27 September 2023

Women in science: Smashing glass ceilings, glass walls, doors, the lot!

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Helen Briggs* speaks to five women scientists from different generations who are breaking barriers in their field.


A woman engineer who worked on the Moon landing spoke recently of how she was once told the control room was no place for women.

Things have changed a lot in 50 years, but not as fast as some had hoped.

BBC News spoke to five scientists from different generations who are breaking barriers in their field.

The Pioneer: Professor Jocelyn Bell Burnell

Famous for discovering the first pulsar more than 50 years ago, Professor Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell (pictured) has also been a lifelong advocate of women in science.

As a school pupil in Northern Ireland in the 1950s, like other girls she was not permitted to study science until her parents (and others) protested.

Currently Visiting Professor of Astrophysics at the University of Oxford, she was one of a group of female scientists whose efforts led to awards recognising commitment to advancing the careers of women in science.

The Athena Swan scheme requires universities and colleges to address gender equality.

“That went slowly to begin with until some of the bodies that give funding to universities took notice and said you have to hold one of these Athena Swan awards if you want our money,” she says.

“And that focused minds remarkably.”

The gender divide in science is cultural rather than anything to do with women’s brains and some countries do much better than others, she says.

“The progress is slow, things are changing gradually.”

Her advice to women in science?

“Don’t be daunted, hang in there, work hard, of course, be courageous.”

The research leader: Dr Nicola Beer

Dr Nicola Beer’s interest in science developed at an early age; one of her earliest memories is of watching her teacher demonstrate the concept of sound waves using a paper plate filled with rice and a portable speaker at primary school.

She is now senior head of Department for Discovery Biology and Pharmacology at the Novo Nordisk Research Centre Oxford.

She believes with fewer women in leadership roles, women have an obligation to support each other, as mentors, by passing on knowledge, or by simply being “generous and opening the door”.

“That is something we should be doing across the board whether it’s women, whether it’s younger people, whether it’s people in their career journey,” Dr Beer says.

“We have an obligation to pave the way of how it should be rather than protecting our own position, and generosity is quite important in that.”

As a female leader, she notices that people often try to suggest a uniform way for women to be leaders.

“We should make a concerted effort to encourage women to be the best leader they can be, rather than a stereotype of how we perceive that should be,” she says.

For her, this means avoiding the preconceptions we can have about one other, such as limits to what we can achieve and what work we can do.

“I’m passionate about smashing glass ceilings and glass walls and I really think we should break down silos between us and boxes and preconceptions,” she says.

The trailblazer: Gladys Ngetich

When Gladys Ngetich was told in a meeting, “You don’t look like an engineer”, she went home wondering what an engineer was supposed to look like.

As a research student studying mechanical engineering, she has become used to fighting stereotypes and being something of a trailblazer.

Studying for a degree in mechanical engineering in Kenya, she was one of eight women in a class of 80.

Currently completing her PhD in aerospace engineering at the University of Oxford, she has just won a 2019 Schmidt Science Fellowship to investigate space science technologies that support sustainable development.

Inspired by women like Professor Bell Burnell, she wants to help inspire a new generation of engineers.

“What keeps me going is the fact that someone has to scribe a new path, someone has to start walking to pave the way for someone else,” she says.

“I’m hoping there will be a trail of women coming after me — and hoping they won’t have to prove themselves so much.”

Pushing boundaries: Dr Megan Wheeler

How do you solve the big challenges facing the world?

Science holds the solutions, but only if you look at problems through multiple lenses.

That’s the view of Dr Megan Wheeler, who, as Executive Director of the H. Schmidt Science Fellows Program, is on a mission to train the next generation of science leaders.

Dr Wheeler has dual doctorates in neuroscience and clinical psychology.

She is now leading a program aimed at harnessing the brightest and best in science to tackle global challenges.

Being a scientist today means having an ability to step outside the lab and communicate why the work is important, she says.

This requires a broad skill set to engage the public, funding bodies and policymakers, but also to work with scientists from other disciplines.

The rising star: Elina Aino Johanna Pörsti

The daughter of a physics teacher and a medical doctor, Elina Aino Johanna Pörsti grew up in Finland in a family where scientific dialogue was second nature.

When there was thunder, her father would explain the physics behind it, while her mother would explain the human body.

At school she did a biology course in gene editing, which set the course for her future career.

“It’s amazing that you could extract DNA and work in a lab and I thought it sounded super cool and something I’d be able to do,” she says.

“I’m fascinated by science because I like to understand and there’s always more to understand and there is always more to read and learn.”

She is now a scientist at the Novo Nordisk Research Centre Oxford working on the discovery of new diagnostic tools.

She says at school in Finland, everyone was treated the same, which is critical for enhancing women’s position in science.

“In thinking how we can enhance women’s position in science generally, the work should start early on,” she says.

* Helen Briggs is a BBC journalist and broadcaster. She tweets at @hbriggs.

This article first appeared at www.bbc.com.

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