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I once spent a day shadowing a research scientist and came away with the sense that she saw her work as fun. She taught me that researchers are passionate about their careers. Yet most young girls see science as boring, or work that's too hard to pursue, or devoid of any relevance to their lives. How do you help them to continue the innate love of science and discovery that's in all of us?
When you see the best science being done, it has elements of exploration, fun, and personal involvement; it's about enjoying the challenge. You also satisfy the question of how nature works. It's extremely interesting and endlessly captivating. Scientists often complain that we spend a great deal of time securing grants and funding to do our research, but we've all chosen to do this. There's a degree of autonomy in a research setting, and we forget to convey that it's an extremely rewarding aspect.
Science in academic settings or research institutes is different from trying to solve a problem with a particular end in mind. In a corporate setting, the focus is on problem solving or grappling with questions. The science which isn't goal oriented is very impressive because you have such freedom of choice - Choice in what we do is a huge determinant as to whether or not we enjoy this.
That's something we don't convey to girls - that science can offer intellectual freedom, which is a wonderful thing - and to have access to this type of career is extraordinary.
Why is science seen as boring? Perhaps it's because the teaching of it happens in a very fact-based way. To teach well you have to not only teach the concepts but teach that science is a process of thinking. When science is taught in a problem-solving way, then boys and girls don't get turned off.
Kids pick up completely on what their teachers are thinking. Teachers are so incredibly important and we undervalue them. We must change that, and politically advocate for teachers. I recognize that teachers have a tough life; they're overburdened, and we need to re-examine how we compensate teachers. We should make it one of the top paying jobs and then people would flock to it.
When I was a child, I had a chemistry teacher who came into my school relatively young. She enjoyed what she did and made chemistry so much fun. Because we enjoyed her teaching us, she thrived in her work. It matters to teachers that they feel valued and liked. It's important to understand that how people learn is realistically influenced by the interaction of teachers and students.
In the biological sciences you've observed that women are getting advanced degrees and doing postdoctoral research at the same rates as men, but not getting the top jobs. What are these top jobs, and why are women still excluded from them?
The most desirable positions are in academic institutions where there's a cutting edge research component and lively inquiry. When we look at the pools of applicants, women are very poorly represented. Students say that it looks too hard and too daunting. There's underrepresentation and women are concerned about family issues and there's no real support for this. The good news is that we're aware of what's happening, and intuitions are trying to correct the issues that are turning away really talented women scientists in this career. It's not that women can't do this work; something is putting them off, and it's a combination of things not unique to the sciences.
There are sometimes cumulative negative cues - subtle signals that women receive - that are not huge by themselves but add up to a discouraging picture of the profession that they want to go into. They see it as hostile to family life - that they will be taken as not serious about their profession. We all recognize this and work hard not to create a negative environment.
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