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Asked by tungsten24601 to Ruth, Laura on 22 Jun 2016.
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Laura Finney answered on 22 Jun 2016:
Science has always been very male dominated and a lot of the people higher up in management are men. I have had heard some sexist things being said about women but I have never had anything said to me personally. I think these days the stigma against women in science is dying out and there is ever more encouragement to get women to do science as we are just as good as the men!
I don’t think I am treated differently in a bad way, in fact I am helped along a little more maybe because I am female and they need more female scientists but that has it’s good and bad side too!
I think if you are a female these days and you want to be a scientist you can do it if you want to 🙂 In my degree we had a very even 50/50 split between men and women and I always felt very equal 🙂 Our department even has an award for doing well at getting women to come to do science and making them feel welcome 🙂
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Ruth Patchett answered on 22 Jun 2016:
Personally I really enjoy it, there haven’t been many times when I thought people treated me differently because I am a woman, but I try to call out people even on small comments as it can build up. Universities and companies are working really hard to make sure women are treated fairly and there are a lot of groups for advice and support. At the moment there are more men in the high up jobs, but I think that is going to change a lot in the next few years and we shouldn’t let it put us off.
I think actually the problem starts when kids are very young, a lot of shops aim different toys at boys and girls and people expect girls to “be nice” but then say things like “boys will be boys”. Luckily my parents never made me feel like there was anything I couldn’t do because I am a girl and I think that is the message we should try to pass on to younger girls.
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