Talking about… (archives)

2018

Six researchers offer tips for navigating through and beyond gender barriers.

The robustness of scholarly peer review has been challenged by evidence of disparities in publication outcomes based on author’s gender and nationality.

Men outnumber women in top-paying academic jobs and university leadership

The robustness of scholarly peer review has been challenged by evidence of disparities in publication outcomes based on author’s gender and nationality.

Men outnumber women in top-paying academic jobs and university leadership

Girls are equally able at STEM-related subjects at school, but are reluctant to choose them for a career. That is linked to a lack of confidence. We’re only just starting to tackle the problem

Six researchers share their ideas for improving representation.

The suggestion that women need ‘fixing’ via upskilling or behaviour modification to address workplace inequity fails to consider the workplace and social structures in which women exercise their choices. Here I debunk three of the most pervasive myths about women in STEM.

Lack of transparency and unconscious biases make it hard to spot inequality.

We already know how to reduce sexual harassment at work, and the answer is actually pretty simple: Hire and promote more women. Research suggests that this solution addresses two root causes of harassment.

How do you raise your little boy with equality between men and women? The question haunts even the most committed mothers, who must fight against their unconscious biases

Sheila Widnall was the first woman to head a branch of the American military (air force). She is a professor in aeronautics and astronautics and first woman to serve as chair of the MIT faculty.

Women comprise a minority of the Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics, and Medicine (STEMM) workforce. Quantifying the gender gap may identify fields that will not reach parity without intervention, reveal underappreciated biases, and inform benchmarks for gender balance among conference speakers, editors, and hiring committees. (download pdf)

Despite notable progress over the past 20 years, updated ILO figures show persistent inequalities between women and men on access to the labour market, unemployment and conditions at work.

This was the surprising question asked a few years ago by a mother whose daughter wanted to enrol in the Euler course at the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) for children with an early gift for maths.

When asked to draw a scientist, school-age kids in the United States are increasingly sketching women. That’s the main conclusion of a new study that compiled information about 20,860 pictures drawn by students age 5 to 18 over 5 decades.

Most people will draw a man. Researchers investigate the consequences.

Parent–researchers face a conundrum as they struggle to attend key conferences and further their careers while finding care for the children.

Here’s what I’ve learned, and why I did it.

But female scientists suffer when their research proposals are judged primarily on the strength of their CVs.

The National Science Foundation says institutions it supports must disclose when researchers are found to have violated policies or are put on leave pending investigation.

This paper looks at the role of implicit bias as a mechanism behind the gender gap and a potential threat to academic meritocracy. It focuses on implicit gender bias, examining how it plays a role in working conditions for women at universities, in recruitment and career advancement processes, and in research funding situations.

2017

And it’s not because they turn down talks more often, or because there aren’t enough women to invite.

When children choose what to be when they grow up, they often follow in their fathers’ footsteps. But mothers are powerful, too.

Les modèles donnent aux femmes le courage de suivre leur propre voie, sans se laisser rebuter par les résistances ni enfermer dans les conventions et les stéréotypes réducteurs. Dans cette revue, nous présentons des femmes avec de telles qualités de modèle. Elles sont militantes et pionnières de l’ancienne et de la nouvelle génération. En particulier Iris von Roten, qui est née il y a 100 ans. Déjà en 1958, elle demandait l’autodétermination sexuelle pour les femmes, l’égalité des chances dans l’éducation et la vie professionnelle, l’égalité salariale et la pleine participation à la vie sociale et politique. (pdf complet)

I love being a mom and all of the joy and chaos that comes with balancing the tenure track with soccer games and Girl Scouts. However, I am a mom to two amazing girls—not an endless number of graduate and undergraduate students. I love being there for students, coaching them through their first presentation at a professional meeting or seeing the look on their face when their first-author paper is finally published after months or years of hard work. But I can only help them reach their full potential as their mentor—not their mother.

It’s time for academic institutions to take responsibility for protecting students and staff, says Laurel Issen.

This report explores the role of women in STEM and the challenges they face, looking at areas of gender inequality, exploring potential causes of this inequality and offering solutions.

The pipeline of women pursuing mathematics and physics is still dreadfully leaky. Because there are so few women in senior positions, aspiring researchers lack female mentors, perpetuating a sense of not belonging.

In order to promote gender equality and to force it into disrupting mentalities, the Medical Students’ Association decides to use the feminine by default.

The comics questioning the sharing of domestic tasks

According to the U.S. National Science Foundation, women earn about half of the doctoral degrees in science, yet they represent a mere 21% of the faculty at the full professor level at research institutions in the United States.

But a new report says females are catching up.

Tech companies are spending hundreds of millions of dollars to improve conditions for female employees. Here’s why not much has changed—and what might actually work.

Harassment towards women comes in sometimes extremely violent forms. Far from being limited to the street or terraces, the phenomenon also affects the high spheres

Starting a family has less influence than before on the pursuit of an academic career for researchers

When it comes to science collaborations, there’s ample data to suggest that gender diversity pays a substantial research and productivity dividend

Jory Lerback and Brooks Hanson present an analysis that reveals evidence of gender bias in peer review for scholarly publications

In an era when women are increasingly prominent in medicine, law, and business, why are there so few women scientists and engineers?

Female academics’ feedback on issues such as ‘acceptable’ norms reveals a sector far from its ideals, say Laurie Cohen and Jo Duberley. Anyone who sincerely believes that academia is a meritocracy must be either deluded or in denial.

This paper looks at the role of implicit bias as a mechanism behind the gender gap and a potential threat to academic meritocracy. It focuses on implicit gender bias, examining how it plays a role in working conditions for women at universities, in recruitment and career advancement processes, and in research funding situations.

2016

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There are historical reasons for the lack of women in leadership positions in large Swiss companies

24.11.2016 Long excluded from political life in Switzerland, women have only recently gained positions of power in the economy and are still very much in the minority when it comes to boardrooms and executive positions in large companies. For the seventh issue of the series Social Change in Switzerland, Stéphanie Ginalski looks back over history and describes how the current inequality has been socially constructed. (full article HERE).

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Becoming parents means becoming unequal, a long interdisciplinary research project concludes

08.11.2016 When a child arrives, many couples manifest incoherence between their values regarding equality and their actual behaviour. This paradox is explained by the “gendered master statuses” concept, which is the common thread of a book by a group of sociologists, psychologists, social psychologists and demographers directed by Jean-Marie Le Goff and René Levy. Based on data gathered from young parents in the Lake Geneva area, this study also features in another new publication, which presents a comparison between several European countries, in which Switzerland appears particularly traditionalist. (Full article HERE).

Logo Médias – représentations de genres – politique Revue spécialisée «Questions au féminin» 2016

23.12.2016 On trouvera dans ce numéro les résultats d’une étude, lancée conjointement par la CFQF, l’OFCOM et la SRG SSR, qui montrent comment les médias – tant imprimés qu’en ligne – ont parlé des candidates et des candidats aux élections fédérales de 2015.

Des entretiens et portraits réalisés avec des chercheuses, des syndicalistes et des professionnelles des médias montrent où en sont les efforts en vue de l’égalité dans les médias. (Full article HERE).

The engineering Gap The Power of Realistic Expectations. Research shows a way to close a key achievement gap.

05.12.2016 While many students experience difficulty acclimating to college, first-generation, low-income, and minority students are the hardest hit and most at risk of dropping out. (Full article HERE).

The engineering Gap Halte au sexisme au travail!

29.11.2016 Qu’il s’exprime par le biais de l’humour ou directement, qu’il semble bienveillant ou hostile, le sexisme a de lourdes conséquences: il dévalorise les femmes et limite leur progression professionnelle montre une étude de I’Universite de Genève. (Full article HERE).

The engineering Gap
The engineering gap

08.11.2016 Only 8% of engineers in the UK are women. Why are efforts to get more girls to choose it as a career failing?. (Full article HERE).

Women need to be seen and heard at conferences

28.10.2016 A neuroscience initiative is boosting the number of female invited speakers at meetings. Other disciplines should do the same. (Full article HERE).

Women Nobel science prize

04.10.2016 Following Marie Curie, double winner, only sixteen women received the prestigious Nobel science prize. (Emission CQFD de la RTS à écouter ICI).

The destiny of these passionate researchers is told in the book “17 femmes prix Nobel de sciences“.




CMU’s Proportion of Undergraduate Women in Computer Science and Engineering Soars Above National Averages

Culture, Personal Approach Makes the Difference in Attracting More Women. Full article HERE


GMA: Gender Mainstreaming in Academia

The Swedish Secretariat for Gender Research has been commissioned by the Swedish government to support all state-funded higher education institutions as well as Chalmers University of Technology and Jönköping University in their gender mainstreaming efforts 2016–2019. Full article HERE


Moving My Brain to Canada: Motherhood and International Mobility as an Academic Career Requirement

This article highlights the challenges encountered by mothers in academe who face the demand of international mobility as a career requirement. Full article HERE


Understanding unconscious bias

This animation introduces the key concepts of unconscious bias. It forms part of the Royal Society’s efforts to ensure that all those who serve on Royal Society selection and appointment panels are aware of differences in how candidates may present themselves, how to recognise bias in yourself and others, how to recognise inappropriate advocacy or unreasoned judgement. You can find out more about unconscious bias and download a briefing which includes current academic research at www.royalsociety.org/diversity.


Facebook Managing unconscious bias

At Facebook, we believe that understanding and managing unconscious bias can help us build stronger, more diverse and inclusive organizations. These videos are designed to help us recognize our biases so we can reduce their negative effects in the workplace. Surfacing and countering unconscious bias is an essential step towards becoming the people and companies we want to be.


Math for Girls, Math for Boys

18.04.2016 Why don’t females compete in international math olympiads at the same rate as their male classmates? Full article HERE. (The Atlantic)


Pour comprendre la discrimination envers les femmes, il faut remonter à la charrue

10.03.2016 La discrimination envers les femmes n’a pas toujours été la norme. Comme beaucoup d’autres différences de genre, elle est socialement et culturellement construite. Pour en comprendre l’origine, il nous faut remonter le temps. L’outil agricole a marqué une rupture Article complet ICI. (Le Temps)


Women considered better coders – but only if they hide their gender

12.02.2016 Researchers find software repository GitHub approved code written by women at a higher rate than code written by men, but only if the gender was not disclosed Article complet ICI. (The Guardian)


Le système suisse décourage le travail féminin

08.03.2016 Le marché du travail Suisse est le plus discriminatoire d’Europe concernant l’égalité homme-femme, selon une étude du journal britannique The Economist. En cause, le traditionalisme des représentations, et la difficile conciliation entre charges familiales et vie professionnelle.

Article complet ICI. (Bilan édition numérique)


Women under-represented in world’s science academies

29.02.2016 Fewer than half of academies have policies in place to boost gender equality in membership.

Article complet ICI. (In Nature)


Le langage épicène, un pas vers l’égalité femme-homme?

12.02.2016 À l’heure où les femmes gagnent toujours moins que les hommes à fonction égale, sont sous-représentées dans les médias et en politique, la féminisation du langage est envisagée comme un vecteur d’égalité des genres.

Interview de Pascal Gygay à écouter ICI. (RTS, On en Parle)


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I am a science researcher and science communicator interested in technology, innovation and science policy. I am passionate about communicating the economic, business and social relevance of science and its importance for all of society.