News
University conference kick starts women in science initiative
Wed, 06 Mar 2013 16:00:00 GMT
Coinciding with International Womens' Day, staff from across the University hosted the University of Portsmouth’s first Athena SWAN conference in a sold-out lecture theatre on the afternoon of March 6, 2013.
Jump straight to the conference videos
The conference was opened by Dr Janis Shute, Reader in Pharmacology, who has been the driving force behind the initiative. Dr Shute outlined the principles of the Athena SWAN Charter; the advancement of women in science, engineering and technology, which the University signed up to in 2011, joining the Universities of Kent, Queen Mary, Roehampton, Surrey, Southampton, Reading, Kingston, Brighton, Sussex and Royal Holloway to form the South East Regional Network, endeavouring to create a less-biased working environment.
The Chancellor, Sandi Toksvig, highlighted the importance of women’s frequently underappreciated achievements in science and engineering in her speech, “My Olympic Career and Other Lies” by describing her journey to the University that day, mentioning, amongst others, Josephine Garis Cochran, inventor of the dishwasher, Mary Anderson, the inventor of the windscreen wiper and Stephanie Kwolek, the inventor of Kevlar used in the body of cars. The Chancellor closed by saying that in a world full of so many problems to fix, it doesn’t make sense to use only half the available brains to solve them.
The Keynote speech was delivered by Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell, DBE, FRS, FRAS, a British astrophysicist, who as a postgraduate student discovered the first radio pulsars. After an introduction to her career, which included a temporary lecturing post at the University of Portsmouth, Dame Bell Burnell commented on the state of womens’ vs mens’ place within academia, referencing advice given in the 1955 good wife’s guide in Housekeeping Monthly; “listen to him – his topics of conversation are more important than yours.” Dame Bell Burnell stated that during her career things had changed for the better, but that they haven’t changed enough. She advised that for a woman’s career to survive, should they leave work due to childcare or outside commitments, that networking, using the University as a work address whilst holding a visiting position, and working as a referee for journals or an editor from home were all vital steps to thrive, and not just survive. Dame Bell Burnell finished by advising women in academia to take risks, aim high and to keep your options open, quoting Laurel Thatcher Ulrich, “Well behaved women rarely make history!”
Dr Esther Sonnet, Head of the School of Creative Arts, Film and Media, related the “Strange Case of Hollywood, Science and Hedy Lamarr”, the 1940’s screen icon who invented Frequency Hopping, a method of transmitting radio signals which is still used today.
Professor Tara Dean, Director of Research, described her often difficult career path from student in 1980s England after moving from Iran, through work with the National Heart and Lung Institute, to posts in the University of Southampton, forming the Asthma and Allergy Research Centre, joining the University of Portsmouth, being appointed Director of Research and setting up the Athena SWAN working group, led by Dr Janis Shute.
Professor Paul Hayes, Dean of the Faculty of Science, closed the conference with a series of sobering statistics detailing the alarmingly high drop-off rate for women undertaking study and employment within Biological Sciences and Physics, as well as highlighting that the percentage of professors who were male in 2007-2008 nationally was 90.7%. Professor Hayes reiterated that although this culture is slowly changing, it is the duty of all of the academic staff to ensure that it does, and stated that bullying and discrimination would not be tolerated.
The University is now working at a department level to achieve Silver Awards, which has lead to the appointment of an Athena SWAN Coordinator. Dr Shute is intending to host the second Athena SWAN conference in March 2014 to once again coincide with International Womens' Day.
For further information from the conference please see either Dr Siobhan Watkin's blog or Dr Karen Masters’ Storify feed
For further information on the Athena SWAN initiative please click here.
Full video coverage of the conference is available here:
Introduction from Dr Jan Shute and Chancellor Sandi Toksvig
Careering Through Astronomy - Keynote speech from Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell
Don't Let History Happen Without You - Dr Esther Sonnet
The Long and Winding Road - Professor Taraneh Dean
Paving the Way for Silver Awards - Professor Paul Hayes