By April Harris
Ecology is a vast and wondrous field that allows scientists
many opportunities to explore and answer questions about the world around them.
Having a career in this field can be as challenging as it is rewarding,
especially for women in ecology. Coming
from a background of having many supportive and encouraging women ecologist
around me, it never occurred to me that others may not have had such support.
It also never occurred to me that as women ecologists, we still face hurdles that
we must overcome today. To help me explore these issues, I enlisted the help of
Judy Che-Castaldo a post-doc researcher at the National Socio-environmental
Synthesis Center (SESYNC). Together we sat down and talked about some issues
women face and how might we best overcome them. What came from that
conversation are 6 truths that women in ecology face:
1. Women may not be the best
self-promoters.
While this certainly does not apply to all women, some may
have trouble “selling” their research to others. Being bold, self-assured, hard
hitting, and unapologetic are not character traits society typically associates
with women. However, to me these are the exact traits that make some of the
best self-promoters. So how do we adopt
these traits to enhance our skills? The simple answer is practice. The more you
self-promote or “sell” your research, the better you become at doing so. Being
able to successfully self-promote is vital in today’s world when important research
is so easily overlooked, and landing jobs become more competitive than ever.
2. If your spouse is also in science,
finding jobs together can be challenging.
Having a spouse in the same field as you can be great. They
understand how research goes, and are there for you to bounce ideas off of.
However, when it comes to finding jobs together in one locale, it can prove
quite challenging, especially if you’re both in academia. Many couples have
taken jobs in different cities so they can pursue their career, which forces
them to live apart. Other couples have to “take turns” as to whose career comes
first. Thankfully this is becoming better as some universities are now
advertising couple’s positions. This allows both people in the relationship to
pursue their career together!
3. As women in ecology, there is no
“Right Time” to have children.
During your graduate years you are busy trying to finish
your thesis or dissertation. When you are a post-doc your schedule may not be
as flexible. All in all there is no right time to have children. You have to do
what you deem is best for yourself and what you can handle. Do some research
and see if your university offers graduate student leave for having children.
Explore your university/job to see what support they offer parents. The
presence or absence of these support systems may influence your decision on
when to have children.
4. Having children can cut into your
scientific productivity.
Having children is wonderful and family is the top priority
in the world for most people, but it can cut into your scientific productivity.
When a women gives birth to a child I wonder how many take the full 12 weeks of
leave. I wonder how many women worry about the loss of scientific productivity
during this time and how it will affect them professionally when that should be
the last thing on their mind. When your child is sick and you can’t put them
into daycare, typically it is the mom who has to stay home with them. Also, you
may not get as many hours in the office compared to your pre-children days.
There are daycare pickups you can’t miss, soccer or softball games that you
want to attend, and having no food in the house is just no longer acceptable.
While your spouse may help out with these things, a majority of the time these
responsibilities are still shouldered by women. Many try to make up for lost
hours in the wee hours of the night after the children are asleep but should
they have to? Should society expect people with children to be just as
productive as those who choose to remain childless? There is no right answer to
this question in my opinion. Anyone could argue both sides and create a
compelling argument.
5. Competing for jobs with people who
don’t have children is tough.
This comes back around to the loss of productivity. How can
you tell a company or university to choose a person who has a less productive
CV (less grants, proposals or publications), than someone whose productivity is
exceptionally high? This can be a real life problem that women who have
children earlier in their career face. Shouldn’t we as women be able to
translate having family into a set of desirable assets that make us more
competitive in the eyes of a company or university? While I’m not sure how this
would be accomplished it’s definitely something worth pondering.
6. There is still an “Old Guard” who
have it out for women in ecology.
Hopefully you have never experienced these people but yes
they do still exist. The “old guard” are those who still believe that women
cannot have a successful career and a family as well. The only thing I have to
say to these people is look around you. There are many women all over the globe
who are managing a successful career and a thriving family. If you can’t be
supportive of that please step to the side because we don’t have time for
haters.
While I frame this post around women in ecology, truth be
told these circumstances could just as easily be applied to other scientific
disciplines as well as the men within them. This is why I feel it is important
that we support one another in all things and make light of the issues once
cast into the shadows. Women have come a long way in ecology, and with the
continued help and support of male colleagues, universities and perspective
employers, we will continue to make strides to break the glass ceiling. As a
final note I would like to thank Judy Che-Castaldo for taking time out of her
day to lend me the insight of someone who has been in this industry longer than
I have. Her thoughts and insights were immensely helpful in formulating this
blogpost.
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