Continuing with our focus on the #SciMomJourney for International Women’s Month, today we want to talk about parental leave and steps we can take to enact change.
Critical and Conscious Reiteration
This week on #MeetAScientist, get to know Shaila Kotadia, Director of Culture and Inclusion at Stanford University and a member of 500 Women Scientists’ advisory board. Shaila received her PhD in Genetics and Developmental Biology, and now works to eliminate barriers in STEM through building creative programs, mitigating bias, and changing policies and practices. In this interview, she chats about her work in the equity and inclusion space, as well as a little bit of her #SciMomJourney.
Weekly Wrap-Up
Today, we look to the students from around the world who have walked out of school to demand action on climate. We’re reminded that it’s not enough to draw inspiration from them today if we fail to act on climate tomorrow. 500 Women Scientists reaffirms our commitment to advocate for science-based policies that promote equity and justice—and leave the world a better place for the generations ahead!
Take Action Tuesday
Developing a Thick Skin
This week on #MeetAScientist get to know Dr. Liz McCullagh, a neuroscientist and leadership team member of 500 Women Scientists. She has co-led some of our major initiatives like the Request a Woman Scientist resource and our newly launched #SciMomJourney campaign to raise awareness around challenges facing science moms in STEM fields and connecting them to resources and support. In this interview, she chats about these initiatives and what has propelled her through her career in science.
International Women's Day
Happy International Women’s Day! We are excited to be celebrating by raising a pint with our pods. Tag us on twitter or instagram (@500WomenSci) and let us know how you are celebrating. And as put by Athene Donald, let’s also honor those forced out of science. Thank you to everyone in our network, we are so grateful to you and the important work you do!
Take Action Tuesday
Join our #SciMomJourney, share your story and help support other Moms in Science. This week we are officially launching our #SciMomJourney campaign. Our goal is to bring more visibility to the challenges mothers in science face when starting or building their families.
Weekly Wrap-Up
Yesterday I was finally able to attend my first Wikipedia edit-a-thon #diversithon (co-organized by the awesome Jess Wade). What is so awesome about editing Wikipedia pages is that you can have both a large and long lasting impact on representation in science all while sitting behind your computer! The importance of seeing women, and especially women of color, in science cannot be overstated and I am so glad to get to contribute this way! We’d love to hear from you, have you joined an edit-a-thon? Or maybe you like other methods to address representation.
Take Action Tuesday
Today we show our support for #metooSTEM. The institution of science is not free of sexual harassment and assault on women. You may remember this past winter when astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson was accused of harassing women, and as Prof. Chandra Prescod-Weinstein said, the event reminds “us that racial and gender bias continue to harm science and scientists”.
Weekly Wrap-Up
Our goal for this week: build someone up, because empowered women empower women. There are many ways to support the women around you: you can mentor; use this trick during meetings; listen to and amplify the voices of women of color; or maybe make a wikipedia page. How do you encourage and build up the women around you?
Take Action Tuesday
A current conversation in US academic spaces and on #AcademicTwitter is the role that the GRE (Graduate Record Examinations) has in STEM grad school admissions and the reasons why it acts as a barrier to access for a lot of folks, especially people of color, international students, and folks from disadvantaged backgrounds. As put by wokeSTEM, the GRE is “a deeply structured and institutionalized barrier for diversifying STEM”.
Weekly Wrap-Up
This week, we showed our gratitude to our amazing and strong women colleagues and supporters for #InternationalDayOfWomenInScience. We also continued to use our collective voice to make sure women’s contributions in STEM and beyond are recognized and valued. In March, we are launching a new campaign to bring more visibility to the journeys of SciMoms and SciParents - please share your story with us! Have a great weekend everyone!
What we’ve done
Help us rebuild our Request a Woman Scientists platform!
How are you celebrating and acknowledging #blackhistorymonth
Our NYC pod participated in the UN International Day of Women and Girls in Science!!!
500 Women in Medicine continues to catch fire!
We spoke at the AAAS annual meeting.
Scientists are fighting against gender bias (including us!)
Diverse teams of scientists do better science (but of course we already knew that!)
What we like
Follow Friday: @McLNeuro, @DrRubidium, @CheyennePolius, @RhinoEcologist
This microbiologist is using science to combat climate change desertification.
We loved Inferior by Angela Saini, and we all need to pre-order Superior today!
This thread from one of our favorite orgs SACNAS.
23 Black Women Scientists Who Changed The Damn World
Photo by Nicole Harrington on Unsplash
Take Action Tuesday
Weekly Wrap-Up
This week saw crucial discussions around climate justice, with testimony at the House Committee on Natural Resources and the release of an outline for the Green New Deal, as well as around voting rights with Stacey Abrams’ response to the State of the Union. These conversations continue to invigorate our work as we imagine bold solutions to building a more just and equitable scientific enterprise, while drawing from a base of evidence to implement them. Together, we’ll continue to do better!
