Danielle Ellis:

Dear Barbara,

Welcome to the UKRC Getset women blog.
I am interested to find out what other materials you have researched?

thanks Danielle

Silvia Imberti:

An inspiring article, thank you! Silvia

Barbara Montanari:

Hi Danielle and Silvia!

One material that I studied during my PhD was a type of plastic called polycarbonate. This is very resistant to impact and is used to make bullet-proof windows in cars.
If we can understand what it is that makes it so impact-resistant, we could, for instance, engineer this property into other materials that are better in other ways but cannot be useful because they break easily upon impact.

Giuseppe:

Dear Barbara,

nice article.

Giuseppe

Giuseppe:

Barbara,

why do you think that the dominant culture within the scientific community is still largely gender blind? How can we change it?

Veronica:

Hello Barbara
It’s great to hear about what you do as we non-scientists often wonder what it is like to carry out research on a daily basis. You make your work sound exciting and rewarding.
I met some young female academics recently who are very concerned about their short-term contracts, the fact that research jobs are so competitive and they will have to travel widely to pursue opportunities and that having a family in the future may mean putting their research careers on hold. What advice can I give them?

Barbara Montanari:

Dear Giuseppe,

thank you for your interest. The gender blindness in the scientific community is based on a myth. People think that because science is objective and because we are all judged based on our scientific output, this judgement is completely objective and not influenced by gender or anything else. This is a very superficial opinion. Scientists are human beings, nowadays operating in a complex social network, exactly like in any other job.
One example is the emphasis on individualism present in my scientific field. Writing a number of single-authored papers is considered as a very positive thing, a sign that that one can drive his/her own research completely independently. At the same time I hear women say that they left science because they found their PhD experience too isolating. I think that it would benefit science if scientists were less individualistic. Also, it is important that supervisors create the right environment for each of their students, one that takes into account gender differences for instance, rather than apply the same supervision style to all. Treating people the same is not treating them equally, quite the opposite.

Barbara Montanari:

Dear Veronica,

My view on this is that actually science is not so utterly dissimilar from any other field when it comes to combining a woman’s career with family life. Many of my female friends who wanted a career had to change contracts and location several times before reaching some degree of stability. Likewise, most women, no matter what field they work in, do modify their work arrangements when they become mothers. In many cases this is a positive choice driven by a change in their own priorities. Most of the mothers I know are working part-time or have a career break because they want to spend time with their young children, but plan to go back to focussing more on their career in the future.
In fact I have to say that my experience has been more positive than that of some women I know who were working in other fields for commercial companies. They were told they could not work part-time below 4 days a week, and their working hours were very inflexible – so much so that they resigned in the end. Most scientists working in Academia enjoy very flexible working hours and this is a huge help for parents. As a computational scientist with no teaching obligations I am particularly privileged in that I can do the great majority of my work anywhere and at any time; all I need is a computer and the internet.
One disadvantage for scientists compared to other jobs, however, is the rather low pay. People in more lucrative jobs can deal better with the lack of stability and have more money to pay for childcare. Women in really high-powered jobs can afford nannies and private schools to take care of their children while they continue to pursue their career at full steam should they wish to do so.

One piece of advice that I feel I can give is for those women who are in a relationship. I think that it is absolutely critical that the couple make their professional choices together, taking into account the need for both to develop their own career. My husband is also an Academic, in English literature. Both of us discarded job opportunities in places where there were no opportunities for the other person. Also, when he was offered the job of Head of Faculty just months before the birth of our twins, we decided together to turn it down because this huge step ahead (and huge pay rise!) for him would have meant that I would not have been able to go back to work while the children were young. In his job as Professor of English he mainly teaches and does research. This means rather flexible working hours and more time to spend with the family compared with a Head of Faculty. The result is that he is really happy to have plenty of time for his family, and I have been able to continue to do the job I love. A win-win situation! I hope that in the future more work places will recognise the right for men to spend more time with their families because this is so beneficial for everyone and one important ingredient for truly gender-fair work places.

Jayne Price:

Dear Barbara,

What a lovely article, although we met recently on the Leadership course, we didn't really discuss the research you carry out, which is really interesting.
I also enjoyed reading your response to Veronica, I also share the child care with my husband and we both make choices that mean we get to see as much of our daughter as possible.
Hope to see you soon,
Jayne

Barbara Montanari:

Dear Jayne and Vicki,

Thank you for adding your experience to mine on this blog.
My two weeks as a guest blogger of UKRC will be over in a couple of days. It has been a really nice experience but it showed me that quite a few of women in Academia do not want to talk about gender issues, especially not openly. While some of them simply do not have an interest in the subject, others think that there is no issue any longer. I recently read a book about successful business women and several of them advised to ignore gender issues as the best way not to be affected by them (“if you look for barriers, you’ll find them”). I think this attitude perhaps helps that person but does not help to tackle the issue, so I dislike it.

Gender related issues are very clearly present in Academia, whether we admit it or not. This is not just my opinion but a fact backed by a substantial body of data. The report by Professor Dame Athene Donald, an outstanding contemporary UK physicist and scientist, is really illuminating. She also runs a blog:

http://occamstypewriter.org/athenedonald/

In the report she identifies some of the issues that I mentioned in this blog. She points, for instance, at evidence showing that combining motherhood with academia is not as difficult as young SET women think.

She mentions lack of self-confidence as a major obstacle and a gender related aspect. I can certainly relate to that. She talks about mentoring, role models and support groups as ways to overcome this issue. I think that we could go even further. We as a society could just stop giving so much value to a show of confidence and a negative connotation to self-doubt. The truth is that everyone’s knowledge is always partial and it would be great if we could all admit it and be open to continually learning from others. Q&A sessions after an oral presentation, for instance, are daunting because we all fear we will not be able to answer all questions. The truth is that our research advances the most when someone in the audience points out something that we had not thought about. I do not believe in women trying to become something they are not, I believe in work places embracing gender differences because this is a proven way to improve productivity. Much more can be done at interviews, meetings, etc. to take the different attitude towards self-doubt into consideration.

Barbara Montanari:

Before I end my experience as a UKRC guest blogger today, I'd like to say a couple of final things.

One very important thing in anyone's career is to understand one's priorities, and review them regularly. For example, for me my research and my family are important, but I do not care about where I live and in many ways leaving my country of origin has not been a real issue. Having clear priorities means that you can concentrate every resource on what really counts for you. Priorities often change in life so we should keep reviewing them and live in line with them.

And to young women with a passion for science and research, an analytic and intellectually rigorous mind, and a natural propension for problem solving, I'd say you possess the essential attributes to be a good scientist. Science needs all these attributes but would be best served by a community as diverse as possible in other additional aspects.
And I don't think motherhood should be seen as an obstacle to be a researcher, nor a job in research an obstacle to being a mother. Polices in most research establishments are now very family friendly and this is a great help. Also, over the lifespan of any person there will be events that will temporarily distract from the career and among these motherhood is a most wonderful and empowering experience.

Good luck to all of you!