• Question: do you think there is a a disadvantage of being a scientist who is a women?

    Asked by corinnemango to Mel, Jen on 20 Mar 2013.
    • Photo: Jennifer Paxton

      Jennifer Paxton answered on 20 Mar 2013:

      Hi corinnemango – good question! I get asked this quite a lot 🙂

      I answered a similar question here /healthm13-zone/2013/03/15/how-important-do-you-think-it-is-for-more-women-to-be-interested-in-science-considering-it-is-very-male-dominated/ so you can have a read of that answer.

      The short answer is no! Women can do everything in science that men can and we should encourage everyone, regardless of sex, to become involved in science. There are so many different career options so the world is your oyster 😉

    • Photo: Melissa Brereton

      Melissa Brereton answered on 20 Mar 2013:

      No not at all. There are some very famous and successful scientists that are women including Marie Curie and Florence Nightingale. As with any job, you always have to have a good work/life balance and juggle your career and starting a family and science is not different! But there are many opportunities now from the research councils that fund our work that are specifically designed for women who have taken a career break to start a family

Comments

  • Photo: Stef

    Stef commented on :

    I’d say that there’s a lot of effort going into helping women in science but it’s true that as you get more senior there are less women.

    We think that this is because if a woman wants to have a baby then they usually take a fair bit of time off. This time off can make it difficult for them to get another position which is such a shame because they’re usually better scientists than the men!

    From what I know, it’s a widely discussed problem and it looks like we’re going to see this change soon!