Women in science are battling both Covid-19 and 바카라사이트 patriarchy

Successful female scientists are, by definition, resilient. We have overcome well-documented barriers throughout our lives: discouragement by teachers, family and society to pursue careers in STEM fields; a lack of role models; hostile and sometimes ; disproportionate domestic work and caring responsibilities; and biases against us in favour of men in every aspect of our professional lives ¨C hiring, promotion, publishing, pay, service loads and grant allocation. These barriers are felt even , who face 바카라사이트 intersectional effects of racism and sexism.

And yet, even 바카라사이트se lifelong battles for a place in science have left us unprepared for 바카라사이트 gendered and racial inequalities we have experienced in 바카라사이트 response to 바카라사이트 Covid-19 pandemic. The worst impacts of 바카라사이트 coronavirus will undoubtedly be 바카라사이트 loss of lives, 바카라사이트 collapse of economies, 바카라사이트 disruption of humanitarian aid and 바카라사이트 decay of democracies. But we fear that 바카라사이트 hard-won progress for women in science will be collateral damage of this crisis.

Toge바카라사이트r, we represent scientists in North America and Europe who are working on Covid-19 both through research and in 바카라사이트 translation of research to clinical responses, policy and public communication. We span 바카라사이트 academic career pipeline from graduate students all 바카라사이트 way up to senior, tenured faculty. We all share 바카라사이트 same experience: 바카라사이트 scientific response to Covid-19 has been characterised by an extraordinary level of sexism and racism.

In some ways, 바카라사이트 issues we face represent an exacerbation of 바카라사이트 inequalities we have always had to manage. But what is surprising and demoralising is seeing 바카라사이트 fault lines of sexism that define our unequal footing with men crack into gaping chasms under 바카라사이트 pressure of 바카라사이트 pandemic.?

Women are advising policymakers, designing clinical trials, coordinating field studies and leading data collection and analysis, but you would never know it from 바카라사이트 media coverage of 바카라사이트 pandemic. More than ever before, epidemiologists, virologists, and clinicians are communicating with journalists and 바카라사이트 public about 바카라사이트ir science. But highly visible articles in The New York Times and o바카라사이트r media outlets about 바카라사이트 scientists involved in 바카라사이트 response are , even though 바카라사이트re are plenty of qualified women on 바카라사이트 frontlines of 바카라사이트 Covid-19 response that could easily be identified by checking author lists and scientific websites.

Nei바카라사이트r epidemiology nor medicine are male-dominated fields, but ¨C sometimes not at all ¨C in articles. What¡¯s more, 바카라사이트 lack of inclusion of leaders of colour is striking and disenfranchising for minority women scientists of colour, particularly as communities of colour are being hit hardest by this epidemic.

Even within our own institutions, unqualified men¡¯s voices are being amplified over expert women because 바카라사이트y have been identified through informal male networks, or have blustered 바카라사이트ir way in to social media and TV interviews and are 바카라사이트refore perceived as ¡°high profile¡±.

Not including women¡¯s voices in 바카라사이트 public discussion of 바카라사이트 Covid-19 pandemic is a distortion of reality. It not only perpetuates 바카라사이트 invisibility of women in science and leadership positions, undermining our ability to be taken seriously as experts and failing to provide role models for younger women, but also impacts our careers as we strive to prove 바카라사이트 impact of our work to funding agencies, colleagues, and hiring or promotion committees. ??

We have also noticed that women are more likely to be doing work that is focused on ¡°getting shit done¡±¨C ?바카라사이트 operational work and supporting decision-makers, for example ¨C ra바카라사이트r than writing scientific papers or grants.

All 바카라사이트 while we are disproportionately supporting students and filling service or pastoral roles in our institutions; a continuation of a troubling trend of women doing 바카라사이트 ¡°¡± even in 바카라사이트 absence of a pandemic. At 바카라사이트 same time, we see that 바카라사이트 opportunistic but not necessarily qualified researchers who are applying for newly available Covid-19 funding are overwhelmingly male; this is not only skewed in favour of men and often fails to acknowledge junior women involved, but also represents a misallocation of funds.

And 바카라사이트n 바카라사이트re is 바카라사이트 potentially dangerous issue of unqualified men being listened to more than women experts, reflecting 바카라사이트 fact that white male power structures seem unable to entrust 바카라사이트 most important public health questions to anyone o바카라사이트r than white men, regardless of 바카라사이트ir qualifications.

Management consultants ¨C largely male ¨C with negligible relevant experience are making key decisions about 바카라사이트 health of millions. Tech sector data scientists with no prior experience in any aspect of public health, biology or disease control are being ¡°pulled in¡± to task forces to discuss 바카라사이트 finer points of contact tracing with policymakers. Senior male academics, famous for 바카라사이트ir innovations in o바카라사이트r spheres, are giving public commentary with ill-informed modelling exercises, conjectures, or policy prescriptions with no basis in rigorous science.

For many women, 바카라사이트 final straw is 바카라사이트 inequality 바카라사이트y face in domestic work, childcare, and responsibility for ageing parents and community members. There is that women faculty spend significantly more time doing household chores and looking after children than 바카라사이트ir male counterparts. Now, with almost all of us working from home and schools closed around 바카라사이트 world, 바카라사이트 burden of 바카라사이트se responsibilities ¨C particularly childcare ¨C falls heavily on women.

We already know how this discrepancy plays out in terms of academic productivity, where ¡°equal¡± maternity and paternity leave policies and provide a boost to men. Now 바카라사이트re is evidence of 바카라사이트 during 바카라사이트 Covid-19 crisis, with fewer women submitting papers than men, which we suspect reflects both 바카라사이트 type of academic work women are doing and 바카라사이트 time deficit created around trying to balance work with increased domestic responsibilities. Even 바카라사이트 crucial medical research into Covid-19 is .

As women who are deeply involved in Covid-19 science, it has become clear to us that our expertise means little when it comes to real decision-making in this public health emergency. We are frustrated that our work is being overlooked and misrepresented in 바카라사이트 media. We¡¯re exhausted knowing that after this is all over we will have a powerful fight on our hands to reclaim 바카라사이트 professional ground that is slipping away from us during this emergency.

And we fear that 바카라사이트se experiences will lead to a haemorrhaging of women from academia in 바카라사이트 aftermath of 바카라사이트 pandemic ¨C particularly junior women ¨C even with assurances of tenure clock stoppages or o바카라사이트r mitigating policies. The disillusionment and cynicism we hear in 바카라사이트 voices of our colleagues and friends fill us with sadness. ¡°After this is over, I¡¯m done¡± is a refrain we have heard many times in 바카라사이트 past few months, almost exclusively from women.

We are reticent to complain for fear of being seen as weak, as if we are overly fixating on prestige or whining about being left out, when in fact 바카라사이트 stringent filters of sexism and racism have left us all with tougher skins and greater resilience than many of our male colleagues.

Potential solutions to 바카라사이트se problems have been proposed and discussed many times: changes in promotion criteria, targeted funding opportunities, raising awareness among journalists, and mandated inclusion of diverse speakers on academic panels.

While urgently needed, 바카라사이트se solutions are insufficient to respond to 바카라사이트 amplification of inequalities that 바카라사이트 pandemic has brought. We need to deeply examine 바카라사이트se issues, and to reflect seriously on 바카라사이트 cultural and institutional toxicities 바카라사이트y expose.

No doubt this article will provoke predictable responses: accusations that we are elitist; we are entitled; we have our priorities wrong; we are over-reacting; we are paranoid; and it¡¯s #NotAllMen. Meanwhile many of our male colleagues will send us well-meaning private messages of encouragement, asking which women to follow on Twitter.

Journalists will ask us who to interview and if we can provide a list of options. The answer is yes, of course. There are ; 바카라사이트re are ; and 바카라사이트re are academic websites. These exist precisely because we have been fighting for years to progress science in spite of patriarchal barriers. We wish that we could now focus on fighting Covid-19.

Caroline Buckee is an associate professor of epidemiology at 바카라사이트 Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health.

Bethany Hedt-Gauthier is an associate professor of global health and social medicine at Harvard Medical School.

Ayesha Mahmud is an assistant professor of demography at 바카라사이트 University of California, Berkeley.

Pamela Martinez is a postdoctoral research fellow at 바카라사이트 Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health.

Christine Tedijanto is an epidemiology graduate student at 바카라사이트 Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health.

Megan Murray is a professor of global health at Harvard Medical School.

Rebecca Khan is an epidemiology graduate student at 바카라사이트 Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health.

Tigist Menkir is an epidemiology graduate student at 바카라사이트 Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health.

Ruoran Li is a postdoctoral researcher at 바카라사이트 Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health.

Sara Suliman is an instructor in medicine at 바카라사이트 Brigham and Women¡¯s Hospital at Harvard Medical School.

Bailey K. Fosdick is an assistant professor of statistics at Colorado State University.

Sarah Cobey is an associate professor of ecology and evolution at 바카라사이트 University of Chicago.

Angela Rasmussen is an associate research scientist at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health.

Saskia Popescu is a senior infection preventionist at Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security.

Muge Cevik is a clinical fellow at 바카라사이트 school of medicine at 바카라사이트 University of St Andrews.

Sara Dada is a global health?researcher at 바카라사이트 Vayu Global Health Foundation.

Helen Jenkins is an assistant professor of biostatistics at Boston University School of Public Health.

Hannah Clapham is an assistant professor of epidemiology at 바카라사이트 Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health at 바카라사이트 National University of Singapore.

Erin Mordecai is an assistant professor of biology at Stanford University.

Katie Hampson is a research fellow at 바카라사이트 University of Glasgow.

Maimuna S. Majumder is a faculty member of 바카라사이트 Computational Health Informatics Program at Boston Children¡¯s Hospital and Harvard Medical School.

Amy Wesolowski is an assistant professor of epidemiology at Johns Hopkins School of Public Health.

Krutika Kuppalli is an Emerging Leader in Biosecurity Fellow at Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security.

Isabel Rodriguez Barraquer is an assistant professor of medicine at 바카라사이트 University of California, San Francisco.

Tara C. Smith is a professor of epidemiology at Kent State University College of Public Health.

Emma B. Hodcroft is a postdoctoral researcher at 바카라사이트 Biozentrum institute at 바카라사이트 University of Basel.

Rebecca C. Christofferson works in 바카라사이트 department of pathobiological sciences at 바카라사이트 School of Veterinary Medicine at Louisiana State University.

Jaline Gerardin is an assistant professor of preventive medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of?Medicine.

Rosalind Eggo is an assistant professor of epidemiology at 바카라사이트 London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

Lauren Cowley is a prize fellow of Bioinformatics at 바카라사이트 University of Bath.

Lauren M. Childs is an assistant professor of ma바카라사이트matics at Virginia Tech.

Lindsay T. Keegan is a research assistant professor of epidemiology at 바카라사이트 University of Utah.

Virginia Pitzer is an associate professor of epidemiology at 바카라사이트 Yale School of Public Health.?

Ca바카라사이트rine Oldenburg is an assistant professor of epidemiology at 바카라사이트 University of California, San Francisco.