Yesterday, I stood up in front of 40 scientists and detailed my motivation for a science communication career: I said that I was moved by the knowledge gap between those with access and those without. During grad school, I watched as intelligent design was forwarded in state science textbooks and vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin dismissed fruit fly research as frivolous and meaningless. I said I want science and technologies to be important, accessible, and applicable to everyone.
That’s only partially true.
How does one find a career path? I neglected opportunities to learn about careers in my 20s, convinced both that I would follow an academic track and that one person’s story wasn’t useful information anyway (one’s 20s can be full of willful ignorance).
There can hardly be a single reason or motivation for the path that one takes. We are all such a complicated jumble of neurons, with a multitude of experiences that shape the person we become. Part of my decision was based on increasing enthusiasm for science across all audiences, yes. And part of my decision to enter science was based on the sexism and ageism inherent in our societies.
Where can a woman have a successful career as she ages? What kind of career sets one up for success in one’s 30s, 40s, 50s, and 60s? These may be strange considerations, but I recall ruminating on this in my youth. Life is a marathon, not a sprint, and I wanted to set myself up for long-term success.
There are other, less long-sighted ways. My sister is a fashion designer. Fashion is an industry where youth is admired, and where beauty (and youth, which is often mistaken for beauty) reigns supreme. After moving the New York City right after college, she started a meteoric rise to eventually become Design Director of some Famous Brands. You would recognize the shoes she created (you may even own some).
But this career path is also less kind to women (and men, it should be said) as they age. While my sister is still designing beautiful shoes, job options have become fewer as she’s gained experience. Many of her colleagues have left the shoe business, finding second acts in other fields. My sister sometimes considers the same.
Science offered what I wanted to be as I aged: examples of successful women in positions of leadership. Though I’m arguably a leaky pipeliner, I use my scientific training daily, and I can imagine a future where people respect the things I say.
There’s a lot of work to be done to increase the presence of women (and older women) in science, not to mention the necessary work to welcome and retain black, brown and indigenous scientists. I’m glad that people are spotlighting inequities in our field, and I hope my work will help open the door to them.
There are other motivators to my career path, of course, but this one—the confluence of expected ageism and sexism—is one I rarely discuss when an invited speaker or panel member. The truth remains that my younger self saw science as a place where a woman might have a chance of a long, successful career. I still have that hope.
Julie Marie Wolf 