Why are girls discouraged from doing science?

Why do so many promising women leave science in early and mid-career?

Why do women not prosper in the scientific workforce?

Professor Dame Athene Donald FRS will be talking about her latest book which addresses the persistent problem of women being under-represented in scientific roles.

She will look at how society has historically excluded women from the scientific sphere and discourse, what progress has been made, how more is still needed and what this could look like.

Athene is a distinguished physicist, Master of Churchill College, Cambridge and an outspoken gender equality champion. She will be joined by Jan Löwe to discuss this important topic.

This talk will be held in-person at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, and is also available to attend online. It will also be recorded for anyone wanting to watch it another time.

Please book to reserve your in-person or online place, and to be informed about the availability of the recording.

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More information about the event

Athene will explore societal expectations during both childhood and working life using evidence of the systemic disadvantages women operate under, from the developing science of how our brains are -and more importantly aren’t - gendered, to social science evidence around attitudes towards girls and women doing science.

She will also dispel common myths: for example, the perception that science is not creative, or that it is carried out by a lone genius in an ivory tower, myths which can be very off-putting to many sections of the population.

In her book Not Just for the Boys: Why We Need More Women in Science, Athene argues the moral and business case for greater diversity in modern research, the better to improve science and tackle the great challenges we face today.

Athene will be joined by LMB Director Jan Löwe. We look forward to hearing more from Athene and her thoughts on how to crack this persistent issue.

Speaker Biography:

Athene Donald is Professor Emerita in Experimental Physics and Master of Churchill College, University of Cambridge. Other than four years postdoctoral research in the USA, she has spent her career in Cambridge, specializing in soft matter physics and physics at the interface with biology. She was the University of Cambridge's first Gender Equality Champion, and has been involved in numerous initiatives concerning women in science. She was elected Fellow of the Royal Society in 1999 and appointed DBE for services to Physics in 2010.

Not Just For The Boys: Why We Need More Women in Science