Author Archives: Athene Donald

Higher Education Through the Looking Glass

Posted on 29 October 2017 by Athene Donald

I feel as if the Higher Education sector has somehow stepped through Alice’s mirror. Everything is topsy-turvy and has been for some time.  It is hard to know where the next attack will come from. Labour peer Lord Adonis started … Continue reading →

Posted in Brexit, Daily Mail, David Lammy, Festival of Ideas, Research, Science Funding | Comments Off on Higher Education Through the Looking Glass

It’s Time to Break the Silence

Posted on 26 October 2017 by Athene Donald

One of the pleasurable duties of being Master of a Cambridge College is getting a chance to talk to a wide cross section of people across the dinner table. This week it was the College’s Scholars’ Feast, a feast which … Continue reading →

Posted in Barbara Stocking, education, Equality, harassment, sexual misconduct | Comments Off on It’s Time to Break the Silence

Thinking about Compassion

Posted on 20 October 2017 by Athene Donald

Compassion. That seems to be a word that is much in the air around me recently. I alluded to it in a recent post in the context of the need for self-control, but have discussed it more extensively in the … Continue reading →

Posted in Equality, jerks, leadership, Science Culture, students | Comments Off on Thinking about Compassion

Dusty Files and Old-fashioned Methods

Posted on 16 October 2017 by Athene Donald

It’s that time of year again when lecturers dust down their files, refresh their memories, and stride out to inspire the next generation of freshers keen to take down their every word. Except, it’s not like that any more. That … Continue reading →

Posted in demonstrations, education, lecture notes, lectures, Powerpoint | Comments Off on Dusty Files and Old-fashioned Methods

Tears and Smiles

Posted on 8 October 2017 by Athene Donald

There is always some trigger for blogposts, sometimes from the news, sometimes from one’s daily life. It is rare that my trigger is someone else’s blog but so it is today. This blog is written by a person who I … Continue reading →

Posted in bereavment, Churchill College, jenny Martin, Science Culture | Comments Off on Tears and Smiles

Nice Girls don’t Ask – but Should

Posted on 1 October 2017 by Athene Donald

In the unfolding furore about the published gender pay gap at the BBC, the situation was not improved by the comments of Philip Hampton who implied that women had ‘let it happen’ and ‘weren’t doing much about it’. Given that … Continue reading →

Posted in Equality, market supplement, negotiation, pay gap, Philip Hampton, Women in science | Comments Off on Nice Girls don’t Ask – but Should

Equality, Chattels and Judgement

Posted on 26 September 2017 by Athene Donald

‘What was called spirit and wit in him, was cruelly repressed in me’. It is interesting to try to date this quote from a female character in a novel, because the sentiment (if not the phrasing) could still be written … Continue reading →

Posted in Cordelia Fine, Equality, Mary Wollstonecraft, student satisfaction surveys, The Female Lead, Women in science | Comments Off on Equality, Chattels and Judgement

Freshers’ Fears

Posted on 22 September 2017 by Athene Donald

Freshers are pouring in to their new universities, finding their way around strange cities, unfamiliar halls of residence, learning the vocabulary of their new alma mater, drinking endless amounts of coffee/tea/beer/wine/shots as they attempt to work out who will be … Continue reading →

Posted in Churchill College, education, Impostor syndrome, Music | Comments Off on Freshers’ Fears

Parliamentary Debacle?

Posted on 17 September 2017 by Athene Donald

This past week I have learned some things about our Parliamentary democracy I have never previously known I needed to know. I also got decidedly cross. It started with a tweet, a tweet from the Parliamentary Science and Technology Committee … Continue reading →

Posted in Jo Johnson, Science and Technology Select Committee, Science Funding, Vicky Ford, Women in science | Comments Off on Parliamentary Debacle?

Marital High Jinks and Academia

Posted on 11 September 2017 by Athene Donald

I am quite sure I have never previously had occasion to write the name Wayne Rooney in any situation, but he does seem relevant to the topic of gendered sentences. Hadley Freeman wrote a withering piece last week about how … Continue reading →

Posted in Equality, feisty, Hadley Freeman, letters of reference, Science Culture, Wayne Rooney | Comments Off on Marital High Jinks and Academia