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Word "Scientist" does not specify bad. And yet, for centuries – well, since the lectures and symposia emerged from the primordial academic soup – the majority of scientific speakers and prominent speakers were men.
This phenomenon has been documented in studies and has given rise to many naughty nicknames: "management, ""himposium, ""manel. "People have been trying to understand why the Y chromosome so dominated the stage and explained that there should be more than X.
Today, efforts to achieve a better gender balance have a new champion in the forefront: the director of the National Institutes of Health, Dr. Francis S. Collins. In a statement entitled "It's time to end Manel's tradition," Dr. Collins, who led the human genome project and was N.I.H. Director for a decade, said on Wednesday that he would no longer speak at conferences not showing a strong commitment to diversifying the composition of their panelists.
"I wish to send a clear message of concern: it is time to end the scientific tradition of all-male focus groups," Dr. Collins wrote.
"From now on," he added, "when I consider invitations, I will expect equal playing conditions, in which scientists from all walks of life are equitably badessed for what is If this attention to inclusivity is not evident in the agenda, I will not participate.I challenge the other scientific leaders of the biomedical business to do so. likewise. "
This announcement was applauded by scientists who have long advocated the diversity of speakers at conferences.
"I am amazed and I am so happy that he made this announcement," said Yael Niv, a neuroscientist at Princeton, who launched a website. Biotwatchneuro.com, which monitors the gender balance of speakers at neuroscience conferences and compares them to the percentage of women on the field.
"We've been working in this field for years and it's great to have a man and a personality doing the same thing," said Dr. Niv. "People really want it at a conference – it attracts the crowd. So if he says, "I do not come to your conference to deliver the main speech because I do not see adequate representation," it's huge. "
Some prominent scientists have echoed Collins' call.
Jeremy Farrar, Director of the Wellcome Trust, tweeted to Dr. Collins that he and other members of his large, nonprofit global health organization "are in agreement and have made a commitment and refuse to be part of expert groups or to speak at events that do not honor the same commitment ".
In an interview after the release of his statement, Dr. Collins said, "White men are certainly great contributors to the biomedical business – I am one of them. But at the same time, there is a tendency to overlook the fact that many other people contribute to research. "
Dr. Collins also said that he became "deeply concerned by the growing evidence of badual harbadment that has made the workplace of biomedicine a hostile place for women." N.I.H. announced that after reviewing the allegations in more than 20 institutions whose scientists benefit from agency funding, 14 senior investigators were replaced and 21 were dismissed or otherwise sanctioned by their establishments. The agency also announced it took disciplinary action against 20 staff members.
Dr. Niv said that the issue of gender balance at conferences was often a matter of insufficient awareness and insufficient effort. Even women who organize conferences do not always invite more women to speak, she said, pointing out that her website was created following a conference organized by two women who had invited 22 men and no women to speak.
She said that she often sends lists of women scientists at conferences and that she should point out that they are as experienced and skilled as some of the scientists invited to speak.
Dr. Collins said that from now on, whenever he would be invited to speak, he will say, "We want to know exactly how you handled this issue of inclusivity – say- we do what you do, please. " final composition 30 days before the event.
Dr. Collins said he was not going to demand quotas for women as speakers or to lead the other N.I.H. scientists follow his example because "I would not want someone to do it because they are forced to do it."
He acknowledged that in some areas it may be difficult to bring in a significant number of women. "I want to be totally reasonable about this," he said. "But I want to see the effort."
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