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Home › Topics › Women Life Scientists as Entrepreneurs › Tackling Bias and Barriers for Women in Life Sciences and Business

Tips

Countering Unfair Treatment

Topics Women Life Scientists as Entrepreneurs Tackling Bias and Barriers for Women in Life Sciences and Business Countering Unfair Treatment

The following are ways to help counter the effects of bias and unfair treatment that women scientists still face at times.

Tips

  1. Adopt allies: Your colleagues, both male and female, can be enlisted to help counteract conscious and unconscious bias against women in life science. Ask them to. . .
    • Refrain from being on a panel that is predominantly male when that does not reflect the organization’s membership.
    • Sponsor a woman for a job.
    • Be vocally supportive when a woman offers a good idea that is met with silence.
  2. Talk with a participant who routinely talks over women more than men in meetings.
  3. Ask funding agencies to set aside some funds for women-led businesses.
  4. Stay in touch with your female colleagues when you move to a new position. Periodically meet with them to practice pitches, prepare for job interviews, and read each other’s papers and grant proposals.

How Can You Address Unfair Treatment of Women Scientists? Our 2019 Focus Group Results

Many women scientists we talked with have experienced unfair treatment. Two common themes were being taken advantage of in sharing the workload and not being given credit for their work.

Some women said they find themselves doing more of the foundational work that does not lead to recognition or advancement. They cautioned that a personal style of being too nice can work against you.

Other women found they were looked at unfavorably when they pointed out that they were not being given credit for their work. In these discussions, we heard the following ideas on how to communicate your contribution without looking petty:

  • Being proactive and letting bosses know your accomplishments before someone can take credit was the most favored approach. To help ensure you are given appropriate credit in a publication, talk about authorship early during collaborations.
  • When someone takes credit for your work in a meeting, try agreeing that you are also proud of the accomplishment and describe your role in terms of the impact or benefit for the company.
    • For example, “I agree this was an accomplishment. I enjoyed [describe your contribution]. I’m glad (or proud) that we[describe the impact on the company].”
Poll
How much of a problem have you had in recent years with your science ideas being dismissed or not taken seriously?

Resource

Picture a Scientist – A film that chronicles experiences of women scientists from harassment to subtle slights, with insights on how to make science “more diverse, equitable, and open to all.”

By Sharon Shattuck & Ian Cheney, Uprising Production with Wonder Collaborative



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Topic Home Expand All
Overview
5 Articles
Few Women Start Life Science Businesses, but Numbers Are Growing
What Is a Women-Owned Business Certification? What Are the Benefits?
Case Example: Sasha Thomas, PhD and Entrepreneur
Groups Supporting Women in Science, Business, and Entrepreneurship
Business Success Stories from Women Life Scientists
Tackling Bias and Barriers for Women in Life Sciences and Business
5 Articles
Barriers, Bias, and Unfair Treatment
Gender Disparities in Research Funding
Countering Unfair Treatment
Ideas for Addressing Bias and Barriers
Discussion Group: Women Scientists on Barriers, Bias, and Unfair Treatment
Return to Women Life Scientists as Entrepreneurs

This project is funded by National Institute of General Medical Sciences (Grants 1R43 GM131458-01 & 2R GM131458-02)


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