Genetics and Health

My Life as a Woman Scientist

by Hsien Hsien Lei, PhD on December 31st, 2006

Science is more than just the here-and-now. The personal stories and daily struggles behind major discoveries and throughout the history of science are just as fascinating and important. Scientists Anonymous: Great Stories of Women in Science by Patricia Fara for children age 12 and over captures the stories of some women scientists, including Rosalind Franklin. And while I’ve not made any major discoveries in genetics, I have contributed some to scientific knowledge. Now at the end of the year, I’d like to show you that there truly is a scientist behind Genetics and Health. Here’s the story of my own anonymous scientific career.

My scientific career went off track almost 10 years ago because my husband and I decided to go wherever his job dictated. Since 1998, we’ve moved to a different country every two to three years on average. While I’ve enjoyed and been enriched by life in different cultures (Taiwan, Japan, Vietnam, and now the UK), there’s no question that had I not been married at the time I graduated with my PhD, I would have stayed in academia for at least a few years.

Instead, I did a post-doc in Taiwan, moved to Japan and realized that without fluency in the local language, I would always be expected to act as a glorified English editor instead of getting the chance to lead my own studies. So I took a break from science but continued to be (re)productive; we had a baby and I moved into science editing. And as fate has always been kind to me, I was lucky to have joined b5media a year ago to write and support others in the same endeavor.

Occasionally, I miss being in a rigorous scientific environment, arguing with others over theories and hypotheses. I loved all of that and more but that doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy what I do now, which is probably better suited to my temperament anyway. When Janet Stemwedel at Adventures in Ethics and Science wrote in July about her experience having a family and an academic career, I was in awe yet knew that type of life wouldn’t have suited me. But I’m very glad that science is beginning to accomodate women with different life trajectories as well as different interests in the many facets of science.

~~~~~

From a Books for Keeps review of Scientists Anonymous: Great Stories of Women in Science:

This book gives a fascinating account of the scientific work done by women over the centuries and makes it very clear that, leaving aside prejudice, the disadvantages from which they have suffered lie not in their mental abilities but rather in their domestic circumstances. Indeed many of the examples described here are of women managing to carry on their scientific work from their own home surroundings. It becomes clear that in today’s world it is often the way in which scientific work is organised that militates against a woman’s career in science. Certainly the constant need to look for funding does not help women who have a career break or who want to have more family friendly employment. If this book is read by boys as well as girls, then future male scientists might be more encouraged to rebel against the demands of the competitive (and sometimes cutthroat) scientific framework.

Disadvantages can be advantages depending on your perspective. ;)

Happy New Year! And may your perspective see more advantages than disadvantages in 2007.

Tags: science, scientists, women, new year, 2007, genetics, genes, dna, health

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POSTED IN: General Genetics and Health, Genetics Book Reviews