Re: Bioimaging in Genoa - Open access - Great Talks, No women ?

Posted by Julia Edgar on
URL: http://confocal-microscopy-list.275.s1.nabble.com/Re-Bioimaging-in-Genoa-Open-access-Great-Talks-No-women-tp7584302p7584316.html

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Dear All
I don't think any of us who expressed gratitude for Jeremy's message suggested there should be a "balance out". Personally, I believe in meritocracy. But, that 96 % of speakers are male does seem somewhat disproportionate. However, I must admit that I don't know what proportion of males/ females  work in this field and /or were available to speak. Nonetheless, Jeremy raised some very important points regarding how invitations to speak affect career progression for ALL.
Julia

Dear Listers,

On one hand, I am glad to hear that this group is
so aware.  On the other, I find it discouraging
in this day and age to think that we actually
have to "balance out" our programs just to make
sure that each segment of the population is
proportionately represented.  Several years ago,
I received a call from an NIH Study Chair, asking
if I knew of any scientists of a specific race so
that they could have "proportional
representation" in the grant process.  I found
the question insulting.  All along, I was
operating under what seems to be a
misconception:  wasn't the whole NIH granting
process (and that of other government
institutions) supposed to be
color/gender/nationality neutral?  I realized
that, in my world view, people either did good
science or didn't.  Either they were open and
sharing with their science or they weren't.  It
never occurred to me to consider anything
else.  When I was one of two women in an
undergraduate physics class of 80, it never
dawned on me to do anything but
participate.  More recently, when I was one of
two women out of 52 attendees of a major
conference given in a country in which women are
not seen quite as equally, I stood proudly at the
podium and delivered my paper.  Later, the
translator for a major industrialist approached
me and said, "Mr. X could not understand why you
were there, until he heard you speak.  Then he
knew that he must do business with you."

Have I faced discrimination as a woman?  Yes, but
when that has happened, I did my best to find a
different job, a different location or a
different approach.  Case in point:  When I was
on the road as  a tech apps specialist for a
major microscope company,  an older gentleman of
another culture opened the door of his lab to
find me standing there and pronounced, with some
surprise, "You!  You are the tech apps
specialist?  But you are a woman!"  My response
was, "Yes, but I can still handle a
screw-driver.  Now, where is your microscope?" We
got on quite nicely after that.

I applaud Alby's response.   And as for
under-representation... if there are INDIVIDUALS
out there... whether they be pink, purple, or
polka-dot; male or female.. who are doing good
science but not getting enough recognition, then
it's OUR responsibility, as their colleagues, to
step up and recommend them for activities so that
they can share in opportunities like publishing
or giving papers/posters, etc.  Microscopy is
global.  I would hope that our world-views would be, too.

That's my two cents

Barbara Foster, President & Chief Consultant
Microscopy/Microscopy Education  ... "Education, not Training"
7101 Royal Glen Trail, Suite A  - McKinney, TX 75070 - P: 972-924-5310
www.MicroscopyEducation.com





At 02:37 AM 10/8/2015, Alberto Diaspro wrote:

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>Post images on http://www.imgur.com and include the link in your posting.
>*****
>
>Dear
>Thank you for your observations. Please, let me
>tell you that: 1) Eirini is a woman; 2) I
>personally invited women that, for different
>reasons, declined; 3) I invited women - as I use
>to do - not because they are women - simply
>because they do excellent research in AND
>(logical) with the fact that I know the research
>they do; 4) I did not reply because i was on
>travelling with limited Internet access.
>I am Sorry for the xtremely low percentage, hopefully you will like Science.
>
>Alby iPad
>
> > Il giorno 08 ott 2015, alle ore 14:41, Julia
> Edgar <[hidden email]> ha scritto:
> >
> > Yes, much appreciated, Jeremy.
> > Thank you
> > Julia
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Confocal Microscopy List
> [mailto:[hidden email]] On Behalf Of Sylvie Le Guyader
> > Sent: 08 October 2015 13:34
> > To: [hidden email]
> > Subject: Re: Bioimaging in Genoa - Open access - Great Talks, No women ?
> >
> > There is no 'Like' button on the confocal
> server and no way to insert an image in a mail
> but everyone knows what they look like anyway
> so I give Jeremy a huge ‘Like’.
> >
> >
> >
> > Thank you for your efforts, Jeremy! The
> Swedish part of me really appreciates and the French part of me loves it! :)
> >
> >
> >
> > Med vänlig hälsning / Best regards
> >
> >
> >
> > Sylvie
> >
> >
> >
> > @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
> >
> > Sylvie Le Guyader, PhD
> >
> > Live Cell Imaging Unit Manager
> >
> > Karolinska Institutet- Bionut Dpt
> >
> > Hälsovägen 7,
> >
> > Novum, G lift, floor 6
> >
> > 14157 Huddinge
> >
> > Sweden
> >
> > mobile: [phone]
> >
> > office: [phone]
> >
> > LCI website
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Confocal Microscopy List
> [mailto:[hidden email]] On Behalf Of Jeremy Adler
> > Sent: den 8 oktober 2015 11:20
> > To:
> [hidden email]<mailto:[hidden email]>
> > Subject: Re: Bioimaging in Genoa - Open access - Great Talks, No women ?
> >
> >
> >
> > Last week I posed a simple question about a
> conference that was being promoted using this list.
> >
> >
> >
> > 'Alberto, in case my reading of unfamiliar
> names is incorrect,  could you give us the
> fraction of the speakers that are male.'
> >
> >
> >
> > There has been no response - the question
> seems to come down to whether men make up  100%
> or just 96% of the speakers. Implicit  in the question is how is this possible.
> >
> >
> >
> > The massive under representation women as
> speakers is not trivial, being invited to speak
> has considerable career advantages, its looks
> good on a CV, it provides good networking
> opportunities beyond those available to
> conference participants, in addition speakers
> costs are often met and the unstated deal is
> that the organizers then expect/hope that the
> chosen speakers will reciprocate and invite
> them to their conferences - a loop that further
> works to exclude women. That speakers often
> become decision makers on grant applications
> and publications makes this cosy arrangement even more pernicious.
> >
> >
> >
> > So Alberto please answer a very simple but important  question.
> >
> >