STEREOTYPES
I went to a conference in Sydney two weeks ago. As usual, after the closing dinner we all went bar hopping. It was a big bunch of us – invasive species scientists, managers, students, researchers. Mostly women. Mostly from New Zealand and Australia; and me. I hung around with my new female friends aged between 22-45. We were loud, happy. We were definitely going to have fun and celebrate the new acquaintances, friends and contacts made at a highly productive conference.
Upon entering a quiet and empty Mexican place, we got the party going and the whole place was cheerful and lively, despite the thunderstorm outside. With a beer in his hand and a smile in his face, a guy approached us. He wondered ‘what we were’. As in what we do for a living. We asked him what ‘he thought we were’ to which his friends joined in and the guessing started.
“Nurses,” said the tall one.
“Telemarketing ladies,” said the one with the beard.
“Pre-school assistants,” said the first one.
Nope. We all said at once, exchanging looks and smiles.
“We are scientists,” said Kelly. “Marine invasive species scientists and we just finished a Conference”
“We would have never guessed,” said one, after exchanging puzzled looks with his mates and wiping the beer froth of his beard.
How do you guess that a woman is a scientist? Perhaps it was that we forgot our lab coats and thick glasses and we were not dressed in thick leggings, flat shoes and a granny blouse and top. We had make up, high heels and nice clothes. We did not look like Amy® from the Big Bang Theory. Do we need to live up to the stereotypes in order to be ‘guessed’ right the first time?
There are more and more women in science who don’t necessarily adjust to a stereotype. Or at least, not all the time. We can publish papers, give seminars, be the plenary guest speaker in important events and be women at the same time. It is highly possible that we are even moms, sisters, daughters, and grandmothers as well. We are women scientists.
Women sciencing - Amanda Lilleyman and team processing a Red-necked Stint (migratory shorebird) after having caught it in a mist net. Photo credit: Gavin O'Brien.
It is easy to fall prey of stereotypes. It is sort of given, like when we guessed what those three guys were. As in what they did for a living. We got it right. They were into computers. They worked for Microsoft. And they were happy that we guessed it at the first time. We said ‘cheers to that’ and all went our ways.
It is just more difficult to place women as scientists. And something needs to be done about it. It is possible to reconcile the woman + scientist as one, but this does not mean that in the process we are less good at being either one. We can excel in both of them at the same time. Just like any male scientist that also happens to be a dad, a brother, a son and a grandfather. After all, we are all scientists; it is what we do for a living. And we just love it.
Veronica Toral-Granda is a PhD candidate with RIEL studying the link between human mobility and the arrival and spread of invasive species in the Galapagos Islands, Ecuador. Although born in the highlands of Ecuador – far away from the sea – she always wanted to be a marine biologist, have a PhD and retire as a writer. She was a marine biologist for 15 years while living in the Galapagos Islands where she studied the very charismatic and beautiful sea cucumbers. Currently based in Darwin with her husband Tom and two children Nina and Theo, Veronica is working hard to achieve her other two dreams. Veronica enjoys sipping a glass of wine while watching the amazing Top End sunsets.
