On September 8th 1944, the Australian radio astronomer Ruby Payne-Scott committed a workplace transgression that would ultimately cost her both her job and her career. She got married. Payne-Scott was born on 28 May 1912 in Grafton, New South Wales and moved to Sydney in the early 1920s to attend the Cleveland Street School. She … More The Ruby Payne-Scott Award at CSIRO
A very recent report from Deakin University and Diversity Council Australia confirms that the number of women of diverse background in Australia’s top jobs is “extremely low”. This finding is nothing new (I discussed this in my previous article) but it at least indicates the increasing attention being paid to the matter of professional women of … More Culturally diverse women need a properly designed system to reach to STEMM leadership roles
I grew up in a somewhat small country city of Geraldton, Western Australia, spending most of my time exploring the beaches along the coast with my family, a lot of the time building my rock collection. I also spent my time talking with my grandparents about their history, which instantly developed into a passion to … More Of passion and persistence!
This week Women in STEMM AUSTRALIA co-founder Dr Marguerite Evans-Galea shares her closing address from the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Women in STEM Workshop: “Expanding Opportunity and Innovation by Strengthening the Presence of Women in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math” which was part of the APEC Women and the Economy Forum held last month in … More Boosting Australia’s Health and Economy: fostering an environment where more women in STEMM can lead and excel
This week’s post comes from Louise Johansson who leads the development and implementation of the diversity and inclusion strategy and policy at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute (WEHI). Women in Science AUSTRALIA would like to congratulate WEHI Director, Professor Doug Hilton who was recently honoured in the Queen’s birthday awards as an Officer of … More 40,000+ Years of Custodianship, One Century of Medical Discoveries
Going up the career ladder in science, technology, engineering, mathematics and medicine (STEMM) is indeed hard. Even harder if you are a woman and hardest when you are a woman of diverse background. A significant proportion of graduates in western countries are culturally diverse women, many of them amongst our top performers; but this is … More Culturally Diverse Women in STEMM: Smashing Two Ceilings
I read a brilliant article this month by my very talented friend Dr Darren Saunders on “What can men do to stem the exodus of women from science?”. Many points in his article I found quite sobering, particularly that women comprise more than half of science PhD graduates and early career researchers but just 17% … More Why I left research — and what would have made me and other women stay
All around Australia, there are remarkable women in science investigating dark matter, studying volcanoes, discovering new species, developing disease treatments, designing better solar panels and understanding the latest nanotechnology and personalised medicine. But there are also remarkable women developing science and health policies, administering research grants, commercializing prototypes, nailing patent law and teaching the next … More Celebrating Remarkable Women in STEMM - International Women’s Day 2016
I am a second year PhD student and, naturally, I spend a fair bit of my time wondering whether I should I pursue academic research as a career. For the first time in my life, I am considering my gender in my decision. Stats don’t lie In my experience, gender discrimination isn’t rampant at an … More Where to from here?
Over 40 years ago Syd Leach started a small meeting in the Victorian seaside town of Lorne. The “Lorne Conference on Protein Structure and Function” has grown to become Australia’s largest protein-focused meeting, typically featuring talks from approximately 18 leading invited scientists from around the world. It’s tough to get a talk at Lorne. The … More Achieving gender balance in less than 3 years