This morning I woke up to a great e-mail sending me to the White House website where they had posted a video titled Advice for Young Women Interested in the Sciences
This topic, women in science and women's rights, seems to be following me around lately. I suppose when you get to be of a certain age and a certain education status people start asking you these questions. Or maybe it's a snowball effect, one person asked, then I asked someone else, then I started noticing it in the news, then someone thought I might find this interesting.... Either way it' been on my mind a bit.
If someone were to ask me what advice I would give to girls wanting to go into science I'm not sure what I would say. I would suggest working on having thick skin, learn how to not be intimidated by aggressive body posturing (the guys don't mean to do it, but when they think they are right they sometimes just fall into it), become confident in what you know, and don't let anyone tell you differently. Really I think it comes down to confidence, you will be continuously tested, Profs, colleagues, and students will always question your handle on the subject matter and you have to stay strong. You won't always be right, but that does't mean you are not capable, it just means that you had a hole in your knowledge base which is now filled. Everyone has holes in their knowledge even if they don't want to admit it. If you go into Physics or engineering and many of the mathematic fields you will be one of the few if not only women in your class. This can sometimes be hard and lonely, but know that there are others of us out there cheering you on. Just look, the President of the United States of America is encouraging you!
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