Interesting Features at PWN for 6.22.15

News from the PWN Pipeline: 

'Women Cry When Criticized and Are a Romantic Distraction.'

Many of you have probably already heard of the discriminatory and sexist remarks recently made by Nobel Laureate biochemist Dr. Tim Hunt at a conference in South Korea. Dr. Hunt proclaimed that with women in the laboratory, either "you fall in love with them, they fall in love with you, and when you criticize them they cry." Though he eventually apologized, Dr. Hunt still stood by his comments and acknowledged that he is perceived as a chauvinist. These types of opinions and polemics, often dismissed as jest or a sense of humor 'gone awry', are microaggressions that hide true gender bias and sexist attitudes that can constrain the career growth of women in science. One of Britain's newspapers, the Independent, noted "with lab rats like him, is it any wonder there's a shortage of women in science."


'What It's Like As a 'Girl' In The Lab'

Sarah Clatterbuck Soper, a molecular biologist, penned an Op-Ed piece in the New York Times responding, in part, to the ignorant and inappropriate comments made by Dr. Tim Hunt and also to emphasize the importance of high-quality mentorship of female scientists. Dr. Soper indicates that gender bias related to scientific training is frequently present in labs led by male scientists, resulting in fewer female scientists receiving critical training, but that gender bias is absent in top labs led by female scientists. Receiving high-quality mentorship and training in the lab by either male or female principal investigators and lab leaders will facilitate a greater likelihood for stronger career outcomes.