HOW A CONFIDENT MINDSET CAN HELP BREAK GENDER STEREOTYPES
By Guest Blogger Devon Harper
When I was at school science was the subject I found particularly difficult to understand. After my first year of secondary school, when asked by my form tutor which my least favourite subject was my answer was science. In time, I became more and more fascinated by what I didn’t understand and by the age of fourteen my dream was to study Natural Sciences at University.
I celebrated my 17th birthday at the University of Cambridge on a Headstart course run by the EDT. I was hoping this would reinforce my course choice before I applied; it did not only that but introduced me to the Year in Industry scheme. Often bored by sitting in a classroom learning all day, I wanted the chance to see science in the real world. I spent an eye-opening year working for the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) in Porton Down, Wiltshire. The year showed me all of the amazing opportunities there are working in science and convinced me that my ideal career would be in scientific research. I spent weeks up in Cumbria on outdoor trials, valuable time learning elements of computer programming (which I’ve always tried to learn more of since), I spent a week in Lincoln being driven around a dirt road and walking in some lovely parks and I even spent a few weeks collecting webs from spiders. I left with a renewed sense of enthusiasm and a scholarship, which meant I’d have guaranteed employment in my University summer breaks.
I was offered a place on my dream course at my first choice University, the University of East Anglia in Norwich. I was to spend the next four years studying my choice of combination of various mathematics, physics and chemistry modules. While my course was made of up primarily females, mostly studying a combinations involving biology, my first day took me by surprise when I attended a ‘Welcome to Mathematics’ introduction talk. Looking around a hall that could seat over a hundred students, I was one of only a handful of girls and I wasn’t the only student to notice. Perhaps my experience until then had been unusual, I wasn’t the only girl among my close friends to have gone on to study STEM subjects at University, with others studying Medicine and Chemical and Nuclear Engineering. My Porton Down Year in Industry cohort had almost a 50:50 gender split. Even my fast-tracked GSCE Maths class had an equal gender split.
While I made lots of friends from my course I struggled to make friends in my maths classes. I often felt intimidated by the large groups of ‘lads’ in lectures and felt like I was viewed as less intelligent because I was different. While others could be essentially invisible in large lectures, everyone knew my name and I was put on the spot more regularly due to it. One lecturer was rude enough to suggest I should switch courses to just maths because mathematicians who had studied some of my modules as electives had struggled and ‘if they couldn’t hack it why do you think you can?’ I happily ignored him and stuck to my supportive Natural Sciences friends bubble in my classes. Unfortunately I don’t feel like this changed until we received our end of year results. I couldn’t help but be insulted by the shocked faces when people found out I’d done well. In many cases, despite them studying more maths while I’d been splitting my time between three subjects, I’d managed to do just as well in my assessments, if not better. In a way that the men didn’t need to prove themselves I felt like I’d had to – but I had, and from then on I was treated like an equal by the other students.
This year I’m completing my final year of my integrated Masters in Natural Sciences, hoping to obtain a first class honours degree when I receive my results in a month or so. While I’ve been made to feel a lot more welcome and valued since my first year, in my Master’s mathematics class I was one of two females in a class of twenty-six students. It doesn’t surprise me that women are under-represented in applied mathematics research when the proportion of students I’ve experienced going on to study to Masters level is so low.
I returned to Dstl for two summers during University. My experiences with the company will be some I’ll never forget, and ultimately I credit my success while at University to my mentor within the company; he was not only inspiring but incredibly supportive. My love for research led to me considering PhD study post University. In my penultimate University summer I obtained a Research Experience Placement with the EnvEast Doctoral Training Partnership, funded by the National Environment Research Council. The idea was to give you a stronger idea of what PhD study would be like, I even got to attend an annual training week with their first year cohort. I absolutely loved it and started looking at the sort of projects available.
Unfortunately, while completing my second dissertation, I decided that this would be the wrong path for me. I’d seen an ugly, judgmental side to academia that I hadn’t experienced in a few years. I feared pursuing academic research could leave me feeling isolated, permanently stressed and overworked. My plans now are to find a job in data analysis or maybe working for an actuarial firm. With the experience I’ve gained through my Year in Industry placement and internships I’m hopeful that whatever I decide, companies will consider me to be a promising candidate. While others are panicking I’ve found that I’m incredibly excited by this process.
Women are never going to be well represented in STEM unless more women are encouraged to study STEM subjects. I have loved studying STEM at University and am looking forward to the options ahead, but was almost put off by dry, dull A-level syllabuses and having my curiosity stifled by ‘it’s not on the syllabus’. Fortunately, my Year in Industry showed me just how interesting and varied science jobs are. INWED showcases the variety of what can be done in STEM, how engineering encompasses a vast array of careers spanning the scientific spectrum - it’s not just engines and machines. It shows that you don’t have to be a tomboy to enjoy and succeed in these careers – there’s no reason for women to be underrepresented in these fields! It also shows the amazing work women are already doing in STEM.
Maybe I fell into science by accident, maybe had I have realised STEM is often dominated by men I’d have been put off and not considered it. That would’ve been a mistake. My career in science is just beginning but I’ve left University having had a chance to study such a wide variety of interesting fields – from Quantum Physics to Mathematical Biology to Environmental Modelling.
I celebrated my 17th birthday at the University of Cambridge on a Headstart course run by the EDT. I was hoping this would reinforce my course choice before I applied; it did not only that but introduced me to the Year in Industry scheme. Often bored by sitting in a classroom learning all day, I wanted the chance to see science in the real world. I spent an eye-opening year working for the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) in Porton Down, Wiltshire. The year showed me all of the amazing opportunities there are working in science and convinced me that my ideal career would be in scientific research. I spent weeks up in Cumbria on outdoor trials, valuable time learning elements of computer programming (which I’ve always tried to learn more of since), I spent a week in Lincoln being driven around a dirt road and walking in some lovely parks and I even spent a few weeks collecting webs from spiders. I left with a renewed sense of enthusiasm and a scholarship, which meant I’d have guaranteed employment in my University summer breaks.
I was offered a place on my dream course at my first choice University, the University of East Anglia in Norwich. I was to spend the next four years studying my choice of combination of various mathematics, physics and chemistry modules. While my course was made of up primarily females, mostly studying a combinations involving biology, my first day took me by surprise when I attended a ‘Welcome to Mathematics’ introduction talk. Looking around a hall that could seat over a hundred students, I was one of only a handful of girls and I wasn’t the only student to notice. Perhaps my experience until then had been unusual, I wasn’t the only girl among my close friends to have gone on to study STEM subjects at University, with others studying Medicine and Chemical and Nuclear Engineering. My Porton Down Year in Industry cohort had almost a 50:50 gender split. Even my fast-tracked GSCE Maths class had an equal gender split.
While I made lots of friends from my course I struggled to make friends in my maths classes. I often felt intimidated by the large groups of ‘lads’ in lectures and felt like I was viewed as less intelligent because I was different. While others could be essentially invisible in large lectures, everyone knew my name and I was put on the spot more regularly due to it. One lecturer was rude enough to suggest I should switch courses to just maths because mathematicians who had studied some of my modules as electives had struggled and ‘if they couldn’t hack it why do you think you can?’ I happily ignored him and stuck to my supportive Natural Sciences friends bubble in my classes. Unfortunately I don’t feel like this changed until we received our end of year results. I couldn’t help but be insulted by the shocked faces when people found out I’d done well. In many cases, despite them studying more maths while I’d been splitting my time between three subjects, I’d managed to do just as well in my assessments, if not better. In a way that the men didn’t need to prove themselves I felt like I’d had to – but I had, and from then on I was treated like an equal by the other students.
This year I’m completing my final year of my integrated Masters in Natural Sciences, hoping to obtain a first class honours degree when I receive my results in a month or so. While I’ve been made to feel a lot more welcome and valued since my first year, in my Master’s mathematics class I was one of two females in a class of twenty-six students. It doesn’t surprise me that women are under-represented in applied mathematics research when the proportion of students I’ve experienced going on to study to Masters level is so low.
I returned to Dstl for two summers during University. My experiences with the company will be some I’ll never forget, and ultimately I credit my success while at University to my mentor within the company; he was not only inspiring but incredibly supportive. My love for research led to me considering PhD study post University. In my penultimate University summer I obtained a Research Experience Placement with the EnvEast Doctoral Training Partnership, funded by the National Environment Research Council. The idea was to give you a stronger idea of what PhD study would be like, I even got to attend an annual training week with their first year cohort. I absolutely loved it and started looking at the sort of projects available.
Unfortunately, while completing my second dissertation, I decided that this would be the wrong path for me. I’d seen an ugly, judgmental side to academia that I hadn’t experienced in a few years. I feared pursuing academic research could leave me feeling isolated, permanently stressed and overworked. My plans now are to find a job in data analysis or maybe working for an actuarial firm. With the experience I’ve gained through my Year in Industry placement and internships I’m hopeful that whatever I decide, companies will consider me to be a promising candidate. While others are panicking I’ve found that I’m incredibly excited by this process.
Women are never going to be well represented in STEM unless more women are encouraged to study STEM subjects. I have loved studying STEM at University and am looking forward to the options ahead, but was almost put off by dry, dull A-level syllabuses and having my curiosity stifled by ‘it’s not on the syllabus’. Fortunately, my Year in Industry showed me just how interesting and varied science jobs are. INWED showcases the variety of what can be done in STEM, how engineering encompasses a vast array of careers spanning the scientific spectrum - it’s not just engines and machines. It shows that you don’t have to be a tomboy to enjoy and succeed in these careers – there’s no reason for women to be underrepresented in these fields! It also shows the amazing work women are already doing in STEM.
Maybe I fell into science by accident, maybe had I have realised STEM is often dominated by men I’d have been put off and not considered it. That would’ve been a mistake. My career in science is just beginning but I’ve left University having had a chance to study such a wide variety of interesting fields – from Quantum Physics to Mathematical Biology to Environmental Modelling.
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