Archive by category | Gender

How outreach blends my worlds as a scientist and mom

Posted by Subhra Priyadarshini | Categories: , , ,

Karishma with son

My phone pinged in the middle of the session. It was a message from my almost 10-year-old son. “Spelling mistake in slide 36. Instead of 1st you wrote ist” – the message read. I chuckled. Here I was, conducting a summer science quiz for children and their families across India, and getting instant feedback from the next room in the house. This was a heart-warming moment. It effortlessly represented how in a pandemic-stricken year, science outreach bridged my worlds as a scientist and a mother.  Read more

Being rocket woman

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The Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle of the Indian Space Research Organisation, which carried the Mars Orbiter Mission satellite Mangalyaan. The payload included instruments developed by Dutta and her team.

Physicist Moumita Dutta from the Indian Space Research Organisation’s Space Applications Centre in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, was part of the team that put a probe into Mars orbit in 2014.  In an interview with Elizabeth Gibney, a senior reporter for Nature based in London, she talks about the lure of optics, the challenge of crafting super-light sensors, and the rise in Indian women entering space science.  Read more

Women scientists on what plagues their growth

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Women scientists on what plagues their growth

On Women’s Day this March 8, when social media was going berserk with messages celebrating the ‘beauty, grace and sacrifice’ of women, a bunch of feisty women scientists were talking shop at the Indian National Science Academy (INSA) in the heart of Delhi.  Read more

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Women in science: Leak in the pipeline

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Many factors compel women to drop off the research radar.

A new study by UNESCO outlining the involvement of women in science has some stark figures for India. The Unesco Institute for Statistics (UIS) has put together an interactive infographic on women in science to highlight the global gender gap in higher education and scientific research. They aptly call it the “leaky pipeline”.  Read more

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Hail women in science

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Hail women in science

I have heard women scientists across the world rant (with reason) about the oppressive policies of labs that stifle their growth. We have had very interesting discussions on the Nature India forum regarding gender issues in science. And, of course, about the sops that governments promise to make things better for women but don’t deliver. Spurred by such inaction, Vineeta Bal, a member of the Indian government’s task force for women in science, wrote a forceful commentary on Nature India recently outlining what needs to be done immediately to turn things around for our lab ladies.  Read more