Agora Issue 2008: How Women Contribute to Changing the face of Science
Various contributions for this issue can be found on the Agora Website:
http://www.agora.forwomeninscience.com/agora/
Read the contribution from Ms. Katalin Sulyok, the vice-president of the
Association of Hungarian Support Organizations for Giftedness
How Women Contribute to
Changing the Face of Science
- Policies and practices
to help women reconcile a career in science with motherhood and family
life
The importance of the
so called add-on grants are crucial in helping women scientists dealing with the
challenges of motherhood. This form of financial support completes the obtained
scientific grant with a considerable sum of money, which aim is to help women
scientists in their research by helping them to face the challenge of family
life. It could be spent on such expenses as the costs of an au-pair, maid,
laundress or personal administrator.
- How can young girls in
the early years of schooling be encouraged to explore science? What can be
done to change the attitude that "science is for
boys"?
The attraction of
children towards science could not be started too early. In the nursery school often
the girls are encouraged to play exclusively with dolls and other ‘girlish’
toys, while they are distracted from the boys’ games such as Lego or others
which improve the children’s technical approach. While playing with cars the
boys face with fundamental physical phenomena like collision, acceleration etc
that forms their attitude to physics and other technical sciences. If girls in
very young age were involved as well in this type of experience they wouldn’t
be alienated from science and scientific approach.
- Young women, as well as young men, are in search of new paths
to a meaningful life. Does a career in science provide a sense of purpose?
To emphasize the importance
of role models is evidence in orientating young women and giving them perspective
especially successful businesswomen in the R&D sector. Furthermore an
average student is not aware of how wide is the range of carriers which could
be chosen. The majority does not even know how many possibilities are beyond
the classical professions as doctor, lawyer, teacher or economist. Offering
possibilities for the girls to get to know scientific job opportunities in
various fields of technical and natural sciences would expand their horizons.
Experiences like discussions with experts, employees or have a one-day insight
into different companies’ life would give them useful information in orientating
themselves.
Introducing successful
women in cutting-edge science could provide purpose. To emphasize that women
could not just participate but could actively form and lead the scientific
world could raise the girls’ self-confidence and show them an attractive
carrier opportunity which worth working hard.
Let’s show them in
early age what intrinsic aptitude they have which they could use with big
success. I mean the more efficient use of traditional women's values, such as
better communication skills in science-related projects, e.g. by asking girls
to organize and tie together multi-disciplinary teams, as well as by promoting
girls as interfaces between student teams and teacher or scientist supervisors.
- So many of you mention childhood curiosity about the world as
key to your later decision to become a scientist. How can parents
encourage their daughters to develop such curiosity?
Within the framework of
the 10-year-old talent-support initiative, the Hungarian Research Student
Association (HRSA), we deal with talented and motivated adolescents interested
in science. With a mentorship program these high school students are involved
in real science by joining a scientific group’s everyday work. We are glad to
say that exactly the half of the participating students were and are girls.
That hopefully ratio also presents itself among the prize-winning students.
Every year the best Hungarian research student has the possibility to take part
in the Nobel Prize ceremony, until now the fifty percent of the delegated young
was a girl. Based on our optimistic results we could say that the interest
towards science exists equally in both gender, so the reduced presence of women
among adult scientists has other social reasons and not the lack of interest,
talent or motivation.
Ms. Katalin Sulyok