International Women’s Day: The Gender Agenda in Science and Engineering

A few days ago, I had the opportunity and pleasure to attend a very interesting lecture  – albeit with some depressing stats – by Prof Lesley Yellowlees on The Gender Agenda in Science and Engineering.

Lesley became the first woman President of the Royal Society of Chemistry in July 2012 and is currently Vice-Principal and Head of the College of Science and Engineering at the University of Edinburgh. She was awarded an MBE in 2005 for services to science, and was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 2012.

Clearly, a very successful woman by all accounts.

Sadly, also one of the very few women to climb the highest ranks of an academic career in the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Maths) sector.

So, why are women so under-represented in STEM subjects?

What are the barriers they face from the moment they graduate?

And perhaps more importantly, what can be done to change the current status quo?

These are some of the questions that Lesley addresses in her lecture. And yes, things are changing. But slowly.

It’s been estimated that if we move at this rate, equality between female and male academics in STEM subjects will be achieved in 100 years from now! A bleak prospect. But at least in the right direction.

I hope you’ll enjoy the video.

Related articles

• There are still few women in science and tech (management.fortune.cnn.com)
• How Women Could Change The World – If We Let Them (thinkprogress.org)

Insiders Views on Doing a PhD (Video)

A new academic year starts today at the University of Edinburgh.

This also coincides with the arrival of all our new PhD students. For some, this is the time to start thinking about choosing a project, or a supervisor, and finding out what to do to begin in the best possible way.

For others, this is the time to start thinking about applying for a PhD, or even finding out whether a PhD is a good idea for them. Last year, I posted some advice in this blog and you may find it useful to read Ten Good Reasons for Doing PhD (part I) and (part II) or to read my guest post at Nature’s SoapBox Science Blog.

This year, we decided to ask some insiders about what a PhD means to them.

In the video below, three of our PhD students (Daniel Doherty, Salome Matos, and Tim Bush) speak about their experience as a PhD student in the School of Physics and Astronomy.

These are the questions we have asked them:

• What made you want to study for a PhD?
• What are your career aspirations and how do you think a PhD will help?
• Is your PhD related to previous studies?
• Do you have any advice on how to approach a potential supervisor?
• So far, what have been the hardest and most rewarding moments of your PhD?
• So far, has the PhD been what you expected?
• Do you have any advice for prospective PhD applicants?

Click on the image below to start watching the video. I hope you will find it useful.

Video credits: Noe Ardanaz-Ugalde 

Do you have any comment or question? Just let us know and share your experience.