International Day of Women and Girls in Science - thoughts from a foundation doctor and a pharmacist

For this year's International Day of Women and Girls in Science (11 February), we wanted to hear the thoughts and opinions of women working in different areas of medical science. We asked questions to find out more about the challenges that women in science face, and how girls can be encouraged to engage with STEM subjects.

We spoke to Dr Elohor Ijete, a foundation doctor based in London who would like to train in psychiatry and to Omolola Vincent, a pharmacist based in London. Their thoughtful answers to the same four questions are presented below.

Dr Elohor Ijete

Women in science are typically given smaller research grants than their male colleagues, what kind of unconscious bias is working against women here? 

Unconscious biases are beliefs and assumptions we hold about the world around us that we aren’t consciously aware of. One type of unconscious bias is gender bias. This is something that women in science have been experiencing for many years.

Although research shows that more women are applying for grants, typically female scientists receive smaller grants than their male colleagues. Women generally tend to apply for smaller grants than their male counterparts.¹ This may be due to a lack of female role models as they don’t see other women being granted larger grants leading them to err on the side of caution creating a negative cycle.

We also still have a lack of female scientists in leadership positions.¹ I personally experienced this during my Biochemistry degree where only two of all the lecturers I had were female. It’s difficult to aspire to something you don’t see.

In the most modern aspects of technology, like artificial intelligence, only one in five professionals are women. Why do you think this could be?

Artificial intelligence (AI) is a technology that enables a computer to think or act in a more 'human' way. AI is created by human beings and is therefore affected by human traits. If the team developing the AI is not diverse or inclusive, you could end up with technology that reflects the same biases that you are trying to eliminate. This is why it’s so important for industries such as AI to have just as many women as men.

At A-levels female students are less likely than male students to study physics or maths. In 2018, girls accounted for 39% of students studying A-level maths and 22% for those studying physics.² 

This is significant as physics and maths A-levels are often a requirement to go into professions such as AI and if there are fewer girls picking these subjects it leads to fewer women in AI. Surveys showed that female students did not choose maths and physics because they were worried about being the only female student in a male-dominated class at school or at university.³

Psychiatry used to attract a higher percentage of men than women. However in the last year, there is a higher percentage of women as trainees (59.7% of trainees are female, 40.3% are male). How do you believe this progress was achieved? 

In medicine, over the last 40 years, the number of female medical students has dramatically increased with female students currently outnumbering male students. This could be a contributing factor to the higher number of female psychiatrists.

Other factors include foundation doctors seeing more female role models in psychiatry. Groups such as the Women and Mental Health Special Interest Group who highlighted 25 female psychiatrists to showcase their achievements encourage this. I know for me, seeing my mother’s passion for her work as a forensic psychiatrist was what initially sparked off my interest in psychiatry which was confirmed once I started working as a doctor. 

Women still remain a minority in computing, physics, mathematics and engineering. How can we encourage girls to engage with these topics at a young age?

I really believe the main way we can encourage girls to engage in these subjects is to provide them with role models. They should be exposed to female scientists not just in current times but historically too. Female scientists such as Marie Curie, Rosalind Franklin, Alice Ball and Ruth Smith Lloyd are historical figures that contributed much to science.

Young girls learning about these aspirational figures will help them see themselves in the same roles. I also feel that mentoring plays a significant role in encouraging not just girls but also women too. Research has shown that there are a significant number of women who leave academia after starting a career in science commonly referred to as “the leaky pipeline”.⁴ 

Having a mentor to help inspire and navigate a career in academia would make a big difference. Frameworks such as the Athena Swan Charter are already putting this in motion. Having had female mentors and mentoring myself has helped me tremendously in mapping out my career pathway and not being discouraged when I face challenges.

References

1. Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council. Understanding our portfolio A gender perspective [Internet]. Epsrc.ukri.org. 2020 [cited 7 February 2022]. Available from: https://epsrc.ukri.org/files/aboutus/epsrcunderstandingourportfolio-agenderperspectivereport/
2. Cassidy R, Cattan S, Crawford C. Why don’t more girls study maths and physics? [Internet]. Institute for Fiscal Studies. 2018 [cited 7 February 2022]. Available from: https://ifs.org.uk/publications/13276
3. OECD. The ABC of Gender Equality in Education: Aptitude, Behaviour, Confidence,. OECD Publishing; 2015.
4. Sato S, Gygax P, Randall J, Schmid Mast M. The leaky pipeline in research grant peer review and funding decisions: challenges and future directions. Higher Education. 2020;82(1):145-162.

Omolola Vincent

Women in science are typically given smaller research grants than their male colleagues, what kind of unconscious bias is working against women here? 

Gender bias is based on a perception that women are less knowledgeable compared to men. Some scholars studying discrimination in science argue that decision-makers in the industry often believe that men are inherently more technically competent than women; they think that it is economically a better investment to employ men and to give higher budgets to the male staff than to the female staff.

They believe that those investments lead to more opportunities for male staff to produce high-quality results, which in turn reinforces the statistical bias ^[1]. There is a perception of men being better. Research from The Journal of Experimental Social Psychology in New York showed that ‘stereotypes that portray brilliance as a male trait are likely to hold women back’ ^[2]

In the most modern aspects of technology, like artificial intelligence, only one in five professionals are women. Why do you think this could be?

Artificial intelligence is the theory and development of computer systems able to perform tasks normally requiring human intelligence; such as visual perception, speech recognition, decision-making, and translation between languages.

The lack of exposure (until the last few years) hasn’t allowed women to work in these fields. Interviewees for Deloitte noted that if they had not had a direct influence to get into STEM they most likely would not have pursued a path towards AI. ^[4] There is a lack of attention being placed on opportunities for women in AI. 84 per cent of women respondents were never recruited for AI and machine learning positions through their campus career centre or through campus career fairs. ^[4]

Psychiatry used to attract a higher percentage of men than women. However, in the last year, there is a higher percentage of women as trainees (59.7% of trainees are female, 40.3% are male). How do you believe this progress was achieved? 

Initiatives such as the  Athena SWAN Charter (developed in 2005), were created to advance the careers of women in technology, engineering, science, maths and medicine in higher education and in research has had a positive impact in improving gender diversity in academia.^[4]

Recruitment processes that conduct blind screenings of applications that exclude aspects of a candidate that may reveal their gender are helpful as well as institutions being held accountable when their statistics do not reflect fair hiring practice. ^[5] Social media has been a great help with respect to the visibility of women in psychiatry; social media platforms such as Twitter, YouTube and Instagram show registered healthcare professionals who are female and these goals seem more achievable to women worldwide. 

Women still remain a minority in computing, physics, mathematics and engineering. How can we encourage girls to engage with these topics at a young age?

Having more accessible role models and having more talks/presentations at schools (especially all-girls schools) from females in this field. Programmes specifically for women in the sciences such as the National Centre for Women & Information National Centre for Women & Information Technology and the Ada developers academy ^[9] encourage women to become involved in science and research.

Pharmacy for instance is a female-dominated profession (GPhC data from 2017 shows that 61% are female and 39% male). Women have historically been attracted to pharmacy because it is widely perceived as a profession that offers them an opportunity to combine a professional career with a family and more senior positions allow job sharing ^[6]. The gap between men and women in senior pharmacy roles are small ^[7]

References

1. En.wikipedia.org. 2022. Sexism in the technology industry - Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sexism_in_the_technology_industry> [Accessed 8 February 2022].
2. Www2.deloitte.com. 2022. [online] Available at: <https://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloitte/us/Documents/deloitte-analytics/us-consulting-women-in-ai.pdf> [Accessed 5 February 2022].
3. Built In. 2022. 16 Unconscious Bias Examples and How to Avoid Them in the Workplace. [online] Available at: <https://builtin.com/diversity-inclusion/unconscious-bias-examples> [Accessed 8 February 2022].
4. Womanthology: Homepage. 2022. Thinking differently about psychiatry: The importance of an inclusive approach - Dr. Kate Lovett, Dean of the Royal College of Psychiatrists - Womanthology. [online] Available at: <https://www.womanthology.co.uk/thinking-differently-psychiatry-importance-inclusive-approach-dr-kate-lovett-dean-royal-college-psychiatrists/> [Accessed 9 February 2022].
5. Janzen, D., Fitzpatrick, K., Jensen, K. and Suveges, L., 2013. Women in pharmacy. Canadian Pharmacists Journal / Revue des Pharmaciens du Canada, 146(2), pp.109-116.
6. Drug Topics. 2022. Women gain ground in pharmacy profession. [online] Available at: <https://www.drugtopics.com/view/women-gain-ground-pharmacy-profession> [Accessed 8 February 2022].
7. Sandipuniversity.edu.in. 2022. Is Pharmacy a Women-Friendly Profession? Why are There so Many Female Pharmacists? -. [online] Available at: <https://www.sandipuniversity.edu.in/blog/is-pharmacy-a-women-friendly-profession-why-are-there-so-many-female-pharmacists/#:~:text=Since%20the%20profession%20attracts%20a,conditions%20and%20better%20work%20culture.> [Accessed 8 February 2022].
8. En.wikipedia.org. 2022. Gender disparity in computing - Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gender_disparity_in_computing#:~:text=In%20the%20United%20States%2C%20the,1990%20and%2026.7%25%20in%201998.> [Accessed 8 February 2022].