Imperial academic reflection on the status of women in science

Professor Dorothy Griffiths

On International Women's Day, Professor Dorothy Griffiths, Principal of Imperial College Business School, reflects on the work to recruit more women.

On International Women’s Day, Professor Dorothy Griffiths, Principal of Imperial College Business School, reflects on the work that has already been done to increase the numbers of women working in and at senior levels of science, technology, engineering, mathematics and medicine (STEMM) subjects and what further improvements need to be made.

 “As we mark another International Women’s Day and 50 years since Betty Friedan published ‘The Feminine Mystique’ it is timely to ask if  second wave feminism has improved things for women and in particular for women in STEMM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics and medicine) subjects. The short answer is that compared to 50 years ago things are undoubtedly better. There are both more women working in STEMM and more women at senior levels. Fifty years ago only one woman had ever been made a Professor here at Imperial College London.  Now ten per cent of our Professors are female and we have two (out of four) female Faculty Deans, one Deputy Dean and a female Pro Rector for Education. We also have lots of great staff at more junior levels so our pipeline looks promising.

However, the playing field is still far from level and much remains to be done. The 2007 US National Academics Report ‘Beyond Bias and Barriers’ undertook probably the most thorough review ever about the under-representation of women and ethnic minorities in science and engineering, their conclusions are informative: ‘Biological explanations for the dearth of women professors in science and engineering have not been confirmed by the preponderance of research…. A substantial body of research demonstrates that women are underrepresented at higher levels of business and the academic community because of the influence of gender stereotyping that can have a sustained and substantial impact on career outcomes.’

In 2010 a survey (funded by Higher Education Funding Council for England and undertaken by the Royal Society and Imperial) of all women and men in UK university STEMM departments found that for many women respondents the playing field was still rather bumpy. Amongst the key findings of this survey were that women still found promotion and career development challenging. They feel less visible, internally and externally, than their male colleagues. And, while employment choice for men is influenced by factors such as intellectual challenge and the reputation of the Department, women academics report that their job choice is limited by location and availability.

In the domestic sphere women still carry the major load or the ‘second shift’ as it is sometimes described. Until this changes women will always have to do more than men to get to the same place. This is why schemes such as the Elsie Widdowson Fellowships at Imperial and similar schemes at other institutions are so powerful. At Imperial these Fellowships are awarded to female academics on their return from maternity leave and provide funds to release them from all teaching and administrative duties for their first year back. This enables our women academics to concentrate on their research to and not to lose momentum. The Fellowships have been a very successful intervention.

Despite initiatives like this the rate of progress for women in STEMM is still too slow. Writing to mark the 350^th anniversary of the Royal Society in 2010, Professor  Dame Athene Donald, Professor of Experimental Physics in the University of Cambridge's Department of Physics,  Professor Dame Julia Higgins, Professor of Polymer Science in the Department of Chemical Engineering and Chemical Technology at Imperial and a former Foreign Secretary of the Royal Society; and Caroline Fox, then Programme Manager of the Athena Project, said that ‘It will take a very, very long time before the number of women at the top of UK science reflects the number entering undergraduate degrees’ and suggested that ‘those in more senior positions should be asking what their departments, universities and professional societies… are doing to ensure that progress through and to the top of science is based on merit’. There could be no better way to celebrate International Women’s day in 2013 than by asking this in your department, university or society.”

Professor Griffiths also chaired a recent seminar at the Business School about the future of women’s leadership.  Bronwyn Curtis, Head of Global Research at HSBC; Sally Wilton, Founder of The Lexi Cinema; and Claire Perry, Visiting Senior Fellow, The Kings Fund, talked about their experience in leading various projects and organisations.