Not all of us were able to make Women in STEMM Australia's inaugural meeting this month, luckily though, Samantha Hood and Sarah Lau have written a fantastic report of the symposium - do have a read!
Yassss! Physics teacher wisdom alert about science curriculum 🚨🚨🚨 #teamEQuS @WomenSciAUST #WiSA2016 pic.twitter.com/yAPhSyMhjI— Samantha Hood (@PaleBlueSam) September 13, 2016
There are many problems the next generation
faces, such as climate change, rapidly growing energy, water and food demands,
and increasing demand for healthcare with ageing populations. To solve these
problems we need all hands on deck - we should all do our best to work to
ensure that everyone who wants to be working in STEMM* can become the problem
solvers the future needs. Fundamentally, the lack of women working in STEMM
fields is a failure to harness all of the available talent.
Recently in Melbourne, we attended the inaugural
Connecting Women in STEMM Symposium, hosted at RMIT. The first meeting of its
kind in Australia, the Symposium supported networking for women in STEMM - and
sought to address the lack of women in leadership roles in these fields. The
Symposium’s attendees included people from both industry and academia who are
working towards gender equity.
We are currently a PhD students studying physics
at the University of Queensland, working within the ARC Centre of Excellence
for Engineered Quantum Systems (EQuS). EQuS sent 7 members of the Centre to
attend the Symposium and we are delighted that EQuS is being refunded by the ARC
- their commitment to diversity and professional development is invaluable in
creating wonderful physicists that keep Australia competitive in quantum
science.
One of the best things to come out of this
Symposium was the emphasis on developing professional networks so that we can
learn from one another to implement best-practices. Retention of women in STEMM
is complicated, and often over simplified. It’s not just childcare, unconscious
bias, or a lack of confidence that holds women back, but a combination of these
factors and so many more. Improvements in gender equity in STEMM fields is slow
going, and the slow pace can be frustrating. So when we can find working
examples of successful policies and practices we should learn from them.
The focus of the Symposium’s first session was
the the Science in Australia Gender Equity (SAGE) program. SAGE seeks to
address gender inequality on a University wide level, by setting realistic
goals and requiring institutions to critically assess their commitment to
improving equity. SAGE recognises institutions improving their gender diversity
with awards - the original program in the UK (Athena Swan) saw medical bodies
requiring a certain level of diversity as a funding requirement. On a
School/Faculty level, it’s really hard to make changes to the workplace to
accommodate more flexibility due to bureaucracy and limited funds. This is one
reason why this program is so promising. It was even more encouraging to hear
about how the pilot is being implemented and accepted around Australia - the
awards are currently unrelated to funding outcomes so that the problem of
underrepresentation of women can be acknowledged and addressed for the right
reasons without becoming a box-ticking exercise.
Best practices in the workplace was the focus of
the Symposium’s second session. Panelists included Associate Professor MarnieBlewitt from the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute (WEHI) of Medical Research and
Professor John Carroll from Monash’s Biomedical School, discussing family
practices and unconscious bias training respectively. WEHI has introduced
parenting rooms for their employees who might need to bring in a sick child to
work, and plan to improve their maternal and paternal leave, as well as have
on-site childcare**. Prof. Carroll discussed increasing awareness of
unconscious bias in his School by hiring a team to survey the staff, many of
whom agreed that as a result of the training, they were more aware of
inequality in the workplace. On a smaller scale, implementing harassment
policies and codes of conduct for workplace meetings was a suggestion from the
crowd that can be easily implemented, and shows that the employer cares about
equity and supports their staff.
Another great thing about the Symposium was
getting to see all of the amazing work happening across Australia (and
internationally) to encourage high school girls in STEMM. These include
mentoring, and passionate and inspiring outreach programs such as RoboGals and
TechGirls. While the solution to the lack of women in STEMM is unknown, a good
starting place is addressing attitudes and improving engagement at an early
age, which is exactly what these programs aim to do.
Lovely to meet the 5 physics students flown down from Qld @ARC_EQuS for #WiSA2016 pic.twitter.com/0TiyRMxvse— Women in STEMM Aust (@WomenSciAUST) September 13, 2016
At the other end of the spectrum, we found it
really helpful as young scientists to have role models to look up to who have
managed to navigate the system. In particular, there was one session dedicated
to sharing the career journeys of various women in science. ‘Inspiring’ was the
word heard all around the room at the end of the session, not only because of
their perseverance in the face of many obstacles, but also how they demonstrate
the possibility and value of women in leadership in STEMM.
There’s never been a better time to be a woman
working in physics. Raised awareness of the challenges unique to women in STEMM
fields has inspired international efforts to ensure that women are reaching
their career potential more than ever before. Meetings like this Symposium are
a great way to accelerate progress in equality by sharing ideas, and I am
looking forward to seeing many more sessions in the future!
Samantha Hood and Sarah Lau
*Science, technology, engineering, maths and
medicine
** While the support of flexible work
environments was wonderful for many, it’s important to remember that not
everyone wants children. Emphasising the importance of role models and support
for the LGBTIQ community would be a wonderful idea for future meetings.