Author Archives: Athene Donald

Five Minutes Peace (and Preferably a Lot More)

Posted on 2 March 2017 by Athene Donald

Any parent will be familiar with the desire to find a quiet corner where the children can’t find them. Many readers will also know all about the antics of the Large Family, a family of elephants, in Jill Murphy’s tale … Continue reading →

Posted in diary, email, Science Culture, time | Comments Off on Five Minutes Peace (and Preferably a Lot More)

Are You Authentic?

Posted on 23 February 2017 by Athene Donald

‘Be true to yourself’ is a well-worn phrase, almost a mantra. I  know I pepper talks (and writing) with the phrase. I think I know exactly what I mean and had assumed others did too. I do not mean that … Continue reading →

Posted in career, choices, decisions, Science Culture | Comments Off on Are You Authentic?

Building a Humane Workplace

Posted on 17 February 2017 by Athene Donald

This is the unabridged/unedited version of an article that first appeared a couple of weeks ago in Optics and Photonics. Increasingly industry has woken up to the fact that diverse teams make better decisions and, by implication, make more money. … Continue reading →

Posted in bullying, Equality, group dynamics, sexism | Comments Off on Building a Humane Workplace

Let’s Celebrate with UNESCO

Posted on 11 February 2017 by Athene Donald

Today, February 11th 2017, is the first UNESCO’s International Day of Women & Girls in Science. This is a day to remind ourselves not that ‘you’ve come a long way baby’ in the words of a now infamous advertisement campaign … Continue reading →

Posted in encouragement, Eugenia Kumacheva, L'Oreal For Women in Science, Science Culture, Women in science | Comments Off on Let’s Celebrate with UNESCO

Conspiracy or Cock-up?

Posted on 3 February 2017 by Athene Donald

Inclusivity seems something of a current buzzword. When Theresa May came to office she stated clearly in her first speech that ‘we won’t entrench the advantages of the fortunate few’. One of her immediate actions was to call for an … Continue reading →

Posted in BEIS, Equality, Science Funding, Sir John Kingman, Sir Mark Walport, UKRI | Comments Off on Conspiracy or Cock-up?

Cultural Values in a Time Warp

Posted on 29 January 2017 by Athene Donald

At the start of the year I wrote about my frustrations with the slow pace of change, specifically with regard to the situation for women in science in academia but also more broadly. This week I am forcibly reminded again … Continue reading →

Posted in Barbie dolls, education, Equality, gender stereotypes, self-belief, toys | Comments Off on Cultural Values in a Time Warp

The ABC of panel scoring: Anchoring, Bias and Committee Procedures

Posted on 20 January 2017 by Athene Donald

Academic life is particularly full of rank ordered lists, even if they are frequently not transparently available. From undergraduate examinations to professorial promotions, from REF (and in future TEF) marks to grant-awarding panels, the scores matter. Anyone who has ever … Continue reading →

Posted in committee meetings, decisions, rank-ordered lists, Research, Science Funding | Comments Off on The ABC of panel scoring: Anchoring, Bias and Committee Procedures

Mentoring Matters, but for Whom?

Posted on 15 January 2017 by Athene Donald

In response to my recent post on New Year Frustrations, I received a tweet complaining that in this particular person’s university female postdocs contractually could not receive mentoring. That statement can be read in two ways: either that female postdocs … Continue reading →

Posted in advice, appraisal, early career researchers, postdocs, Research, Women in science | Comments Off on Mentoring Matters, but for Whom?

Synaptic Transfer and Interdisciplinarity

Posted on 9 January 2017 by Athene Donald

I spent much of the Christmas break admiring my new granddaughter’s constantly changing and newly acquired skills as she progressed from 8 weeks old to 10; the sense of new synaptic connections being made was very strong as her hand-eye … Continue reading →

Posted in Communicating Science, david mitchell, David Rowan, Interdisciplinary Science, Unconscious bias, Virginia Valian | Comments Off on Synaptic Transfer and Interdisciplinarity

New Year Frustrations

Posted on 3 January 2017 by Athene Donald

I spent some of my time off around New Year attempting to start as I mean to go on by tidying my ‘home office’. In the run-up to Christmas, as exhaustion took over and time ran out, I had increasingly … Continue reading →

Posted in Equality, GCSE, Glass Cliff, Laura Bates, Women in science | Comments Off on New Year Frustrations