A woman who matters<\/h3>\n\u201cEven though you feel like you\u2019re very small, you can have a huge impact on the way that people perceive science,” Dr Jess Wade.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
This week, The University of Manchester was lucky enough to receive a visit from Dr Jess Wade. A physicist at Imperial College London, Dr Wade is a woman who matters \u2013 and that\u2019s on the record! Last year, the journal Nature<\/em> included her in its annual Nature\u2019s 10 list<\/a><\/em> \u2013 a countdown of ten people who matter in science. On top of that, she won the\u00a0Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining\u00a0(IOM3) Robin Perrin Award for Materials Science in 2017, and the\u00a0Institute of Physics\u00a0(IOP)\u00a0Daphne Jackson Medal and Prize\u00a0in 2018.<\/p>\nBut Dr Wade is probably the last person to hold herself up as a Wonder Woman of science, or someone who will single-handedly reverse the gender inequality that has blighted the discipline for decades. In fact, if you ask her, we\u2019re all in this together (to quote High School Musical<\/em>).<\/p>\n\u201cI think people are doing things incredibly differently now and young women are really driving the change,\u201d Dr Wade told an enraptured audience at this week\u2019s Balance for Better event, organised by the Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health.<\/p>\n
\u201cEven though you feel like you\u2019re very small, you can have a huge impact on the way that people perceive science, scientists and also the way that young people access education.\u201d<\/p>\n
And it\u2019s true \u2013 no matter how big or small your efforts, they all help make the scientific community a better, more inclusive place for everyone.<\/p>\n
Winning at Wikis<\/h3>\n
![\"Dr](\"https:\/\/www.mub.eps.manchester.ac.uk\/science-engineering\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/59\/2019\/03\/Jess-wade-1cropped.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
While Dr Wade has won numerous industry accolades, both for her public engagement work and her research into polymer-based light emitting diodes, she\u2019s also been tirelessly chipping away at the lack of representation of women and black and minority ethnic (BAME) scientists over on Wikipedia. Every day, Dr Wade adds pages and makes changes to the colossal online encyclopaedia in order to give fair dues to the scientists responsible for huge discoveries and developments \u2013 only to be overlooked by their own peers.<\/p>\n
Nine out of 10 Wikipedia editors are men, which may explain why women account for just 18% of people profiled on the site \u2013 unconscious bias in all its glory. With female representation on Wikipedia roughly matching that of the recognition of women on banknotes, Dr Wade has found herself inspired every day as she learns about the women she adds to Wikipedia.<\/p>\n
While she started out writing a page a day, Dr Wade soon had a gang of volunteer editors working on content to make it more inclusive. Work like this helps to create a record that looks more like the world we live in \u2013 one where women make up half of the population. And editing Wikipedia is something anyone can get involved in.<\/p>\n
Yet there is still more work to do. \u201cWhen you look at the data, it\u2019s really frightening and nothing is changing at the speed you want it to,\u201d Dr Wade explains.<\/p>\n
Battling trolls<\/h3>\n
![\"Books\"](\"https:\/\/www.mub.eps.manchester.ac.uk\/science-engineering\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/59\/2019\/03\/Jess-wade-books.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n
As we\u2019ve mentioned before<\/a> (on more than one occasion<\/a> \u2013 in fact quite regularly<\/a>), the underrepresentation of women in science is a complicated problem \u2013 and one that starts young. In fact, many an internet troll would have you believe that the fact only a fifth of girls study Physics at A level and only 6% of Physics professors are women is because, simply, there are more genius men (really!). And yet research has shown that in science, girls consistently outperform the boys.<\/p>\n\u201cTrolls on the internet say there is a difference in our biology \u2013 but there is absolutely no difference in our biology,\u201d says Dr Wade. And in fact, over a century ago in the UK, it was the girls who were making waves in science. Citing the work \u2018A Chemical Passion: The forgotten story of chemistry at British independent girls\u2019 schools\u2019*, Dr Wade reveals that at the turn of the 20th<\/sup> century, it was the girls who invested in their scientific studies.<\/p>\nGirls would travel by horse and cart to learn in real industrial facilities, specialising in chemistry and the physical sciences. But then a report was published that warned that physical work put girls at risk of curvature of the spine, and that really they should focus on learning how to be mothers and homemakers (try telling that to Kathleen Drew-Baker<\/a>, Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell, <\/a>Beatrice Shilling or Danielle George<\/a>).<\/p>\n*You can see more of Dr Wade’s book recommendations in the image above.<\/em><\/p>\nWhat the world gives to girls<\/h3>\n
![\"Lego](\"https:\/\/www.mub.eps.manchester.ac.uk\/science-engineering\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/59\/2019\/03\/Jess-Wade-legocropped-300x258.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Dr Wade points to this as an example of the \u201cmassive impact\u201d of education policy. \u201cAnd so too does everything that we give young children and the way that we treat and think about young women,\u201d she adds.<\/p>\n
Whether it\u2019s boys’ t-shirts emblazoned with \u201cLittle scholar\u201d while girls’ t-shirts say \u201cCutie Pie\u201d; Lego City<\/em> (aimed at boys) that allows kids to build infrastructure in miniature, while Lego Friends<\/em> (aimed at girls) comes with figures that are too big for the scale of the buildings in order to create space for eyelashes and lips on their faces; or that, of the most popular kids\u2019 books published in the Times 100<\/em>, only 19% have a female protagonist (and fewer than 1% have a main character from a BAME background) – from the earliest age girls are instilled with very different values to boys.<\/p>\n\u201cYou pick up the things the world puts in front of you. So if you\u2019re endlessly presented with a group of pink toys, if you\u2019re not told to play around with things, if you\u2019re given books where you\u2019re never represented and you never see anyone who looks like you, that really really impacts how you feel and have confidence in yourself going forward,\u201d says Dr Wade.<\/p>\n
A better balance in STEM<\/h3>\n
The underrepresentation of women in science<\/a> only continues after school \u2013 from bias in the allocation of grants, to men having a greater chance of their papers being accepted and cited. But, together, the scientific community can make a change. This isn\u2019t a problem that will be solved by a handful of wonder women, but by all women of STEM working together<\/a>.<\/p>\nDr Wade suggests mentoring others \u2013 or finding a mentor; opening up and talking about mental health; investigating sexual harassment; nominating scientists from under-represented groups. \u201cThe only people who have the power to change the pattern is us.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ultimately, Dr Wade urges the scientific community to \u201cbe brave and speak truth to power\u201d \u2013 not to be afraid to call out inequality, bias and untruths wherever they occur.<\/p>\n
This International Women\u2019s Day, let\u2019s be proud of being part of something bigger \u2013 by working together, the balance can be better.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cEven though you feel like you\u2019re very small, you can have a huge impact on the way that people perceive science,” Dr Jess Wade.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
This week, The University of Manchester was lucky enough to receive a visit from Dr Jess Wade. A physicist at Imperial College London, Dr Wade is a woman who matters \u2013 and that\u2019s on the record! Last year, the journal Nature<\/em> included her in its annual Nature\u2019s 10 list<\/a><\/em> \u2013 a countdown of ten people who matter in science. On top of that, she won the\u00a0Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining\u00a0(IOM3) Robin Perrin Award for Materials Science in 2017, and the\u00a0Institute of Physics\u00a0(IOP)\u00a0Daphne Jackson Medal and Prize\u00a0in 2018.<\/p>\n But Dr Wade is probably the last person to hold herself up as a Wonder Woman of science, or someone who will single-handedly reverse the gender inequality that has blighted the discipline for decades. In fact, if you ask her, we\u2019re all in this together (to quote High School Musical<\/em>).<\/p>\n \u201cI think people are doing things incredibly differently now and young women are really driving the change,\u201d Dr Wade told an enraptured audience at this week\u2019s Balance for Better event, organised by the Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health.<\/p>\n \u201cEven though you feel like you\u2019re very small, you can have a huge impact on the way that people perceive science, scientists and also the way that young people access education.\u201d<\/p>\n And it\u2019s true \u2013 no matter how big or small your efforts, they all help make the scientific community a better, more inclusive place for everyone.<\/p>\n While Dr Wade has won numerous industry accolades, both for her public engagement work and her research into polymer-based light emitting diodes, she\u2019s also been tirelessly chipping away at the lack of representation of women and black and minority ethnic (BAME) scientists over on Wikipedia. Every day, Dr Wade adds pages and makes changes to the colossal online encyclopaedia in order to give fair dues to the scientists responsible for huge discoveries and developments \u2013 only to be overlooked by their own peers.<\/p>\n Nine out of 10 Wikipedia editors are men, which may explain why women account for just 18% of people profiled on the site \u2013 unconscious bias in all its glory. With female representation on Wikipedia roughly matching that of the recognition of women on banknotes, Dr Wade has found herself inspired every day as she learns about the women she adds to Wikipedia.<\/p>\n While she started out writing a page a day, Dr Wade soon had a gang of volunteer editors working on content to make it more inclusive. Work like this helps to create a record that looks more like the world we live in \u2013 one where women make up half of the population. And editing Wikipedia is something anyone can get involved in.<\/p>\n Yet there is still more work to do. \u201cWhen you look at the data, it\u2019s really frightening and nothing is changing at the speed you want it to,\u201d Dr Wade explains.<\/p>\n As we\u2019ve mentioned before<\/a> (on more than one occasion<\/a> \u2013 in fact quite regularly<\/a>), the underrepresentation of women in science is a complicated problem \u2013 and one that starts young. In fact, many an internet troll would have you believe that the fact only a fifth of girls study Physics at A level and only 6% of Physics professors are women is because, simply, there are more genius men (really!). And yet research has shown that in science, girls consistently outperform the boys.<\/p>\n \u201cTrolls on the internet say there is a difference in our biology \u2013 but there is absolutely no difference in our biology,\u201d says Dr Wade. And in fact, over a century ago in the UK, it was the girls who were making waves in science. Citing the work \u2018A Chemical Passion: The forgotten story of chemistry at British independent girls\u2019 schools\u2019*, Dr Wade reveals that at the turn of the 20th<\/sup> century, it was the girls who invested in their scientific studies.<\/p>\n Girls would travel by horse and cart to learn in real industrial facilities, specialising in chemistry and the physical sciences. But then a report was published that warned that physical work put girls at risk of curvature of the spine, and that really they should focus on learning how to be mothers and homemakers (try telling that to Kathleen Drew-Baker<\/a>, Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell, <\/a>Beatrice Shilling or Danielle George<\/a>).<\/p>\n *You can see more of Dr Wade’s book recommendations in the image above.<\/em><\/p>\n Dr Wade points to this as an example of the \u201cmassive impact\u201d of education policy. \u201cAnd so too does everything that we give young children and the way that we treat and think about young women,\u201d she adds.<\/p>\n Whether it\u2019s boys’ t-shirts emblazoned with \u201cLittle scholar\u201d while girls’ t-shirts say \u201cCutie Pie\u201d; Lego City<\/em> (aimed at boys) that allows kids to build infrastructure in miniature, while Lego Friends<\/em> (aimed at girls) comes with figures that are too big for the scale of the buildings in order to create space for eyelashes and lips on their faces; or that, of the most popular kids\u2019 books published in the Times 100<\/em>, only 19% have a female protagonist (and fewer than 1% have a main character from a BAME background) – from the earliest age girls are instilled with very different values to boys.<\/p>\n \u201cYou pick up the things the world puts in front of you. So if you\u2019re endlessly presented with a group of pink toys, if you\u2019re not told to play around with things, if you\u2019re given books where you\u2019re never represented and you never see anyone who looks like you, that really really impacts how you feel and have confidence in yourself going forward,\u201d says Dr Wade.<\/p>\n The underrepresentation of women in science<\/a> only continues after school \u2013 from bias in the allocation of grants, to men having a greater chance of their papers being accepted and cited. But, together, the scientific community can make a change. This isn\u2019t a problem that will be solved by a handful of wonder women, but by all women of STEM working together<\/a>.<\/p>\n Dr Wade suggests mentoring others \u2013 or finding a mentor; opening up and talking about mental health; investigating sexual harassment; nominating scientists from under-represented groups. \u201cThe only people who have the power to change the pattern is us.\u201d<\/p>\n Ultimately, Dr Wade urges the scientific community to \u201cbe brave and speak truth to power\u201d \u2013 not to be afraid to call out inequality, bias and untruths wherever they occur.<\/p>\n This International Women\u2019s Day, let\u2019s be proud of being part of something bigger \u2013 by working together, the balance can be better.<\/p>\n <\/p>\nWinning at Wikis<\/h3>\n
<\/p>\nBattling trolls<\/h3>\n
<\/p>\nWhat the world gives to girls<\/h3>\n
<\/p>\nA better balance in STEM<\/h3>\n