.png)
Event Details:
This event is in celebration of Women’s History Month and collaboration between King’s College London Neuroscience Society and King’s college London WISTEM society.
The aim of this panel is to bring together some influential and inspiring women in neuroscience for an open panel discussion of the challenges women face in neuroscience (common problems such as imposter syndrome, dealing with rejection, the leaky pipeline), and to come up with initiatives and solutions to tackle these problems and bring more women into neuroscience and get them to higher positions in academia and industry.
This event will be co-chaired by Zara Nusser representing the Neuroscience Society, alongside Alex Epshtein from Women in STEM. Zara is currently a final year undergraduate neuroscience student at King’s College London, and is am passionate about uplifting other women and in stem and championing diversity in science wherever she can. She is also the secretary at KCL Neuroscience society, a student-led society which aims to bring together scientists, clinicians, psychologists, philosophers and laypeople with a passion for minds and brains.
Alex will be representing the KCL Womxn in Stem society. She is a first year Global Health BSc student at King's College London, specialising in neuroscience, looking to pursue a career in psychiatry. She is also the PLA (policy, lobbying and activism) Officer for Women in STEM, as well as co-founder of "Nightingale: Navigating your STEM career" podcast. Women in STEM works to improve diversity and inspire women to pursue their dream career path, achieve their goals and excel within their chosen field.
Panelist Introductions
Dr Kerstin Schmidt - She is currently a full professor at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte located in the city of Natal, Brazil, and is the Director of the Brain Institute there.
Dr Carmen Sandi - Carmen Sandi is a Professor at the Swiss
Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL), where she
leads the Laboratory of Behavioral Genetics. She was the
Director of the Brain Mind Institute (2012-2018) and is currently
co-Director of the Swiss National Center of Competence in
Research Synapsy and founder and co-President of the Swiss
Stress Network.She is also the immediate past president of the
FENS – federation of European neuroscience societies.
Dr Sandrine Thuret - Dr. Thuret is Head of the Neurogenesis and Mental Health Laboratory and Deputy Head of the Basic and Clinical Neuroscience Department at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience within King’s College London.
Dr Bianca Jones Marlin - heads the Marlin Lab at the Zuckerman Institute and is the Assistant Professor of Psychology & Neuroscience Columbia University in the City of New York.
Dr Carol Ann Mason - Carol Mason is Professor of Pathology & Cell Biology, Neuroscience and Ophthalmology at the College of Physicians & Surgeons, and a member of the Mortimer B. Zuckerman Mind Brain Behavior Institute, at Columbia University, and was also the president of Society for Neuroscience 2013-14.
Dr Asma Bashir - Dr Asma Bashir completed her PhD in Neuroscience, after which she did a brief postdoctoral
fellowship at the UK Dementia Research Institute at the
University of Edinburgh. As founder and host of Her Royal
Science, she is extremely passionate about inspiring the
next generation of scientists.
In celebration of Women’s History month, a panel of incredibly influential women in neuroscience came together to discuss the obstacles that women face in the field of STEM. The panel covered aspects such as tackling rejection and failure, as well as finding solutions to these obstacles; it aimed to encourage more women to pursue their dreams within the field of neuroscience.
Each panelist had their own reasoning for pursuing neuroscience. Dr Sandi, for example, said that she did not choose neuroscience— neuroscience chose her. Sandi was immediately interested in studying the brain from taking biology classes in high school. She felt that medicine and psychology were not enough to satisfy her interests in the brain and the mechanisms of memory, and therefore, neuroscience became a clear path for her. Dr Mason, however, said her journey into science began at the beach— she was always interested in marine biology. She dabbled in languages and art history at school; however, her talent in chemistry shone through. Eventually, she was inspired to pursue neuroscience when she began studying neurons. Dr Marlin was actually torn between the performing arts and becoming a biology teacher- neither of which would become the career she ended up in! The panelists’ personal journeys into neuroscience not only demonstrated the many ways women could make it in STEM, but also began to illuminate some of the challenges that women continue to face in this field.
What challenges do women face in neuroscience?
The stigma of motherhood
Dr Thuret initiated the conversation by highlighting one of the biggest obstacles women face within science: motherhood and maternity leave. Thuret admitted that when she had a child, she opted to take a short maternity leave, as she feared that it would damage her career, as there has traditionally been a long-lasting stigma surrounding the idea of a woman having both a successful career and children. Moreover, the concept of a ‘leaky pipeline’ was echoed by many of the panelists—the pressures placed upon women when they start a career in neuroscience gradually reduces the size of the pool of women who are willing to get involved, resulting in a male-dominated field.
Dr Mason followed Thuret’s answer and stressed the significance of childcare for women in the field. Women do not simply deal with the stigma of being a mother and a scientist, but are also weighed down by the financial burden of childcare. As Mason notes, the COVID-19 pandemic has proved difficult for working mothers, in terms of childcare accessibility.
Dr Marlin, in fact, became a mother to her second child in 2020- right in the middle of what has arguably been the most life-changing year of the 21st century. She expressed her shock in discovering that some countries allowed mothers to take off a year of maternity leave, as this was an option that had never been available to her. The financial difficulty of supporting a family and providing childcare made Marlin consider sacrificing her career in science. Luckily, she remained in the field. However, her struggle is representative of a wider problem that working women around the world face on a daily basis.
Dr Schmidt foregrounded these challenges by highlighting the notion that women are made to feel afraid of what might happen to their career in neuroscience if they take too much time off on maternity leave. She admits that, even if she was allowed to take a whole year off, she would not do it. Schmidt mentions how colleagues might look at a woman differently if she were to do so, and how people might behave as though a scientist who became a mother could no longer have a prosperous career. Schmidt posits that this is not the case, as a woman must never stop believing in her possibilities and the idea that she is capable of accomplishing anything.
The voices of the under-represented
Dr Sandi pointed out that there is currently a severe lack of cultural awareness regarding a woman’s needs and roles in the workplace. When she became the president of FENS, she was the only woman in the institute, and the men she worked with were unable to grasp what the situation would be for women in this field. Since she began her work in this role, Sandi has started a network within FENS, which aims to enforce diversity and equity within neuroscience. However, she recognises that this is merely a starting point, and that more work and initiatives need to be taken in order to recognise the voices and contributions of underrepresented minorities.
This is where Dr Bashir argues that such groups need to be allowed to speak for themselves. Their stories are not often shared within the field of neuroscience; therefore, it is vital that this changes. Bashir gives a voice to the voiceless through her podcast, heightening the idea that as women, they are capable of overcoming the challenges of being a scientist. Bashir, who describes herself as “a visibly black Muslim woman”, discusses how the personal stories of marginalised people must be incorporated into the fabric of academia in order for them to be fully heard. Once again, this comes as a reminder that more work striving for the equality of women in the workplace needs to be done.
Being ‘female’ in science
Dr Bashir also addressed the stigma behind showing emotions at work- something which has been quintessentially linked to women. She describes how crying and putting your feelings on display at work is extremely difficult and almost humiliating for a woman to do, let alone a Black Muslim woman who faces many prejudices from other people as it is. This is because such women are too often reprimanded and made an example of in front of their colleagues, magnifying once again a challenge that women face when maintaining a career in science.
Overcoming challenges
How can women respond to these challenges?
Mentorships are extremely significant: having a group of people, or even just a person, who can relate to what you are going through can minimise the feeling that you are alone. Women need to support other women in science, and men need to do the same. Even if your mentor does not face the same challenges as you, having them simply listen to you makes your voice heard.
Belonging to societies and international networks are vital for reaching out to other women in order to help educate those within the field about the challenges they face in the workplace. It also enables the creation of more diverse institutions in the future.
Reach out to the public. In order for a woman’s story to be told and for her work to be recognised, one should not just rely on the sphere of academia. It is important that women try to connect with audiences outside in the public too, as not only will their voices be heard, but more women may also be inspired to pursue a career in science.
Structural change needs to take place within scientific institutions.
General Advice
At the end of the event, the panellists offered some insightful advice for women who are considering or wishing to pursue a career in neuroscience.
Go with the ‘tide’ of neuroscience. Your first-choice university, course or work experience may not always be the one you get, but this should not be a reason for you giving up.
Find people you can relate to. Mentors, and even friends who are interested in neuroscience, can provide a very supportive bubble that you will need on your career path. Networking may also present you with plenty of opportunities in your line of work.
Do not care about the way other people perceive you as a woman going into neuroscience. The only opinion that matters should be yours. Ultimately, you need to drive and fuel yourself and your own passions.
Know what you want. Maintain a vision of where you would like to end up, and never let go of your passions within this field.
Give yourself the breathing room of flexibility…you can never know what the future looks like. — Dr. Bianca Marlin