Women Need Their Voices To Be Heard Over Men

Although women in life sciences increased from 15 to 52 percent between 1969 and 2009, there is still not enough gender equality in the sciences. Only about a third of assistant professors and less than a fifth of full professors in biology related fields in 2009 were female. Even though women are more integrated into the sciences, fewer women are taking leadership roles. Women only make up 15 percent of permanent department chairs in medical schools and 16 percent of medical school deans. This is a sign that more women need to not only gain confidence to become a leader or role model, but should no longer be restricted by men in in the workforce.

Men are perceived by the general public to be superior and smarter than women, promoting a culture of exclusion which causes an unconscious bias that affects women’s work ethic. When women are treated as inferior to men, the favor to men causes women to be unsure and marginalized in their daily jobs. A study shows that science related faculty were given identical résumés in which the names and genders of the two applicants were swapped. Both candidates were reviewed by male and female faculty and chose the male applicant to be more competent and even offered a higher salary. This demonstrates a clear inequality between women and men in the science workforce.

When a woman is a professor or a scientist, she is commonly subject to sexist jokes, putdowns, and insults, all of which lead to undermining confidence and ambition. These setbacks for women can be, and should be, stopped. Women who have the courage are often silenced in the workplace by men. Examples include even simple setbacks such as a man stealing a woman’s idea from a meeting.

It is important to encourage and allow women to speak up and participate in meetings and male dominated professions such as the sciences. To create more equality for women we must change the culture of our organizations to ensure women feel the value they bring to science will be encouraged. Read more at http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/gender-equality-in-science-will-require-a-culture-shift/