This week's picks

I'm sure a lot of us have done animal research (I'm still in the thick of it). Utilizing animals in research allows for us to model various pathologies observed in humans and help answer questions we wouldn't be able to answer using human subjects alone. But there's a major problem -- a lot of this research is being done primarily in male laboratory animals. Why is this a problem? Well, males and females can experience health issues differently -- so results from experiments utilizing only male subjects may not generalize to females. An example of this in human research is found in a recent New York Times article describing that although half of HIV patients are females, most research subjects are men. How can we be sure that clinical trials that are validated only in men can be effective in women?

When experiments are not run in females, we simply do not know how females react or experience various conditions. Often times, researchers point to the fact that females have hormonal fluctuations that make it difficult analyze experimental results reliably. But is this really a valid reason to omit females from research? Dr. Rebecca Shansky wrote an excellent piece on this subject entitled "Are hormones a 'female problem' for animal research?"

Keeping the theme of inclusivity, check out the Equity in STEM Community Convening. This is a great opportunity to meet like-minded scientists who are interested in helping the STEM community become more diverse and inclusive moving forward. After all, progress in science doesn't happen as a result of stagnancy!

A topic that will surely come up at this meeting is the topic of motherhood. Women in STEM already face plenty of challenges in the field as a marginalized group, but consider how much more complicated things get when you factor in the idea of motherhood. The STEM field is only just getting adjusted to having women around in the first place, now we have to consider the idea of accommodating mothers! But is it really just "motherhood?" Is being a parent only a woman's issue? What kind of changes need to happen concerning the topic of motherhood and work? Read on in this article to find out more.

Thanks for stopping by!