• Question: What's it like being a female scientist?

    Asked by FinleyGriffin to Shona, Rebecca, Rebecca, Melanie, Marianne, Joanna, Jennifer, Holly on 21 Sep 2016.
    • Photo: Joanna Bagniewska

      Joanna Bagniewska answered on 21 Sep 2016:

      Hmm, I don’t really have a comparison with what it’s like to be a male scientist! But soon I will be going on maternity leave, so I will miss out on some of the fun fieldwork my colleagues are doing. I think a lot depends on your work environment – in the UK, I have never felt discriminated against because of my gender, but in other countries this is a big issue; you get a feeling that you’re not being treated seriously because you’re female.

    • Photo: Marianne Baker

      Marianne Baker answered on 21 Sep 2016:

      I don’t know what it’s like to be a male scientist but..!

      Science is a bit more progressive than some other fields, but that doesn’t mean it’s free from sexism. Everyone’s human, and we all grow up in a society that’s still unequal, and people have done different amounts of work and absorbed different messages to address that (or not). So it depends.
      I think generally as a society we’re mostly moving forwards so it’s better than it was, but there are still some issues to address.

      Academia can sometimes be unfriendly to women and how our lives tend to go but I have just started working with the Athena SWAN committee in our medical school, which aims to make things fairer for women, parents, and minorities.

      I think that’s really important. A lot of workplaces are still set up, essentially, for men – so it really matters that we acknowledge and address problems, so that everyone can do what they love without unnecessary barriers, and we keep getting ideas from all kinds of people!

      Overall science is science – it doesn’t matter what your body is like, if you love it, and you know your stuff, you can do your work!

    • Photo: Melanie Zimmer

      Melanie Zimmer answered on 21 Sep 2016:

      Hi FinleyGriffin,

      I would say it’s like being a male scientist. 🙂

      Throughout the years of study and work I have never experienced being treated differently just because I’m a female scientist (except when it comes to sweets, then I get double portions ? ). It can maybe be at first a bit intimidating being the only female engineer in a meeting or even in the whole company (which was the case in my company when I started), but when it comes to the actual work it doesn’t matter whether you are male or female and you will be treated equally.

      Melanie

    • Photo: Rebecca Dewey

      Rebecca Dewey answered on 21 Sep 2016:

      This is a really good time to be a female scientist. All sectors of employment are currently rethinking their policies to make sure that they are supportive of women in all walks of life, whatever their family choices. I feel really supported by the university I work for and by the scientific community and it means I can go on an do my job properly.

    • Photo: Shona Whittam

      Shona Whittam answered on 21 Sep 2016:

      Working for the NHS I work with a lot of women (not all scientists though) so often forget there were 10 male students to every girl in my undergraduate degree.
      In my undergraduate I felt I had a lot to prove as a female scientist but I think this was mainly a confidence issue and now 10 years later I can say being a female medical physicist is great – I love my job and am treated the same as my male colleagues.

    • Photo: Holly Miller

      Holly Miller answered on 5 Feb 2018:

      I work in the Automotive Industry which is very male dominated. I was a little bit nervous at first but I can honestly say I am not treated any differently to my male colleagues. I learn a lot from them and would like to think they learn a lot from me as well.

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