International Women's Day 2018: Johanna Ernst, DPhil student

It’s International Women’s Day and this year’s theme is #PressForProgress. What does the word “progress” mean to you in regards to women and gender?

Progress means that individuals have the same opportunities to learn and develop independent of their gender, across the world.

In recent years there has been an increasing effort to encourage girls to enter STEM fields (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Maths). As an academic, what are your thoughts on how we could better achieve gender equity in research?

In my opinion we need to excite girls about science earlier, for example by talking more about the applications of science rather than just teaching methods, and by making girls aware of the opportunities that studying a STEM subject opens up in the future. Studying a STEM subject doesn’t mean that you will be solving equations for the rest of your life, instead it often means that you will be tasked with important real-life problems, such as securing energy supplies or developing new cancer treatments. Unless you specifically want to become a clinical doctor or a lawyer, there is very little that you cannot do with a STEM degree.

Later on in the career, academia can be a very competitive and high-stress environment with little long-term securities and rewards. I believe Universities will need to provide a more employee-friendly environment more secure job prospects in order to encourage female researchers to stay in academia.

Why are days like International Women’s Day important to you?

Because they give us the opportunity the challenge our norms and rethink some of our current practices.