UPDATES & NEWS
UPDATES & NEWS
We are scientists and we believe that evidence, not ideology, should inform healthcare decisions. The wave of anti-abortion laws across the United States are the latest in a long string of attempts to remove autonomy, falsely using science to justify denying people's constitutional rights and inflicting lasting damage.
The efforts to ban access to abortion affects all people who can get pregnant. Remember: not all women can get pregnant and not all people who get pregnant are women. Attempts to limit access to legal and safe abortion are in violation of human rights and force illegal abortions, which threaten lives and health. It is important to know that today, abortion is not illegal in any U.S. state. But the lawmakers in Alabama, Georgia, Ohio and more U.S. are trying hard to change that, starting in individual states, but threatening to overturn Roe vs. Wade.
A couple of months ago, I was in the middle of a discussion regarding what was considered the “best” specialties for women physicians. Many of the people involved in this discussion weren’t physicians, but some were. And while the discussion was mostly dominated by men in the group, some women were also present. Suffice it to say that I was shocked by the opinions voiced by this group, including that of some of the women present. Some believed that there were specialties “meant” for women, while others were specifically designed for our male colleagues.
May is mental health awareness month. Yet, open discussion of mental health continues to be a social taboo, is seldom discussed in popular media, and is rarely made a priority. This take action Tuesday calls on us all to do a few small things to broaden access to mental health services and increase mental health awareness.
The weekly-wrap is a time to reflect on our successes but we don’t want to ignore the challenges and set-backs. In Georgia, women’s rights are being challenged. In Colorado, there was another school shooting. We reject the idea that we have to continue to repeat history, but we see our work is not close to being finished. Thank you to every one of you who is putting the work in day after day to enact real change to our society. You are appreciated.
Last week the Court of Arbitration for Sport decided to prevent Caster Semenya (NYT) and other women from competing in world sport competitions because of their innate high testosterone levels may constitute an unfair advantage. This is not only unfair (lets face it, no one prevented Michael Phelps from competing) but also an opportunity to educate ourselves that narrow definitions of womanhood are misogynistic, racist, transphobic and are NOT based in science. We must:
Hi Friends. I have taken the last few weeks away from writing the wrap-up because I was overly busy and stressed, but I am so glad to be back!
We are excited to share our newest blog addition “Spotlight on Women in Medicine”. Look for new posts on Wednesdays. This week we hear from Dr. Evi Abada of our 500WS leadership team. She talks about how the time is right for gender parity in healthcare.
As we point out in our PLOS Biology paper, published last week, we are tired of “seeing all men panels (“manels”) and women’s scientific expertise often excluded in the public realm.” So, what can you do about it?
A central part of achieving our mission to make science open, inclusive, and accessible is to promote women in STEM in the public sphere. For the last year, our Request a Woman Scientist database has been central to that goal. Whenever someone tells us they just couldn’t find a woman with the right expertise to feature at a conference or in the media, we can point to the now nearly 9,000 women in the database they can invite next time. This week, we published the outcomes of this resource and shared some of our next directions in an article for PLOS Biology. We’re eager to apply the lessons we’ve learned to revamping the database and encouraging more women to share their expertise from around the globe and from a range of STEM fields. Onwards!
April 11-17th is Black Maternal Health Week, organized by the Black Mamas Matter Alliance to bring awareness and action to maternal health and reproductive justice . The month of April is also recognized in the United States as National Minority Health Month – a month-long initiative to advance health equity across the country on behalf of all racial and ethnic minorities.
April is Autism Acceptance Month. It is important to shift from a more passive notion of “awareness” towards taking action in “acceptance”.
Many scientists have been very vocal about the importance of vaccination, however this may result in social media wars, in which both parties disagree, become increasingly angry, and no movement is made. Our goal is to improve the way we, as scientists, communicate with people who are hesitant about vaccines. Today, you can Take Action by using the literature to your advantage!
This week on #MeetAScientist, get to know Dr. Kirsty Nash, a marine ecologist at the Institute for Marine & Antarctic Studies and founder of aKIDemicLife.com. The website is an online resource to connect parents and carers working in research or academic settings to information to support their work and their child caring responsibilities. In this interview, Kirsty chats about her work studying the resilience of marine social-ecological systems, as well as the inspiration for launching the aKIDemic Life, as part of our #SciMomJourney campaign.
Mothers working in science have a tough job – juggling the demands of a career and looking after family. A recent study published in Nature found that in the United States “more than 40% of women with full-time jobs in science leave the sector or go part time after having their first child”. This week in #TakeActionTuesday the focus is all about supporting mothers in science. How can you help those around you?
This week on #MeetAScientist, get to know Dr. Jessica Ware, an entomologist, evolutionary biologist, and Associate Professor at Rutgers University-Newark. In 2014, she and her colleagues discovered a never-before-seen species of cockroach in New York City! In this interview, Dr. Ware chats about how she found her way to studying insects, as well as her experiences being a single queer mother to two LGBTQ children in line with our #SciMomJourney campaign. You can follow Dr. Ware’s research group on Twitter @JessicaLWareLab.
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.
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.
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!
Most workplaces do not have proper facilities to support moms when they return from work. One important component of this is having enough and adequate lactation spaces to support the decision to breastfeed. Here are some ways you can help!
500 Women Scientists is on its way to becoming a powerful organization representing the voices of tens of thousands of women scientists all over the globe. With your gift we can pay for the vital infrastructure we need. Plus, your donations help keep 500WS resources free and open, one less barrier to women in science.
