APPC-AIP conference – What did the Women in Physics group get up to?

The women in physics group doesn’t currently have our own meeting, so the biennial AIP congress is the main time we have to get together and discuss the state of women in physics in Australia. This year however we had extra opportunity, as the congress was held jointly with the Asian Pacific Physics Conference, giving us a fantastic opportunity to connect and network with our colleagues from the Asia Pacific region. The WIP group held a number of activities during the conference, which all occurred on the 6th December. This action-packed day was kicked off by the WIP breakfast event with Prof Nalini Joshi as our guest speaker, followed by a Plenary by Prof Youngah Park and then in the afternoon we hosted two conference sessions with invited contributions by Prof Evvy Kartini and Prof Kate Joliffe. 

Breakfast event 

This great event was sponsored by EQuS, and we were very fortunate to have Prof Nalini Joshi as our guest speaker. Prof Joshi has been an instigator of the Science in Australia Gender Equality (SAGE) pilot that has been tremendously successful with 40 institutions currently signed up and seeking a bronze award in the approach to equity. She spoke on the motivations and need for such a pilot and outlined how all in the room could get involved and assist their institutions in making SAGE a success. The breakfast event also allowed us to thank a number of members for their support of the WIP group over the years, and to form a new committee for 2017/18. 

Plenary by Youngah Park 

After breakfast was done, we moved to the large theatre to hear Prof Youngah Park’s plenary lecture on ‘W-Leadership, Key driver of Innovative Engines’. Prof Park is currently President of Korea Institute of S&T Evaluation and Planning and has a very interesting, and almost unique perspective, as not only is she a senior scientist but she has also served as a member of the National Assembly of Republic of Korea from 2008 to 2012. So her duel perspective on the role and strengths of women in the physics workforces was particular insightful. In particular she outlined the large opportunities that gender innovation can give to a country at large, through sustaining economic growth and opening new markets.

Sessions 

As part of the conference we held two sessions, the first focusing on the state of Women in Physics in the Asian region and the second looking to how we can move forward from where we are. In our first session we heard from invited speaker Prof Evvy Kartini, from Indonesia’s National Nuclear agency about Women in Physics within Indonesia, her personal perspective on this as well as lots of very positive stories about how things are improving. For the remainder of the session we heard contributions from Japan, Korea and China and it was fascinating to see how the state of things are so different in each country. Though, the sad fact remains that in all countries a number of barriers have been identified to women participating fully in the physics world. 

In the session looking about how we move forward, we heard from Prof Kate Joliffe about the strategic mentoring program that has been instituted at Sydney university's chemistry department. After finding a dearth of women at band E (professional level) and determining that there was a lack of people putting in for promotion to this level – the department put in place a mentoring scheme . Now successful, they are implementing the scheme to lower levels, a very interesting case example of positive action. Also in the session Jo Turner reported on statistics she had gathered both from the conference diversity survey and also presented the picture of equity in AIP awards. Both revealed quite a lot about the community, with a very definite case for action – we’ll write a separate post about this.

Thanks to Sarah Maddison for the photos of the WIP events.

Connecting Women in STEMM - a great meeting by all accounts

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.

Opportunities and News June 2016

Volunteering Opportunity in Perth

On behalf of Evelyn Chuk, President of The Innovators' Tea Party:

We are looking for some engaging women working in Science, Technology, Engineering or Mathematics (STEM) fields to volunteer at our event The Innovators’ Tea Party on Saturday September 3^rd in Perth. This free event aims to inspire high school aged girls to consider a career in STEM by allowing them to interact with a diverse range of mentors.

The event will be run like ‘speed-dating’ where mentors will have 5 minutes to engage with each student (or pair of students) before moving on to the next. Mentors are expected to talk about specific projects they have worked on, what they studied at university, challenges and successes they have faced in their industry and their career progression so far. The day will be split into four 1.5 hour sessions, and volunteering mentors can opt to attend for the morning, the afternoon or the whole day.

This is a wonderful one-off volunteering opportunity for any woman in STEM who is interested in giving back to the community. It is also a good way to network with others working in STEM industries and meet some of the young women who we will one day be working with! Coffee, tea and sweet snacks are provided throughout the day.

If you are interested in getting involved, please find out more at our website https://innovatorsteaparty.wordpress.com/volunteer/ 

News - SAGE symposium

Readers may be interested to know that on Friday 24th June Science in Australia Gender Equity (SAGE) held a symposium at the National Maritime Museum in Sydney.  The speaker list was nothing short of stellar, and it is definitely worth catching up on proceedings via the #SAGEpilot hashtag.