Tag Archives: Women in science

The Female Euroscientist: Views from Western Europe

According to legend, in 1953 when Francis Crick and James Watson discovered the double helix structure of DNA they rushed to a local pub called The Eagle, telling locals that they had ‘found the secret to life.’ A blue plaque now commemorates the announcement. Unfortunately it is only recently that people have recognised just how crucial their colleague Rosalind Franklin’s research was to their discovery. She died before Watson, Crick and another colleague were awarded the Nobel Prize in 1962.  Read more [...]

A gender scholar’s visit to ESOF 2018: she came, she saw, she ranted

In this theory-informed auto-ethnographic account, I relate my experience of participating in the EuroScience Open Forum Conference 2018 (ESOF). Gender equality was certainly on the agenda at ESOF, however, I argue that the manner in which gender equality was addressed at the conference is not only problematic but potentially counter-productive to the intended purpose of promoting women in research careers. If we keep 1) essentialising a presumed lack of confidence to women, 2) omitting men’s role in the reproduction of gender hierarchies in research from equality discussions, and 3) excluding gender scholars’ expertise from gender equality debates, I fear that women’s equal participation in academic research and leadership will remain a distant prospect in the future still. Read more [...]