Author Archives: Athene Donald

Diversity in the HE Sector

When I was a harried mother, trying to maintain some sort of work-life balance while running a research group and keeping family fed and watered alongside my husband, I had no energy left for reading. Aga sagas, chick-lit and general … Continue reading

Posted in David Willetts, education, Further Educcation, higher education, Sam Gyimah | Comments Off on Diversity in the HE Sector

Are universities finally moving towards their #MeToo moment?

I have been away from my computer for over a week, but while I was away a piece I wrote previously for the Guardian HE Network has appeared regarding sexism in academic science. So, for my latest thoughts on this … Continue reading

Posted in Geoff Marcy, Guardian, sexism, Women in science | Comments Off on Are universities finally moving towards their #MeToo moment?

Judging on Potential (or Not)

I was trying to lay my hands on a quote I heard recently on the radio about creativity by Wolfgang von Goethe to kickstart this blogpost, and instead (amongst 100’s of others of his quotes) I came upon this: ‘Girls … Continue reading

Posted in Equality, Goethe, promotion, referees, Royal Society, Women in science | Comments Off on Judging on Potential (or Not)

A Lifetime of Music

It is inevitable that as one gets older the deaths of people who have meant a great deal to you happen more and more often. I have written in the past years about the death of two key mentors of … Continue reading

Posted in Camden School for Girls, education, LSSO, Peter Morgan, viola | Comments Off on A Lifetime of Music

What does the Future Hold for Interdisciplinary Research Funding

UKRI has big shoes to fill. So far it has only just begun to signal its intentions regarding strategic directions: the ‘strategic prospectus’ it published in May was more a road map for developing its strategy than a strategy itself. … Continue reading

Posted in Interdisciplinary Science, refereeing, Science Funding, Strategic Priorities Fund, UKRI | Comments Off on What does the Future Hold for Interdisciplinary Research Funding

Anchoring Your Biases

I couldn’t tell you when I last listened to a football commentary on radio or TV (the current World Cup has not caused me to rush to change this), but I don’t need to listen to realise that a statement … Continue reading

Posted in anchoring bias, Equality, unconscious bias training, voice | Comments Off on Anchoring Your Biases

Where are the Modest Men?

A hashtag debuting this week has caused quite a stir on Twitter: #immodestwomen. In the wake of a US newspaper deciding not to accord anyone the title of Dr in its articles, unless they were medical doctors, historian Dr Fern … Continue reading

Posted in Amplification, Dr Fern Riddell, Equality, immodest women, mansplaining | Comments Off on Where are the Modest Men?

Being Critical

When discussing the skills students pick up – and need to pick up – during their undergraduate courses in a subject like physics, I always highlight the fact that they learn how to be critical, notably about assumptions underpinning an … Continue reading

Posted in assumptions, education, errors, exams, marking, Research | Comments Off on Being Critical

The Only Woman in the Room

As the Master of a Cambridge College it probably isn’t surprising that I get asked to talk about Leadership, and often more specifically Women in Leadership/as Leaders, but there is nothing that brings out the inner impostor in me faster … Continue reading

Posted in board membership, Equality, gender pay gap, Philip Hampton | Comments Off on The Only Woman in the Room

Writing, Creativity and Grief

What acts are best to provoke creativity? Some poets – from Samuel Taylor Coleridge to Dylan Thomas – seem to have felt that drug- or alcohol- induced hazes may be effective, but I don’t think many scientists would recommend that … Continue reading

Posted in Communicating Science, Dictionary of National Biography, Sir Sam Edwards, Thomas Edison | Comments Off on Writing, Creativity and Grief