We Need to Celebrate Women in Science
Are you stuck in a rut, information pills or have the feeling that you are not where you want to be? Whether you’ve been working at the same place for 5 years or you are an eager new employee, viagra 60mg a thought that may often cross your mind is, more about how can I get ahead? It is embedded in human nature to want to strive for more and this is no different in the workplace setting. If you have decided that you want to advance in the company you work for or in your line of career, and don’t know get there, check out these tips to jumpstart the progress you have been searching for.
Identify exactly where it is that you want to go. If the senior editor at your firm approaches you and asks where you see yourself in the next year, you should have an exact answer down to the office you want to be in, the role you want to play, and how you will be an asset for that position.
Identify someone in the position you want to be in and befriend him or her. Disclaimer! This is easier said than done. That person may be difficult to approach, have a standoffish personality or just not willing to help, but when trying to progress in your career, you have to be prepared to be put in some uncomfortable positions to attain the knowledge that you need. Learning from someone that is where you want to be is key to your professional development. By doing so, you will understand what it takes, gain ideas, develop strategies and pick up some much needed advice.
Give it all you’ve got! If there are seminars being held, unpaid trainings/internships, books you can read or talks being given, make it a point to get involved. Please realize that there is no room for laziness, and the more information you get, the better equipped you will be. Of course, this will require a lot more time than you put in at your actual place of work, but it is important to remember that if you think you want it that bad, there are a plethora of people out there that want it ten times more than you do! There are people out there that are working while you are sleeping and there is someone out there that will stop at nothing to get to where you want to be.
Keep your eyes open. Your path may be unorthodox compared to the ones that are often traveled and that is okay. Keeping your eyes open for niche markets, routes less traveled, and opportunities are key on your path to career progression.
Stay true to yourself. No one can be you, and your abilities, qualities and morals offer something that others do not have. You might have to bend and pull to where you want to be, but if you find yourself becoming a different person, especially a person you don’t want to be, it is time to take a step back and re evaluate.
It’s okay to say goodbye. Sometimes what you envision is not always what’s best for you. We often get comfortable with our positions or set ideas, but sometimes leaving gives you the nudge you need to get to where you want to go. Moving to another company, a different state, or starting your own business could just be what it takes to push you to the next level.
Written by Robin Waife
Marie Curie, case most known for her research into radioactivity; Rosalind Franklin, more about the chemist who famously contributed to the discovery of the structure of DNA; Hedy Lamarr, site the actress and inventor who developed the very technology which allows us to have wireless communication today and Dorothy Hodgkin, the scientist who used X-ray crystallography to determine the structures of insulin, penicillin and vitamin B12 – all incredible, historic women in science and technology whose efforts have benefited the world in ways that cannot even be put into words.
Perhaps educators, writers and critics have taken this too literally though, for it is all too uncommon to find the names of these remarkable women in our school textbooks, in articles or even on the Nobel Prize awards list. In fact the number of women to have won a Nobel Prize for a science is just 19. For men in science, this is 642.
Looking at these figures, it’s easy to see why women like Chien-Shiung Wu and Ada Lovelace barely get a mention; if we do not acknowledge the successes and triumphs of women in science with prestigious awards like the Nobel Prize, how can we ever expect to share their stories with children and teenagers around the world?
Education is the only way we can solve this blatant disregard for the respect and dignity that these scientists deserve – it starts in school. I’ve learnt about wireless communication, radio waves, DNA replication, X-ray imaging, global warming and titrations, but I am yet to hear about the women behind the important discoveries that often make these fields so plausible. Watson and Crick, Meselson and Stahl, Fick and Hardy and Weinberg are all male scientists whose theories, equations and discoveries we study in the AS Biology course that I do at my sixth form. While it’s important to commend and acknowledge the efforts of these academics, I can’t help but feel let down by the syllabus for its lack of cognisance regarding women.
This doesn’t just go as far as emphasising an absence for the respect of women in science. When we fail to educate future generations on their efforts, we install a belief in young girls that science is just “not for them”. As of 2016, women made up just 14.4% of the STEM workforce in the UK, girls make up just around 20% of A Level Physics students, we have the lowest percentage of female engineering professionals in Europe and despite girls dominating undergraduate degrees in Medicine and Veterinary Science, we make up roughly 11.5% of STEM management. We are clearly doing a great disservice to young women who adore science and flourish in their study of it when we fail to promote their advancements and breakthroughs.
I propose that we do better. The teaching of theories and research into fields of science that have been conducted by women must be a necessity in the courses this country offers. We have got to nurture this idea that the study of science is not gender-specific, but gender-neutral. Women of colour can be scientists. Teenage girls can be scientists. Elderly women can be scientists.
By opening up this pathway to the next generation, we bring forward a whole host of enthusiastic and dedicated young girls who will thrive (and get those Nobel Prizes).
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