Author Archives: Athene Donald

Leaning In or Leaning Out: Who does What (and Why)?

Posted on 22 December 2019 by Athene Donald

Girly swot Brenda Hale, otherwise known as the outgoing President of the Supreme Court with an impressive taste in brooches (see figure), was quoted recently as saying: “I encountered many young men from public school backgrounds who felt entitled to … Continue reading →

Posted in Baroness Brenda Hale, bias, Equality, publication, Women in science | Comments Off on Leaning In or Leaning Out: Who does What (and Why)?

Post-Election Christmas Reading List

Posted on 16 December 2019 by Athene Donald

The general election is now done and dusted. The UK’s future is determined, for good or ill. Scientists (along with everyone else) now must work out how to interact with the new policies, new ideas and – if some of … Continue reading →

Posted in ARPA, Brookings Institute, David Willetts, Further Education, Science Funding, Science policy | Comments Off on Post-Election Christmas Reading List

Travelling Hopefully to 2.4% GDP

Posted on 6 December 2019 by Athene Donald

David Willetts, for a number of years the Minister of State for Universities and Science, now an FRS, President of the Advisory Board for a think-tank (Resolution Foundation) and writer (most recently, A University Education), has just published a pamphlet … Continue reading →

Posted in David Willetts, Dominic Cummings, Fraunhofer Institutes, Richard Jones, Science Funding | Comments Off on Travelling Hopefully to 2.4% GDP

Working Together for Equity

Posted on 1 December 2019 by Athene Donald

This week I was honoured by the THE as the winner of their ‘Lifetime Achievement’ Award during their annual awards’ ceremony, for my work around gender equality issues. Photo courtesy of THE. With me are John Gill (L), their Editor … Continue reading →

Posted in champion, complicit, Equality, Lifetime Achievement Award, UCU | Comments Off on Working Together for Equity

How Silly Are You (or Pompous or Forthright)?

Posted on 27 November 2019 by Athene Donald

What’s wrong with being called gutsy? The new book by Hillary and Chelsea Clinton use it as a term of approbation, but it didn’t find favour with Emma Brockes in the Guardian. Why? ‘It’s partly that descriptors like “gutsy” seem … Continue reading →

Posted in adjectives, Equality, gendering, RateMyProfessor, Unconscious bias | Comments Off on How Silly Are You (or Pompous or Forthright)?

Doing Your Bit

Posted on 21 November 2019 by Athene Donald

When you have vulnerable people being harassed, what can you do? And I mean you. I have written a lot recently on my blog about the importance of bystanders. To learn more, I attended a recent training session regarding Bystander … Continue reading →

Posted in Bystander, education, Equality, harassment, intervention, toxic | Comments Off on Doing Your Bit

Science and Government, Science in Government

Posted on 15 November 2019 by Athene Donald

Before pre-election purdah set in, two interesting reports got published, one with more fanfare than the other. The one with more publicity attached was the long-awaited report (Changes and Choices) on options for future international funding by Adrian Smith and … Continue reading →

Posted in Adrian Smith, Areas of Research Interest, Jon Agar, Public Laboratories, Research, RSRE | Comments Off on Science and Government, Science in Government

Bias in Publishing

Posted on 6 November 2019 by Athene Donald

You’ll have heard the story about women whingeing about how their proudly-submitted papers got rejected by a premier journal without being sent out to referees. Or that the comments they received from referees were unduly harsh, but a male colleague’s … Continue reading →

Posted in editors, pipeline, Research, Royal Society of Chemistry, success rates, UKRI, Women in science | Comments Off on Bias in Publishing

Who’s a Crazy Bitch Then?

Posted on 27 October 2019 by Athene Donald

I was interested to read an article (not such a recent article in fact, but I’ve only just come across it via Twitter links) describing the misogynistic name-calling of senior women in Canadian universities. Headlined ‘The “crazy/bitch” narrative about senior … Continue reading →

Posted in Carole Cadwalladr, Equality, misogyny, Miss Triggs, name-calling, Women in science | Comments Off on Who’s a Crazy Bitch Then?

Seeing Red

Posted on 20 October 2019 by Athene Donald

Is anger a good spur to getting on and getting by? The recommendation to use it as a positive force came from three eminent colleagues this past week. I had the enormous pleasure of facilitating (I think that’s the right … Continue reading →

Posted in Carol Robinson, Daphne Jackson Trust, Julia Goodfellow, Julia Higgins, Women in science | Comments Off on Seeing Red