naturestructural&molecularbiologyvolume17number7July2010779TakeabreakFormanyreasons,scientiststakeacareerbreaklastingfrommonthstoseveralyears.
Manyeventuallyreturnbutlosetheirplaceonthecareerladder,workingatalevelfarbelowtheirqualificationsandtalents.
Signsofimprovedaccessforreturnersarehugelyencouraging.
On24Marcheachyear,AdaLovelaceDayiscelebratedbyaninternationaldayofbloggingtohighlighttheachievementsofwomenintechnologyandscience.
AdaLovelace(1815–1852)wasthedaughterofthepoetLordByron,butherenduringclaimtofameisastheworld'sfirstcomputerprogrammer.
SheworkedonCharlesBabbage'searlymechanicalgeneral-purposecomputer,theanalyticalengine,andiscreditedwithwritingthefirstcomputerprogram.
Hundredsofwomenwerelaudedincyberspacethisyear,butsomeofthemosthonorednamescaughtoureye.
Threeofthemostblogged-aboutwomenweremolecularbiologists:RosalindFranklin,BarbaraMcClintockandDorothyCrowfootHodgkin.
TheinclusionofFranklin,McClintockandCrowfootHodgkinreflectsnotonlytheiroutstandingscientificachievementsbutalsotheassimilationoftheirworkintopopularculture.
Allthreehavebiographiesoftheirlivesgracingbookshelves,andFranklin'sroleinthediscoveryofthestructureofDNAwasthesubjectofthefilmDNA'sDarkLady.
Butthebooksaboutthesethreewomen'slivesillustratejusthowdifficultitwastosucceedasafemalescientist.
BiographersofFranklinandMcClintocksuggestthatbothwereunfairlytreated,andthesebooksarecentraltextsformanywomen-in-sciencestudies.
ThebiographyofCrowfootHodgkin,DorothyHodgkin:ALife,isdifferent.
It'sataleofbalancingapassionforsciencewithbringingupchildrenandtakinganactiveinterestininternationalpolitics.
ReadingthebiographyofCrowfootHodgkin,thesupportiveroleplayedbySomervilleCollege,attheUniversityofOxford,standsout.
CrowfootHodgkinwasthefirstfellowtobecomepregnantwhileholdingafellowship,butthecollegerespondedinanenlightenedmanner,andshebecamethefirstwomanatUniversityofOxfordtoreceivepaidmaternityleave.
Thiswas33yearsbeforetheuniversityasawholeadoptedthispolicyand37yearsbeforestatutorymaternitypaybecamelawintheUKin1975.
Throughthesupportofherfamilyandthecollege,CrowfootHodgkinwasabletocontinueworkingduringherpregnancyandwhilebringingupyoungchildren.
Thebenefitstothecollegeandtoscienceingeneralhavehandsomelyrewardedthissupport.
Incredibly,morethan40yearslater,manywomen—andmentoo—findthemselvesinalesssupportiveenvironmentthanthatofCrowfootHodgkinatprewarSomervilleCollege.
Manywomenandmengiveuptheircareerswhentheyhavechildren,partlybecauseitisdifficulttocopewiththedemandsofthelonghoursneededinthelaboratoryandpartlybecauseoftheexpenseofchildcare.
Withtwochildrenindaycare,manyfindthatitischeapertostayathome.
Othersunderstandablywanttospendtimewiththeiryoungchildren.
Careerbreaksarenotalwaysamatterofpersonalchoice.
AstheeconomiesoftheUSandEuroperecoverfromrecession,manyscientistsmayfindthemselvesforcedtolookforjobselsewherefollowingredundancy,butmanywillwanttoreturn.
Andcaregivingisnotjustaboutlookingafterchildrenbutincreasinglyinvolvescaringforelderlyparents,andwithagingpopulations,thisisacommitmentwearelikelytoseemoreandmore.
Butsuchabreakcomesatahugecost,notonlytotheindividualbuttoscienceandtotheeconomy.
Afterabreak,womenusuallylosetheirplaceonthecareerladder,preventingthemfromreachingseniorpositions.
TheUKResourceCentreforWomeninScience,EngineeringandTechnology(UKRC)estimatesthatthecosttotheUKofwomenscientistsandengineersworkingbelowtheirlevelofqualification,beingunemployedorotherwiseinactiveinthissectoris2billion.
Buttherearereasonstobehopeful.
Forpeoplewantingtotakeonlyashortbreakandreturntotheiroldjob,fundingbodiesarebeginningtobuildthisintotheirstructure.
Thelegislationentitled'FulfillingthePotentialofWomeninAcademicScienceandEngineering'thathasjustpassedthroughtheUSHouseofRepresentatives,whichmandatesthatfederalfundingagenciesbuildinextensionsforcaregivers,isanencouragingsign.
SimilarinitiativesarenowbeingphasedinacrosstheEuropeanUnion.
Otherpositiveinitiativesarealsowelcome.
TheUKRChasworkedwiththeOpenUniversityintheUKtodevelopashort10-weekcourseforanyonewhohasworkedinorstudiedscienceandengineeringtoanalyzetheopportunitiesinthissectoranddevelopaplanforreturningtowork.
TheUKInstituteofPhysicshasabookletthatisfreetodownloadfromitswebsiteentitledBestPracticeinCareer-BreakManagement.
Theirguidanceshowsthatplanningaheadisthekeytoasuccessfulreturn,whetheroneistakingashortbreakandreturningtothesamejobortheintentionistotakeabreakforseveralyears.
Theiradviceincludesretainingmembershipofprofessionalinstitutionsorbodiesandusingthisasawayofmaintainingprofessionalnetworks.
Findingamentorcanhelpenormously,ascanjoiningauniversitylibrary,whichintheUKareoftenopentothepublic,providingaccesstoscientificjournals.
Otheroptionsaretoattendscientificconferences(somesocietyconferencesarereasonablypriced)ortotutorforadulteducationcoursesorfortheOpenUniversity.
ANaturePodcastentitled"CareerBreaksforWomen"(http://www.
nature.
com/naturejobs/career-toolkit/podcasts/archive/index.
html)onthesubjectmightalsopromptsomeideas.
Returnersneedaccessible,relevantadviceonscienceandengineeringandasupportiveenvironment,aswellasafairchancetobeemployed.
ItisimpossibletopredictwhetherthescientistjugglingsomanycommitmentswillonedaywintheNobelPrize.
LEDITORIAL
hostodo怎么样?快到了7月4日美国独立日,hostodo现在推出了VPS大促销活动,提供4款Hostodo美国独立日活动便宜VPS,相当于7折,低至$13/年,续费同价。Hostodo美国独立日活动结束时间不定,活动机售完即止。Hostodo商家支持加密数字货币、信用卡、PayPal、支付宝、银联等付款。Hostodo美国独立日活动VPS基于KVM虚拟,NVMe阵列,1Gbps带宽,自带一个...
SpinServers服务商也不算是老牌的服务商,商家看介绍是是2018年成立的主机品牌,隶属于Majestic Hosting Solutions LLC旗下。商家主要经营独立服务器租用和Hybrid Dedicated服务器等,目前包含的数据中心在美国达拉斯、圣何塞机房,自有硬件和IP资源等,商家还自定义支持用户IP广播到机房。看到SpinServers推出了美国独服的夏季优惠促销活动,最低月...
华纳云怎么样?华纳云是香港老牌的IDC服务商,成立于2015年,主要提供中国香港/美国节点的服务器及网络安全产品、比如,香港服务器、香港云服务器、香港高防服务器、香港高防IP、美国云服务器、机柜出租以及云虚拟主机等。以极速 BGP 冗余网络、CN2 GIA 回国专线以及多年技能经验,帮助全球数十万家企业实现业务转型攀升。华纳云针对618返场活动,华纳云推出一系列热销产品活动,香港云服务器低至3折,...
adalovelace为你推荐
3.2网易yeah重庆电信断网这几天为什么重庆电信的网络总是这么不稳定filezillaserver如何使用filezilla server波音737起飞爆胎飞机会爆胎?flashftp下载rmdown怎么下载flashfxp注册码找flashfxp3.4注册码抢米网会知道怎样抢小米的请进来说一下。刚刚网新员工入职自我介绍怎么写?瑞东集团福能集团是一个什么企业?oa办公软件价格一个oa系统多少钱
百度域名 域名大全 北京主机租用 日本动态vps 如何注册网站域名 wordpress主机 免备案cdn 缓存服务器 网通代理服务器 华为网络硬盘 架设服务器 谁的qq空间最好看 多线空间 美国独立日 免费个人网页 后门 亿库 godaddy中文 hosts文件修改 在线tracert 更多