26
BAMOS
Dec 2018
Article
Women in STEMM leadership: lessons
from Antarctica
Melissa Hart
University of New South Wales
Email: [email protected]
As a woman in science I have become quite used to often
being the only woman in a meeting, or attending conferences
or workshops where the vast majority of keynote speakers are
men. I say I have become used to these situations, but I am
never actually comfortable in them. When you are the only
woman in the room, it is quite easy to feel like an impostor. And
the numbers don’t stack up; women are at parity with men in
under and postgraduate degrees, yet they make up less than
a quarter of university professors. In the AMOS disciplines I can
count easily on one hand the number of women at Professorial
level (a big congratulations to the recently promoted Professor
Katrin Meissner and Professor Moninya Roughan!). Biases
against women in science are both implicit and explicit. And
we all exhibit biases, regardless of our gender. A study found
that both men and women faculty ranked a job applicant called
“John” more competent, suitable for hire, and offered a higher
salary, than when the exact same application was labeled
“Jennifer”. Furthermore, woman postdoctoral applicants have
to publish at least three times as many papers in prestigious
journals to be judged as successful as male applicants.
Organisations that are diverse and equitable are often more
productive and innovative. Consider the loss of intellectual
capacity we experience by not involving women in an equitable
way, and by not elevating them to leadership positions.
So what can we do to redress this gender balance?
Women in STEMM (science, technology, engineering,
mathematics, medicine) leadership programs are one strategy.
I have recently completed the Homeward Bound Women in
STEMM leadership program. Homeward Bound has a long-
term goal to build and support, over the next 10 years, a
global network of 1000 women focusing on the leadership and
strategy required to contribute towards a more sustainable
future. Each year’s cohort undertakes a year-long program to
develop leadership, strategic and communication capabilities,
culminating in a 3-week voyage to Antarctica. Antarctica is
chosen as the backdrop is it provides a perfect location for an
introspective program, does not belong to any one country,
and prior to the 1960s many countries did not allow women
scientists to travel there. Homeward Bound is creating the
largest ever all women expeditions to Antarctica.
I was one of 78 women, from 23 countries, selected via a
globally competitive process, to join the program’s 2nd cohort.
The women came from all sectors of STEMM, and consisted
of one-third early career, one-third mid-career, and one-third
senior STEMM professionals. Fellow AMOS member Johanna
Spiers was selected to the first cohort of Homeward Bound.