Wednesday, April 16, 2014

Support for women in the sciences

On Friday I gave a talk at my college's spring symposium on women in sciences. I was extremely excited leading up to it - expecting all of those who have articulated their support for my project, especially those in the sciences, to be in the audience when I reached to podium. And more than anything, I couldn't wait to share with them all these women's wonderful success stories!

Nervously, when it was my time to shine, I approached my podium and looked out into the audience: my professors/faculty from gender, sexuality, and feminist studies were there in support, my peers from both GSFS and the sciences who heard about the talk were there in support, but something wasn't quite right. I looked around the large lecture hall  - only one of my professors from the sciences (who coincidentally, I had not previously talked to about my work) was there in support of women in the sciences. 

I didn't understand. Many of the professors in the sciences had heard about my work directly from me. And when I talked to them about my work, they thought it was great - some even had little snipits to tell me about their experiences as well. I had even just spoken to my science research advisor about my presentation (just an hour before my talk) and he still did not show. My neuroscience academic advisor, who told me that she hoped the very stories I was presenting on fueled my desire to enter the sciences, did not show either. Was my wanting to get more recognition for women in the sciences only something they were willing to support in private? And if so why?  I didn't think my presentation was charged or made people uncomfortable in any way - I was merely sharing these women's stories.

To me, this whole matter was confusing and left me feeling like my hard work suddenly had no value. Curling up into a ball, planning to just forget it all, and thinking that maybe people just weren't interested in learning about women in science, the one science professor who showed up to my talk sent me a response email. 

This is what he said: Just wanted to show my support. Women scientists have strongly inspired me and have shaped my career. In addition to the women you mentioned, here's my list:
Christiane Nusslein-Volhard (developmental biologist, Nobel prize, Physiology and Medicine, 1995)
Carla Shatz (developmental neurobiologist, visual cortex, member National Academy of Science)
Kalpana White (developmental neurobiologist, my undergrad advisor at Brandeis)
Cori Bargmann (neurobiologist and head of the BRAIN initiative)
Gina Turrigiano ( neurobiologist, MacArthur fellow, taught me neuroscience at Brandeis)
Miriam Goodman (friend and colleague, and co-author, now at Stanford)
Lucinda Carnell (friend and colleague now at Central Washington University)
Amazing people.

I was re-inspired. Here was a professor who got it, and took a little time to validate all the work I had been doing. Furthermore, he gave me a list of women who he has looked to for inspiration too! He hadn't even spoke to me about my project before, and here he was - showing his public support for women in science. To that professor - thank you for showing me that people care and thank you for strongly inspiring me and shaping my future career in the sciences! 

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