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Monthly Archives: March 2018
Depression and anxiety are common among graduate students
A study assessing the mental health of 2,279 PhD and master’s students from around the world has brought new attention to a pressing issue: For many, the pursuit of an advanced degree takes an emotional toll, as reported online on 6 March in Nature Biotechnology.
Where are the female first and last authors?
Women remain under-represented in many areas of science, but they are especially scarce in the pages of high-impact journals, according to an analysis published online 2 March in bioRxiv.
Researchers at the University of Washington in Seattle gathered names of first and last authors from papers published from 2005-2017 in 15 major science and neuroscience journals, including Nature, Science, PNAS, Nature Neuroscience and Neuropsychology Review. Nearly 10% of the names were excluded because they were relatively gender neutral, but the rest told a clear story: In these journals, authorship is a male-dominated enterprise.
For example, women accounted for roughly 25% of all first authors in Nature and Science and just over 35% of first authors in PNAS. Female first authors outnumbered men in only one journal, Neuropsychology Review, but just barely (53% vs 47%). Women made up an even smaller proportion of senior (or last) author spots, ranging from about 15% in Nature and Science to just under 40% in Neuropsychology Review.
The study found an inverse relationship between the prevalence of female authors and the impact factor of the journal—the higher the impact, the lower the chances that a woman was involved. Because publication in high-impact journals is so crucial for a scientific career, any gender gap could have serious consequences, says Ione Fine, a neuroscientist and co-author of the study. “If you aren’t published in high-impact journals, you don’t get awards or jobs,” she says. “It becomes a cascade of events.”
The scarcity of women in journals doesn’t simply reflect a lack of women doing high-quality science, Fine says. The study notes that roughly 30% of prestigious R01 grants from the US National Institutes of Health go to women. But in almost all of the journals studied, the percentage of women in senior author spots falls below that mark, a sign that the gender disparity in authorship exceeds disparities in other measures of academic excellence and productivity. “That’s the smoking gun that we have a real problem here,” she says.
Subtle biases by reviewers may make it harder for women to get published, Fine says. But she notes that women themselves may be contributing to the gender gap through a reluctance to submit to top-tier journals. “My feeling is that women are self-censoring because it’s just a more brutal process for them,” she says. “I know my male colleagues submit papers that I wouldn’t submit, and they seem to do just fine.”
Fine and colleagues call for all journals to keep statistics on papers submitted by women and minorities. They also suggest that journals could greatly reduce the possibility of bias by adopting mandatory double-blind reviews, a system in which the reviewer doesn’t know the identity—or the gender—of the study’s authors. Nature and other journals provide double-blind reviews on request, but Fine says that practice won’t protect women from bias. If an author requests double-blind review, she says, the reviewer is likely to assume that the request came from a female researcher, thus defeating the purpose.
In response, Nature Research, the parent organisation of Nature, issued a statement that read, in part: “Nature Research is committed to gender equality and our journals strive to support women in science.” The company says that it does not ask submitters to indicate gender, so it doesn’t systematically track gender statistics. It also says that it will “continue to assess the merits” of mandatory and voluntary double-blind reviews.
A 2017 Nature editorial noted that the journal has made slow progress in other areas of gender equality. For example, women accounted for just over 20% of reviewers in 2015, a small improvement over previous years. In 2013, 13% of reviewers were women. But Fine says that hiring more female reviewers won’t necessarily close the publication gap. “Women can be biased too,” she says.
Chris Woolston is a freelance writer in Billings, Montana.
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A term at the museum
Volunteering in a museum can be a great platform to expand communication skills and apply scientific knowledge, says Andy Tay
Earlier last year, I attended the Week of International Scientific Talent in Paris, and found that museums can be excellent platforms for scientists eager to apply scientific knowledge outside of their labs. Curious to learn more about this avenue of science communication, I was pleasantly surprised to discover that there is growing interest in applying scientific concepts to museum settings.
Sketch Town; one of the exhibits at MAAS Sydney {credit}Reproduced courtesy of teamLab{credit}
One example that has captured wide attention is the use of fragrance in the Peabody Essex Museum (mentioned by Nature here) to provide visitors with a multi-sensory (including sight, hearing, touch and smell) museum experience. Nature also recently ran a feature on scientists-turned-curators. One step led to the other and soon, I found myself applying for and receiving the Visiting Research Fellowship by the Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences (MAAS Sydney), in Australia.
Link between science and museum
At MAAS, my research focused on the exhibit ‘teamLab Future Park’, which used various stimuli such as lights, sound and touch to stimulate the senses of visitors. Capitalizing on this, I investigated how concepts in sensory neuroscience can be applied to improve visitors’ experience. In my research, I explored the idea of homeostasis (whether excessive sensory stimuli diminish the value of a museum experience) and adaptation (whether visitors get bored of interacting with exhibits in the same way). Beyond my research findings, I developed some useful communication tips that might be helpful to other scientists in their own outreach.
Consider others’ attention span
I’ve been involved in science communication for some time now, but this was the first opportunity to work face-to-face with people. With writing and other communication work, I’ve had the time to prepare everything meticulously. Not this time, especially because Future Park — by design — has a whole lot of distractions. I was forced into trying to engage children who were busy playing in the exhibits, and trying to engage adults who were concerned about the whereabouts and safety of their children. This trained me to speak quickly and clearly — and learn where I needed to improve. Considering others’ attention span is crucial.
Integrate different tools to help you communicate
During my fellowship, I explored the concept of adaptation — whether museum visitors would be bored interacting with museum exhibits in the same way. The most popular exhibits were all identical in terms of how visitors used them — in each, we asked people to color a drawing, scan it, and take a look at a 3D representation of their work. Cool for the first time you see it, but perhaps less novel the time after.
The majority (70%) of the respondents felt that Future Park was highly engaging but about 20% of the respondents suggested that their experience would be better had there been more variety in the activities.
This finding was a surprise to me — most of the visitors were there for the first time and already felt that there could be more varied activities. This finding confirmed my belief that there is value in diversifying the ways I communicate science in writing, drawing, infographics and videos. It also reminded me that it helps to integrate different tools into my presentations to engage my audience. In the past, I’ve shown my audience bits and pieces from my research lab during presentations, for example.
In a few weeks’ time, I will be volunteering in a community college with an infographic on my current research project. The museum experience has inspired me to develop ideas to incorporate hands-on interactions to help students learn about my research.
Light Ball Orchestra; another exhibit{credit}Photo: Leïla Berney. Reproduced courtesy of the Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences.{/credit}
Museum work
If you’re interested in museum work, there are a variety of internship and fellowship opportunities. The Smithsonian Institute offers a range of fellowships for scholars with different expertise including genomics, medicine and chemistry. The National University of Singapore Museum offers internship positions for students interested in programming, marketing and design. Universcience Paris (Cité des sciences), the largest European science museum, also offers ad-hoc positions.
As many museums operate on a tight budget, they might not be able to offer any stipends for internships. If you are truly curious about this industry, I would advise you to find a museum near your city to gain working experience first. Even if the museum might not explicitly advertise any opening, it doesn’t hurt to email a museum representative and the specific curator for volunteering opportunities. This exposure will come in handy when you apply for fellowships to work in larger, better equipped museums in the future.
Andy is a postdoctoral scholar in the Department of Materials Sciences and Engineering at Stanford University.
His research focuses on nanotechnology and stem cell differentiation. In his free time, Andy enjoys using the gym and reading.
Andy is grateful for financial support from Endeavour Research Fellowship during his stay in Sydney and MAAS for hosting his research project and providing the images in this article.
You can find Andy on LinkedIn and Google Scholar.
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Lab conflict and how to address it
Conflict is a fact of life. Scientists should find ways to manage it in the lab, says Benjamin Tsang
Rozanna Meijboom on MRC/NIH partnerships in brain imaging research
Rozanna Meijboom is one of three early career scientists to receive a new UK Medical Research Council (MRC) award to partner labs undertaking similar research at the US National Institutes of Health.
She talks about her forthcoming trip to the US, where she will spend time with the team led by neurologist and neuroradiologist Daniel Reich.
Applications for the 2018/19 neurodegeneration awards are are now open. The closing date is 5 April 2018.
The awards, which are funded by the UK Department of Business Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), also involves participation in a symposium at the NIH campus in Bethesda, Maryland.
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Celebrating International Women’s Day 2018: A Naturejobs roundup
Whilst young scientists working in academia today might face huge problems, women within that group face larger problems still, many of which we cover across Naturejobs. To mark International Women’s Day 2018, here’s some of our coverage of women in science and the hurdles they face.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rdfqXdibc0k
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Coming to the US for a postdoc? – If I had known, part II
Is moving to the US for a postdoc worth it? Elena Blanco-Suárez shares her tips on how to make the best decision for you.
Like many other European researchers, I moved to the US for my postdoc. While some stay in the US, and others return to Europe after their postdocs, I’m almost certain that anyone who has followed this path will have encountered a few shocks along the way. Choosing the right fit for your postdoctoral training is just as important as choosing the right lab for your PhD. Based on my experiences, here is a list of the things that I think are worth checking in advance to avoid thinking “I wish I had known” too often.
When conferences collide with family needs
As a busy scientist with two young children, one of Rebecca Calisi’s most vexing challenges is figuring out how to attend scientific conferences without a huge disruption in family life. Bringing children to conferences is an option, but not all are especially welcoming to the needs of families, especially to mothers with young children.
Rebecca and her daughter at the annual conference for the Animal Behavior Society at the University of Colorado in 2013
Calisi, a behavioural neuroscientist at the University of California, Davis, and a group of 45 other scientist-parents, have turned their frustrations into a call for action. In a paper published online Monday in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the researchers detail the shortcomings of past conferences and offer a blueprint for making conferences more welcoming and accessible to parents of young children.
By not providing accommodations for children, Calisi says, conferences can unintentionally create barriers that exclude large swaths of scientists—especially early-career scientist-mothers who may not be able to afford childcare. “One part of promoting diversity is supporting women with children,” Calisi says. “If institutions say they want to support diversity, they should put their money where there mouth is.”
In the paper, Calisi and co-authors suggest that conferences could fund on-site childcare services, lactation rooms and other amenities by asking for voluntary donations during registration. Exhibitors who make a donation could receive a sign or emblem that show their support. “I guarantee you they would get more foot traffic,” Calisi tells Nature. The paper also calls for all conferences to clearly state that parents are allowed to bring babies to talks and poster sessions. For now, she says, rules about children seem to change from conference to conference and even from hour to hour. She notes that researchers with babies were recently turned away from a poster session at a large conference even though the official policy permitted children in the exhibit area.
A practical, comfortable space for breastfeeding or pumping breast milk is an especially important accommodation, Calisi says. “A lactation room tells you a lot about how much a [scientific] society values women,” she says. In November, she turned to Twitter to complain about the facilities at the Society for Neuroscience (SfN) annual meeting, held last year in Washington DC. Within hours of that tweet, the society provided more comfortable lounge chairs for mothers. “It’s not that the society was anti-women,” she says. “They just didn’t know.”
SfN, for its part, aims to become more inclusive. “The society is actively exploring ways to continue to enhance the spaces for nursing mothers in San Diego [California] this year and at SfN’s future meetings,” says society spokesperson Kara Flynn in a statement to Nature. She adds that the society is committed to “fostering a welcome and diverse community in which all scientists are able to contribute fully.”
Some conferences are already parent-friendly, Calisi says. She recently attended the annual meeting of the American Academy for the Advancement in Science in Austin, Texas, where the lactation room was comfortable and easily accessible. “I gave them two thumbs up,” she says.
Chris Woolston is a freelance writer in Billings, Montana.
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