Author Archives: Athene Donald

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

The Summer is Over

Posted on 8 September 2017 by Athene Donald

I have recently returned (so yes, I feel the summer is over) from a few days holiday in places far less flat than Cambridge which provided enough time to sink into the unusual bliss of uninterrupted reading. So, rather than … Continue reading →

Posted in biography, book review, Jan Henrik Schön, migraine, Robert McCrum, Science Culture, William Armstrong | Comments Off on The Summer is Over

Admissions in Balance

Posted on 1 September 2017 by Athene Donald

Last October when I sat at the undergraduate Matriculation Dinner and looked across Churchill College’s large Hall, I was dismayed to see that the proportion of Freshers was very far from a 50:50 mix of men and women. I am … Continue reading →

Posted in Churchill College, education, Equality, matriculation, women | Comments Off on Admissions in Balance

References from the Past

Posted on 27 August 2017 by Athene Donald

It is a standard part of our job and our responsibilities to write letters of reference for students and postdocs, past and present. But I sometimes get very frustrated by those who ask me to write a letter of support … Continue reading →

Posted in CV, letters of reference, Science Culture, students | Comments Off on References from the Past

Laying Ghosts to Rest

Posted on 21 August 2017 by Athene Donald

Many years ago I was invited to give one of the keynote talks at a conference in the USA. I was  young and I was flattered. It was a Conference on Polymer Physics held on the east coast of America. … Continue reading →

Posted in conferences, Equality, Science Culture, self-confidence, sexism | Comments Off on Laying Ghosts to Rest

Choice not Dogma

Posted on 16 August 2017 by Athene Donald

Last week a writer for the Financial Times joined the club of those journalists who seem to think there is some awful plot out there to force young girls to study science. Not so long ago it was Cristina Odone, … Continue reading →

Posted in Angela Saini, Cristina Odone, education, journalism, stereotyping, Women in science | Comments Off on Choice not Dogma

On a Short Fuse

Posted on 10 August 2017 by Athene Donald

I am frequently astonished by the chutzpah some people possess: the willingness brazenly to ask someone else essentially to do their own work so that they, the asker, can make cash. An email that smacked of this landed in my … Continue reading →

Posted in Equality, Mary Beard, name-calling, Philip Hampton | Comments Off on On a Short Fuse