.org/index.cfm?navid=81;

President’s Column, ASCB Newsletter – March 2005, Vol. 28, No. 3; October 2005, Vol. 28, No. 10; February 2006, Vol.29, No. 2.

2. These are articles I happened across in the few newspapers I purchase: Brendan O’Keefe, Women behind in academe, The Australian, 25 Jan. 2006; Lisa Macnamara, Women decide IT’s a boy thing, The Australian, 1 Feb. 2006; Lynette Hoffman, Bias sidesteps the law, The Australian, 4–5 Feb. 2006; Caroline Overington, Not yet a mums’ world, The Australian, 11 Feb. 2006; Crispin Hull, Vicious combinations in well-worn ring knock out women from workforce, The Canberra Times, 11 Feb. 2006; Women unsung, The Australian 10–11 June 2006; Female executives ‘a novelty’ in the finance sector: study, The Canberra Times, 12 June 2006.

3. Jill M. Bystydzienski and Sharon R. Bird (eds.), Removing Barriers. Women in Academic Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. Indiana University Press, March 2006, ISBN 0-253-21817-9.

 Issue 72 Contents