By Melissa Bendayan
Hi Scientistas!
We know everyone is busy and there is a ton of information around the web that you may have missed. Luckily for you, we are here to the rescue! Every two weeks, we will be diligently combing through all the noise out there and highlighting stories about women and STEM from the web that we think you should know about.
- A professor of theoretical physics of Caltech harassed two female grad students, and was not fired. This case is an example of a larger problem of students being harassed by professors who continue on in their careers. This article argues that the only way to fix the culture - is to change the system.
- In addition to this case, a prominent molecular biologist at the University of Chicago resigned after the university recommended that he be fired for sexual misconduct. He made sexual advances to several female graduate students.
- Sexual harassment in science departments is not new, especially where women account for only one-quarter of senior faculty jobs. See how people working in sciences responded to these allegations and shared their experience with harassment.
- Where are the women in science? While globally just 28% of research and development workers are women, some countries have about 50%, and some even more! The World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Report has a map that shows in which societies the gender gap is most prevalent. Check it out here.
- You can also check out these very cool graphics of Women in Science that show a breakdown by country.
- A Nobel-winning scientist said about women in laboratories: "Three things happen whenthey are in the lab; you fall in love with them, they fall in love with you and when you criticize them, they cry." UGH! Read about how women working in science reacted by posting about their work using the hashtag #distractinglysexy
- Scientists are moving closer to understanding the cause of schizophrenia. An article published in Nature demonstrated that people who carry certain genes that accelerate or intensify the process of synaptic pruning are at higher risk for developing schizophrenia than those who do not. The study was carried out by Steve McCaroll and Beth Stevens from Harvard University. Read about their groundbreaking research here!
- A major review headed by Dr. Linda Mah from the University of Toronto showed that chronic stress and anxiety can damage areas of the brain leading to depression and dementia. Yikes! Learn more about that here.
- On February 11 was UN International Day of Women and Girls in Science! To celebrate, read about five kick-ass scientists!
- You can also celebrate by learning some history about 11 unsung science heroines you probably don’t know about (but should!)
- If you want to read about more inspiring women in STEM, check out this article about four women astronauts training to go to Mars
- The best way to commemorate UN International Day of Women and Girls in Science is by taking action. Celebrating by abolishing sexism in STEM fields is something we can definitely get behind.
- Finally, if you haven’t seen it around the internet already, check out these biographies of famous men scientists as if they were women!
Did we miss anything? Share in our comments below!
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