Week 2 - Discussion TIME
It's really difficult to find pictures of female scientists (especially from the past) since their work was not recognised and without a clear image of them this action was easier.
So, it's important to e.g., interview female scientists in order to disseminate a positive message for young girls who wants to study in STEM field
So, it's important to e.g., interview female scientists in order to disseminate a positive message for young girls who wants to study in STEM field
i completely agree!!!
Especially for the scientist visuals, even though there are well-known female scientists such as Marie Curie, the first person that comes in mind is Albert Einstein. The STEM field is affected by this public figure image and to raise awareness for this issue, creating more female-led visuals for advertisements for STEM institutions can be encouraging for those who want to study.
I found it interesting to see the bias in the pictures when searching for specific terms, such as "sexist", it then showed me three visualisations of pigs covered in the American flag.
it is difficult to find female photos in the search. The worst is technician, I clould find only one photo with two technicians (female and male together) at the very bottom on the page. Engineer is better but Scientist is the best in those three main topics. But the best scientist is not in the first two page, after third and fourth.
I believe the issue of time allocation should also be considered. Many times, women tend to spend more time than men on caring for and educating children in the family, which, to some extent, delays the time they can allocate to their own career
I can relate to this. It is indeed very challenging for a mother to balance both family and career, as it requires a great deal of time and energy. I have to admit that when men establish a family, the distribution of certain roles and responsibilities often tends to focus more on economic and career-related tasks. This is also related to how household tasks and responsibilities are divided. Regardless of gender, everyone has their own strengths in different areas. What matters most is the inner satisfaction and fulfillment derived from the work one is responsible for and the achievements one can attain.
I completely agree, Lin Lin, that the economic considerations have an outsized impact on how families (new and experienced) deal with the family/career balance. I find it slightly disturbing when there are asymmetrical efforts in mothers, fathers, etc. "optimizing" their workflow, i.e. transferring the overall work responsibility to the individual, versus efforts to adjust administrative, managerial and work expectations to acknowledge the realities of being a parent, and the realities of being a parent - and specifically a mother - today. There is good research that highlights these issues, e.g. for mothers (https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0146989) as well as grandmothers (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S001429212400271X?ref=pdf_download&fr=RR-9&rr=8fe363fc3949ebd2), that should be a reason to pause and consider not just the effects of professional and societal expectations on individuals, but how to address the individuals in institutions who fail to take this into account.
This activity made me realize how stereotypes influence our perceptions of STEM professions. Many images and descriptions reinforce the idea that scientists work alone in labs, engineers are mostly men, and technicians perform only hands-on work. However, in reality, these professions are diverse and include people of all genders in various roles.
It’s important to challenge these biases to encourage more inclusivity in STEM fields. By broadening the representation of these careers, we can inspire more people—especially women and underrepresented groups—to pursue them.
It’s important to challenge these biases to encourage more inclusivity in STEM fields. By broadening the representation of these careers, we can inspire more people—especially women and underrepresented groups—to pursue them.
While searching for generic pictures of scientists, engineers and technicians it's really hard to come across female figures and I think that that's not only a product of stereotypes and biases, but it's also a promoter of those, since the internet is now one of the most used and powerful tools for learning.
The exercise I conducted involved searching for images. For "engineers,"out of the first 10 images, only two featured women, and in both cases, they were accompanied by a male engineer. For "technicians," the ratio was 7 men to 3 women. For "scientists," it was slightly more balanced: 6 men and 4 women.
Still, there is a clear bias in how STEM roles are visually represented, especially regarding women in the field.
Still, there is a clear bias in how STEM roles are visually represented, especially regarding women in the field.
It’s important to challenge these biases to encourage more inclusivity in STEM fields.