• Question: Have you encountered any cynic opinions during your STEM career because you are a woman?

    Asked by Lols on 20 Jan 2020.
    • Photo: Fiona Macfarlane

      Fiona Macfarlane answered on 20 Jan 2020:

      Thankfully, I have not really encountered anything like that because of being a woman and my research group is quite well mixed.

      However, I unfortunately look quite young, which means that when I attend conferences people assume that I have a lot less experience, which can be a little frustrating at times.

    • Photo: Diana Kornbrot

      Diana Kornbrot answered on 21 Jan 2020:

      No, Not because I am a woman BUT
      There is lots of cynicism about the role of science and maths generally.
      for example, sveral questions are ffectively asking ‘why should I bother with maths, as I want to work with animals, children, be an entertainer or artist’.
      I think maths is valuable for everyone, whaterver thier career, young or old, female or male. What do YOU think?

    • Photo: Sreejita Ghosh

      Sreejita Ghosh answered on 21 Jan 2020:

      Thankfully not yet. But I see my supervisor, who is also a woman, working almost like a machine because she feels she has to prove more, and because she doesn’t want to take the opportunities which are now being given to women scientists to bridge the gap. Her argument is “I don’t want it just because I am a woman. I want to get it because I am capable of it.”
      She said that she did have to face some cynicism in her career. Some people did not want to believe that a nice algorithm was made by her, a woman, in Computer Science.

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