Women in research

Posted on | October 20, 2009 | 2 Comments

A new report shows that women’s progress in science has stalled over the past 15 years. While this won’t sound like news to many, I was shocked to read the statistic on how many women are Federation Fellows (8.5%). When you add that to other recent news stories, particularly with regard to the ongoing pay gap, the picture is quite bleak.

Perhaps the only thing more upsetting than this is the explanation of yesterday’s research findings:

SHARON BELL: The metaphor that we use is that women’s career is like a labyrinth, and you need to actually be able to negotiate that complex labyrinth. There is a number of pressures that come to apply.

A labyrinth! Apparently this is the preferred term over the “glass ceiling” and “leaking pipeline” metaphors of previous studies. In any case, they are all attempts to explain this diagram, which will be familiar to many “mid-career” academics.

The report itself is fantastic, but many people may not bother to read it when it comes packaged in Management 101. This was the case on ABC’s PM last night:

DAVID MARK: What are the ramifications for the under-representation of women in science?

SHARON BELL: Well, I think the main ramifications are the fact that if we don’t have a diverse workforce, we’re not actually maximising our productivity through diversity and that will impact on innovation.

Sharon, how about this for your next presser:

“At least half the population faces implicit or explicit obstacles to following the so-called formal career path. This is the case in universities as well as other jobs. The singular career path is a fiction based on the experience of a minority. It is a premise that should be dispelled at every level of leadership and management if the word diversity means anything at all.”

Category: Academia, Gender, Work
Tags: > > >

Comments

2 Responses to “Women in research”

  1. Rachel Hills
    October 21st, 2009 @ 7:34 pm

    The singular career path is a fiction based on the experience of a minority.

    Love this – and it’s not just true for women, either. It’s increasingly just “the way things are”, and it’s part of why I loved Brigid Delaney’s This Restless Life so much.

    Was great to meet you at the Media140 gig last night – hopefully I’ll see you at the conference itself in a couple of weeks!

  2. melgregg
    October 22nd, 2009 @ 9:18 am

    It is quite hilarious that I didn’t get to finish Brigid’s book because I accidentally left it on a plane! I need to get a review copy somehow…

Leave a Reply