Jean Balchin • Jan 15, 2018 •
Picture this: grey walls rising up on three sides of you as you sit, hunched over your schoolwork – a science worksheet repudiating the theory of evolution, using the Loch Ness Monster as an example for why Darwin was horrifically, inexcusably wrong. As you fill in the blanks, copying the answers from the pages of information in … Read More
Guest Work • Aug 29, 2017 •
By Isabelle Sin, Victoria University of Wellington Women are being paid less to do the same job as men, judging by the productivity of male and female employees. Our study found that women are paid 16% less for making a contribution of the same value to their employer. We used wage data and productivity data from the … Read More
Guest Work • Jul 13, 2016 •
By Merryn McKinnon, Australian National University There have been myriad promises made by the major political parties over the years focused on funding programs aimed at increasing the number of women pursuing careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). Although some of the policies do target disciplines where women are underrepresented, there seems to be very little acknowledgement … Read More
Siouxsie Wiles • Feb 18, 2016 •
My fellow sciblogger over on Open Parachute Ken Perrott has posted his thoughts on recent events involving prominent atheist Richard Dawkins, who was invited then disinvited to speak at a skeptics conference in the USA later this year. Basically, Dawkins was invited to speak at the Northeast Conference on Science & Skepticism (NECSS), then very publicly … Read More
Guest Work • Jan 29, 2016 •
Zuleyka Zevallos, Swinburne University of Technology The culture in astronomy, and in science more broadly, needs a major reboot following revelations early this year of another case of harassment against women by a senior male academic. The journal Science revealed earlier this month that the latest case involved Christian Ott, a professor of theoretical astrophysics at Caltech … Read More
Siouxsie Wiles • Dec 16, 2015 •
Science IS sexist. Fullstop. There is an abundance of evidence that it is more difficult for women working in science to get jobs, funding and published, just because they are women. So the question is, how are we going to fix the problem? Dr Nicola Gaston, Senior Lecturer in the School of Chemical and Physical Sciences at Victoria … Read More
Siouxsie Wiles • Jun 11, 2015 •
This week in science, another eminent old white guy dug himself into a hole. Here's my 2c on his non-apology and what the Royal Society and other such bodies should do about their biased and out of touch Fellows. Read More
Victoria Metcalf • Dec 09, 2014 •
Sexism is rife in academia and leads to many leaving academic careers. Last week I worked my last day as an academic at Lincoln University, the disestablishment of my position in the protracted restructuring process officially complete. It’s time for a new chapter in what has been a pretty ugly year. Now I start on an adventure into an … Read More
Victoria Metcalf • Nov 14, 2014 •
Welcome to a comet. Photo by European Space Agency taken by Philae. Philae may have bounced off the comet before landing, but it was the local media lack of focus on this event that had the real lack of thrust. This week has seen a truly epic event in human history. It’s an incredible week for space exploration and … Read More
- Wayne Linklater • Oct 31, 2014 •
Chances are you have heard it said: ‘Women care more about the environment’. Perhaps you have even heard someone say that ‘women are more environmentally aware’ or ‘women are more likely to act to protect the environment’? The idea appears to originate from the argument that women have a more substantive … Read More