What does Gender and Diversity have to do with Physics? Tomas Brage Professor in Physics Lund university, Sweden and Member of stearing group for LERU PG-EDI I Scientist, September 16, 2020
Explanation This is a pdf of my slides and added is a slide on suppressions techniques. In the reference list is marked with yellow a reference to this – I will be happy to send the book in pdf to anyone. Best wishes Tomas I Scientist, September 16, 2020
Start-up question Which description represents best your experience of Science and how it is practiced? 1. Both the knowledge and practices are based on truth and evidence, without human bias – it is not affected by the characteristics of the Scientist. 2. The content of Science, the knowledge, is not affected by the characteristics, but our methods and how we do things are. 3. Both the content and the practices are affected by the characteristics of the Scientists. I Scientist, September 16, 2020
The Positivistic Paradox in Physics: Physics is considered to be objective – not affected by the sex or gender or … of the people involved (researcher, teacher, student …) … but …. Culture of Physics is affected by sex, gender, … - Class-rooms, labs, history, board rooms are almost always dominated by white men … seems like a contradiction … I Scientist, September 16, 2020
Physics and Gender? The Physicist looks out in the universe and wonders why there is only matter and no antimatter. Where did the antimatter go? Is one of the most prestigious questions in Physics and the subject of thorough research . The Physicist looks out over the classroom or lab and notes that it is dominated by men. Where did the women and minorities go? Is often a non-question for Physicist and sometimes answered without scientific method . I Scientist, September 16, 2020
Basic model – Levels of Change Londa Schiebinger, Stanford University 1. Numbers 2. Culture Gender awareness 3. Subject Gender perspective I Scientist, September 16, 2020
Inclusive Answers resistance teaching Number: Segregation Culture: Culture: Culture: Discrimination Stereotypes/ Bias and Hercules Meritocracy Subject: GRI End I Scientist, September 16, 2020
Level 1: Numbers – proof of segregation I Scientist, September 16, 2020
Numbers – Horisontal segregation of Science in Lund % women among students 70,0% 60,0% 50,0% 40,0% 30,0% 20,0% 10,0% 0,0% I Scientist, September 16, 2020
Chemistry Numbers - The scissors diagram % Physics Vertical segregation 100 90 80 70 % 60 females 50 males 40 30 20 10 0 students PhD post-doc lecturers professors I Scientist, September 16, 2020
The ratio of men PhD’s to women PhD’s chance to become a Professor. 6 Biology Mens chance/womens chance 5 4 Physics Science Faculty 3 Maths Geo/Env. Chemistry 2 1 0 25% 30% 35% 40% 45% 50% 55% Percentage women among PhDs I Scientist, September 16, 2020
Flexible cascade model - Science Faculty in Lund % women 45% 40% 35% 30% 25% 20% 15% ? 10% 5% 0% Phd Phd>Asst Asst prof Asst>Assoc Assoc prof Assoc>prof professor I Scientist, September 16, 2020
Vertical segregation explanations From the leaky pipeline … …. to the vanish box … or diverse pipelines Etzkowitz and Ranga 2011 Ong et al 2017 and the Harvard project 13 I Scientist, September 16, 2020
Actions against horisontal segregation It is not about ”fixing the women” – but: 1. Rethink how we describe, define, apply ... Science 2. Find areas with qualified women first – then open a position I Scientist, September 16, 2020
Actions agains vertical segregation: 1. Simple action: Set cascade goals – they show if you exclude women 2. From traditional mentorsprogram (learn ”the trick of the trade”) to mentoring for change and analyse sponsoring ( de Vries et al. 2011 and 2012) I Scientist, September 16, 2020
Or at least: 3. Simple action: Ask ”minorities” to apply! I Scientist, September 16, 2020
Inclusive Answers resistance teaching Number: Segregation Culture: Culture: Culture: Discrimination Stereotypes/ Bias and Hercules Meritocracy Subject: GRI End I Scientist, September 16, 2020
Level 2: ”Culture” I Scientist, September 16, 2020
The Culture of Physics From culture-without-culture to Hercules to Effortless Excellence Antropology – a classic : Sharon Traweek – Beamtimes and Lifetimes – A culture without culture – what is male, defines excellence Later studies: The damgerous myth of objectivity - makes us more subjective! I Scientist, September 16, 2020
Culture - Sociology: Hasse and Trentemoller: UPGEM-project (2008) What is the percentage of women among Physics professors? Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Italy, Poland 1. Denmark Questions for the audience: 2. Estonia 3. Finland 4. Italy Which has the largest percentage? 5. Poland Which has the smallest percentage? I Scientist, September 16, 2020
Culture - Sociology: Hasse and Trentemoller: UPGEM-project (2008) What is the percentage of women among Physics professors? Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Italy, Poland Denmark – 3% Estonia – 11% Finland – 12% Poland – 14% Italy – 23% I Scientist, September 16, 2020
It is not the culture of the society …….. It is the culture of Physics! Three cultures ”discovered”: 1. Hercules-culture – the fighter’s culture Denmark – 3% 2. Care taker-culture – the social culture Estonia – 11% Finland – 12% 3. Working bee-culture – the industrious culture Poland – 14% Italy – 23% I Scientist, September 16, 2020
Hercules: Oh yes, there is a lot of competition. This whole process is extremely competitive. The case that the department needs to make to the university is that I am not only good enough for the job, but I am the best person in the world for this job. Care-taker: There’s always a team behind a genius. (...) Good teamwork always brings the best results, but of course, not everyone is lucky enough to find a good group to work with. Sometimes when there are very competitive people, it is difficult to form a group.. Working bee: But in this respect, for us not to show ourselves too much and do no crazy things, we had to sit quiet and pretend we were not there I Scientist, September 16, 2020
Investigation of five countries: Denmark, Finland, Estonia, Poland and Italy What culture defines Physics departments in the different countries? Denmark – 3% - Hercules Estonia – 11% - Working bee Poland – 14% - Working bee Italy – 23% - Care-taker Finland –12% - not a clear culture Remember: It is the perception of the culture, but ..... is it really the culture of Physics? ..... what does Hercules do to minoritized groups? I Scientist, September 16, 2020
Does Meritocracy work? Nielsen (2015) Nature 525 427 – Studie vid Aarhus universitet 2004-2013 Appointment of Professors and Lecturers: o 20% closed (30% later years) o 40% only one applicant Women part of appointed professors: o Closed: 12% o Open: 23% Similar results from Netherlands and Finland Van den Brink (2010) and Husu (2000) I Scientist, September 16, 2020
Meritocracy and Equality? Nielsen (2015) Nature 525 427 – Studie vid Aarhus universitet 2004-2013 If meritocracy worked, then ”The university would be a realm of the justly unequal” Contradiction! Bias and non-objectivity destroys meritocracy which is emphasized by ”procedures” I Scientist, September 16, 2020
We focus on strong individuals … But diversity exists in teams! ... And diversity gives quality! R. B. Freeman and W. Huang, Nature News 513 , 305 (2014): Collaboration: Strength in diversity M. W. Nielsen et al., Nature, human behaviour 2 726 Making gender diversity work for scientific discovery and innovation K. Powell, Nature 558 , 19 (2018): These labs are remarkably diverse – here ´ s why they’re winning in science. Being inclusive gives research groups a competitive edge. It also happens to be the right thing to do I Scientist, September 16, 2020
… and if you don’t like Nature ... M. W. Nielsen et al., PNAS 114, 1740 (2017) Opinion: Gender diversity leads to better science Stewart and Valian 2018, An Inclusive Academy: Achieving Diversity and Excellence, MIT press, Cambridge, USA I Scientist, September 16, 2020
Myth of effort-less success? FACTS: boys and girls/men and women are equally • interested in methods, but in different applications/fields • enthusiastic about Physics, but something happens later … CONCLUSION: It is not only about recruitment • Identities are not static – neither of people nor subjects • Some identities causes friction – renegotiations! • Specific problem: “The myth of effort-less success” o Background – school and preparation o Choice of examples – sports, machines, superheroes … o Self-confidence contra anxiety – who belongs? I Scientist, September 16, 2020
Actions to improve culture: 1. Follow the discussion on EU -level. (LERU- advice paper on diversity, 2019) 2. Team -building for diversity. 3. Question the myth of the single, strong, often male, Scientist that does Physics effortlessly. I Scientist, September 16, 2020
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