Suffrage 125

Embracing Mātauranga Māori and science – Suffrage 125

Guest Author • Sep 20, 2018

• freshwater ecology,
• mātauranga māori,
• women in science

Yvonne Taura When I was young and growing up in Australia, becoming a scientist was far from my ideal career path. I shied away from anything to do with science, physics, or mathematics as the room was always filled with boys – and, to be honest, it was all a little intimidating. Instead, I moved more towards the creative … Read More

Science role models outside the box – Suffrage 125

Guest Author • Sep 20, 2018

• role models,
• Science

Stacey Bryan Where I grew up it’s more common to see someone riding their horse down the main street than someone in a lab coat. It’s a place full of kind-hearted people, who fill their pantries by swapping eggs for avocados and who regularly take long walks on the beach, just because they can. It’s also a place where, … Read More

NZ behind on paid parental leave – Suffrage 125

Guest Author • Sep 19, 2018

• academia,
• equity,
• parental leave,
• Suffrage

Dr Frederique Vanholsbeeck What’s more important the right to vote or paid parental leave? I would argue that we need both to achieve equality and that New Zealand is miles behind in term of “properly” paid parental leave. I came to New Zealand from Belgium in 2003 after choosing carefully a country where I would live and learn to speak … Read More

To all Women in Science, thank you for kicking science’s arse! – Suffrage 125

Guest Author • Sep 19, 2018

• Māori women in science,
• Suffrage,
• women in science

Dr Melanie Cheung I’ve been reflecting on the powerful articles celebrating women that I have read this week. Today is the 125th anniversary of women getting the vote in Aotearoa, and it feels like we have come a long way since then.  Dr Melanie Cheung, supplied. Any women working in a male-dominated field also realise that we still have … Read More

A woman’s touch: Where are the evolutionary studies of female animals? – Suffrage 125

Guest Author • Sep 19, 2018

• animal behaviour,
• sexual selection,
• unconscious bias

Dr Leilani Walker Back in 2015 I attended a talk by Lloyd Spencer Davis who was promoting his new book Professor Penguin: Discovery and Adventure With Penguins. One of the stories he told was that of biologist George Murray Levick, medical officer on Captain Scott’s ill-fated Terra Nova expedition to the South Pole in 1910. As a consequence … Read More

Advancing women in science by building ladders – Suffrage 125

Guest Author • Sep 18, 2018

• mentor,
• Suffrage,
• women in science

Dr Siân Halcrow My work and success in science were, in large part, made possible through the ladders that people made and helped me to climb. Most important on this journey was my academic mentor, who was my PhD supervisor and postdoctoral mentor. My mentor built up a positive research group by helping her students and staff up the … Read More

The superpowers of successful women in STEM – Suffrage 125

Guest Author • Sep 18, 2018

• role models,
• STEM,
• women in science

Bridget Burdett My PhD oral defence is in nine days, four hours and 31 minutes. I have an app on my phone telling me so. The work is done and it’s nearly all over… a wonderfully surreal time for a learning-obsessed person like me, and a good time to reflect. Here I’ll share my current ideas on what success means … Read More

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Hidden star stories – Suffrage 125

Guest Author • Sep 18, 2018

• astrophysics,
• Beatrice Tinsley,
• gender,
• history of science

Dr JJ Eldridge Writing this article and contributing to this series comes at a strange time for me. While I was assigned male at birth I have struggled with my gender for a long time. It has become apparent to me that I am transgender; my sex assigned at birth does not match my gender identity, which I … Read More

We have always sailed – Suffrage 125

Guest Author • Sep 17, 2018

• astrobiology,
• marine research,
• Suffrage,
• women in science

Dr Lucy Stewart As writer Kameron Hurley once said regarding women in the military, “We have always fought” – women have always been involved in field research, including at sea. Aotearoa was named by Kuramārōtini, a woman on a long ocean voyage. Early research expeditions by Europeans relied heavily on indigenous women such as Sacagawea … Read More

Suffrage 125: a series

Sarah-Jane O'Connor • Sep 17, 2018

• gender bias,
• Kate Sheppard,
• Suffrage,
• women in science

Please don’t do the math, but I was eight in 1993 when New Zealand celebrated 100 years since Suffrage. My mum the history teacher made sure we understood when major world events were going on. I remember her pointing out the Rwandan refugee crisis on TV, telling us it would matter later that we remembered this. Read More