Posted by
Müller,Tobias on
URL: http://confocal-microscopy-list.275.s1.nabble.com/Re-Bioimaging-in-Genoa-Open-access-Great-Talks-No-women-tp7584302p7584353.html
Hello,
This thread started as an interesting, admirable effort to shed light on a persistent problem. It has culminated in three posts that were snide (Jeremy), angry (Alberto) and "shocked" (Johannes). None of these seemed to me to serve any goal except to express gut feelings. Maybe we should all think about whether we want to actually change something or just yell at each other. Frustration is not the best advisor when it comes to writing posts to this list. Being scientists, let's use arguments.
Best (and only mildly annoyed),
Tobias
p.s.: My five cents: If, as Jeremy says, presence at conferences is part of a loop resulting in being invited again to other conferences, then this is a deeper problem that should be addressed as well. This not only discriminates against women but against any underrepresented group, and also makes it hard for newcomers to be heard. The solution should not be to put women into the loop (which in itself is only the result of a flawed system), but to change the rules by which speakers are selected so that the selection becomes truly independent of any features (gender and the like) except scientific excellence.
-----Original Message-----
From: Confocal Microscopy List [mailto:
[hidden email]] On Behalf Of Johannes Schindelin
Sent: Tuesday, October 13, 2015 1:37 PM
To:
[hidden email]
Subject: Re: Bioimaging in Genoa - Open access - Great Talks, No women ?
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Alberto,
On 2015-10-13 08:10, Alberto Diaspro wrote:
> Dear
His name is Jeremy.
> I decided to reply since you are mentioning me.
> I think that your email is “self commenting”. I really do not
> understand your points.
> Are you full of anger? are you frustrated for something? They missed
> you in the Nobel prize nominations? I do not understand.
I have to admit that I was utterly shocked to see this statement.
It is bad and sad enough that respected leaders in science do not see any problem with announcing ~100% male speaker line-ups. And it is not the first time, but seems to repeat itself over and over and over again.
It is also quite distressing for me to see that you did not even feel the need to reply to the concerns brought to you in a timely manner.
But then to go on and *belittle* somebody who mustered enough courage to voice his opinion? This is appalling.
If anything, it is proof to me that there is a serious lack of empathy in science. I perceived this response as just a bullyish method to discourage dissent.
But maybe this is just a cunning strategy to demonstrate the dear need to balance out the gender inequality in science's higher ranks?
> From my side, I apologise for stopping to reply on this topic. If
> there is something wrong I did, please write me and we can discuss
> about it. I am sorry to say that my impression is that you look like
> the “only real victim” of yourself.
No, the real victim is science. Good, decent, polite scientists are driven out of science by the problem that elicited this email thread.
I hope that a few will remain.
Ciao,
Johannes