Category Archives: harassment

Has the World Changed (Enough)?

Posted on 27 November 2022 by Athene Donald

“The reported incidents of racism and misogyny are extremely alarming” according to Gareth Cook, fire brigade’s union regional organiser for London about the recent report into the London Fire Brigade. “Women have been “systematically failed” by the criminal justice system”, … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in confidence, harassment, Lindemann Trust, MIT, Women in science | Comments Off on Has the World Changed (Enough)?

Does Life Get Better at Mid-Career?

Posted on 28 October 2022 by Athene Donald

Julie Gould and Nature Careers podcasts have been running an interesting series (Muddle of the Middle) on what it’s like to be a mid-career/middle aged scientist. A time when precarity is likely to be past, but reality of all the different … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in equity, harassment, obstacles, patronising, Science Culture, Women in science | Comments Off on Does Life Get Better at Mid-Career?

Picture a Scientist – Who Do You See?

Posted on 26 June 2021 by Athene Donald

I am often asked who inspired me. I feel embarrassed to admit the answer is no one, it seems like the wrong answer. Certainly there was no female scientist who triggered my love of science at an early age; I … Continue reading →

Posted in discrimination, Equality, harassment, Jane Willenbring, MIT, Nancy Hopkins, Raychelle Burks, Women in science | Comments Off on Picture a Scientist – Who Do You See?

We’ve Come a Long Way But…..

Posted on 14 September 2020 by Athene Donald

When Rita Colwell was born in 1934, neither Oxford nor Cambridge Universities had yet appointed a female professor in any discipline; Dorothy Garrod, the first woman to hold such a chair (the Disney Chair of Archaeology at Cambridge), was not … Continue reading →

Posted in Athena Swan, Equality, harassment, Ottoline Leyser, Rita Colwell, Women in science | Comments Off on We’ve Come a Long Way But…..

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

Sometimes science needs to take a backseat

Posted on 29 September 2018 by Steve Caplan

Science is based on fundamental, objective truth. So sometimes, in support of science, it is necessary to step back and take a moral stand. Here is my letter to Nebraskan Senator Ben Sasse (republican, Judiciary Committee). Since I have no … Continue reading →

Posted in harassment, Politics, sexual assault, truth, women's rights | Comments Off on Sometimes science needs to take a backseat

What makes for a Toxic Environment?

Posted on 6 August 2018 by Athene Donald

Toxic atmospheres have been in the news recently in the wake of an NHS report on a low-performing cardiac unit in London. All the articles I’ve read on this are short on detail of what actually happened. ‘Dark forces’ are … Continue reading →

Posted in competition, Equality, harassment, head of department, Science Culture, working environment | Comments Off on What makes for a Toxic Environment?

‘I do like kissing games’

Posted on 7 January 2018 by Athene Donald

After Harvey Weinstein there have been suggestions that we’ve reached a ‘tipping point’, that the genie can’t be put back into the bottle and that our society will clean itself up with respect to sexual harassment. I wish. In the … Continue reading →

Posted in Equality, harassment, Harvey Weinstein, misogyny, name-calling, Women in science | Comments Off on ‘I do like kissing games’

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

Where Can You Speak Out Safely?

Posted on 17 November 2014 by Athene Donald

The media is full of stories around men behaving inappropriately – or worse – currently. These range from #shirtstorm in the wake of Matt Taylor’s press conference regarding the successful landing of Philae (a sad distraction from the amazingly successful … Continue reading →

Posted in Equality, harassment, philosophy, SASSY, Science Culture, sexism | Comments Off on Where Can You Speak Out Safely?