Women in Science

“Nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood. Now is the time to understand more, so that we may fear less.” – Marie Curie
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I have broad interests in issues that women in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields face at various stages and throughout their careers.  Despite nearly equal representation at the university student level, the percentage of women in the STEM fields starts to decline dramatically after post-doctoral positions (e.g. the ‘leaky pipeline’ syndrome).    

Many reasons are thought to relate to this sharp decline of women in STEM fields including, but not limited to, the extreme examples of sex discrimination to differential allocations of resources and innate differences in communication and mentoring styles.
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                                   meme courtesy of Joe Hannah
Check out this recent article by Prof. Jenny Martin (University of Queensland) in PLoS Computational Biology where she discusses the importance of gender balance at conferences and workshops, and perhaps most importantly, what we can do about it! 

"... it's critical for the future of science that young women and men can see real evidence that scientists can succeed regardless of gender. So, if we are going to encourage women into careers in science we need also to provide role models for them to aspire to... being a woman and being a successful scientist are not mutually exclusive."

The best part is that she gives (and discusses) 10 steps that we and our colleagues can take to ensure that women and minorities are well-represented.

I have also recently been involved with three chapters of the 2nd edition of the book – “Success Strategies from Women in STEM: A Portable Mentor” – for which I am also Editorial Advisor.  
  
  • Rummer, J.L., Isom, L.L. 2014. Communication. In Pritchard, P. & Grant, C. (eds.), Success Strategies from Women in STEM: A Portable Mentor, 2nd edition. Elsevier (In press, accepted 31 January, 2014).

  • Darling, E. Rummer, J.L., 2014. Social Media. In Pritchard, P. & Grant, C. (eds.), Success Strategies from Women in STEM: A Portable Mentor, 2nd edition. Elsevier (In press, accepted 31 January, 2014).

  • Rummer, J.L., 2014. Networking. In Pritchard, P. & Grant, C. (eds.), Success Strategies from Women in STEM: A Portable Mentor, 2nd edition. Elsevier (In press, accepted 31 January, 2014).

I also share Women in Science issues on Twitter using the hashtag #womeninscience.