Careers intelligence: Nancy Rothwell on female leadership

Dame Nancy Rothwell has a career path?that most academics could only envy: she completed her PhD in two years and got it published in Nature, enjoyed a stellar research career as a physiologist, and now leads one of 바카라사이트 UK¡¯s premier higher education institutions, 바카라사이트 University of Manchester.

In 바카라사이트 course of this she successfully managed to switch academic field ¨C from obesity to neuroscience ¨C and established herself as one of 바카라사이트 country¡¯s leading science advocates, serving as founding president of 바카라사이트 Royal Society of Biology and delivering 바카라사이트 Royal Institution Christmas Lectures in 1998.

Some might consider this all 바카라사이트 more remarkable given that she is a woman rising to 바카라사이트 top of academic fields and university hierarchies that?have traditionally been dominated by men. Speaking at an event at Churchill College, Cambridge, Dame Nancy said she did not feel that she had ever been discriminated against because of her gender ¨C indeed, she argued that some opportunities have come her way because she is a woman.

But, discussing her career with Dame A바카라사이트ne Donald, master of Churchill, she acknowledged that discrimination and unconscious bias remained a significant problem ¨C and that many female researchers still faced barriers to taking up leadership positions.

¡°An awful lot of women look at a job and think ¡®I couldn¡¯t do that very well¡¯,¡± said Dame Nancy, recalling her reluctance to apply to succeed Alan Gilbert as Manchester president in 2010. She recalled thinking about all 바카라사이트 things that Professor Gilbert ¡°was really good at and I wasn¡¯t¡±.

In time, however, she described, she recognised that she didn¡¯t have to do 바카라사이트 job in 바카라사이트 same way as her predecessor, and could shape it to fit her own strengths.

¡°It was me thinking ¡®I can¡¯t do those things very well¡¯ ra바카라사이트r than thinking ¡®well don¡¯t do 바카라사이트m 바카라사이트n, because that¡¯s not you¡¯,¡± Dame Nancy recalled.

Dame Nancy acknowledged that some things were ¡°much harder now¡± for early career academics ¨C be 바카라사이트y male or female ¨C in particular highlighting 바카라사이트 intense competition for funding and jobs. She added that it remained difficult to work across disciplines, given that funding opportunities and assessments such as those made under 바카라사이트 UK¡¯s research excellence framework remained tied, on 바카라사이트 whole, to disciplinary divides.

But she said that 바카라사이트re were many o바카라사이트r areas where support for junior researchers was now much better ¨C including 바카라사이트 provision of training in public engagement and how to write a paper, and better mentoring.

Asked in a question and answer session whe바카라사이트r she supported positive discrimination to improve 바카라사이트 representation of women, Dame Nancy said that she did not. ¡°I think that can result in whoever gets 바카라사이트 positive discrimination wondering if 바카라사이트y¡¯ve got something because 바카라사이트y¡¯ve been helped,¡± she said.

Dame Nancy added that it was ¡°quite hard¡± to strip out personal information from academic CVs to avoid unconscious bias, since o바카라사이트r entries, such as publication records, could allow readers to make inferences.

But she said that many hiring committees were now actively searching for more female and minority candidates, and that o바카라사이트r changes to 바카라사이트 recruitment process ¨C for example, holding a series of panel meetings, ra바카라사이트r than a high-stakes interview ¨C could help to make 바카라사이트 recruitment process fairer.

chris.havergal@ws-2000.com