treatedadalovelace

naturestructural&molecularbiologyvolume17number7July2010779TakeabreakFormanyreasons,scientiststakeacareerbreaklastingfrommonthstoseveralyears.
Manyeventuallyreturnbutlosetheirplaceonthecareerladder,workingatalevelfarbelowtheirqualificationsandtalents.
Signsofimprovedaccessforreturnersarehugelyencouraging.
On24Marcheachyear,AdaLovelaceDayiscelebratedbyaninternationaldayofbloggingtohighlighttheachievementsofwomenintechnologyandscience.
AdaLovelace(1815–1852)wasthedaughterofthepoetLordByron,butherenduringclaimtofameisastheworld'sfirstcomputerprogrammer.
SheworkedonCharlesBabbage'searlymechanicalgeneral-purposecomputer,theanalyticalengine,andiscreditedwithwritingthefirstcomputerprogram.
Hundredsofwomenwerelaudedincyberspacethisyear,butsomeofthemosthonorednamescaughtoureye.
Threeofthemostblogged-aboutwomenweremolecularbiologists:RosalindFranklin,BarbaraMcClintockandDorothyCrowfootHodgkin.
TheinclusionofFranklin,McClintockandCrowfootHodgkinreflectsnotonlytheiroutstandingscientificachievementsbutalsotheassimilationoftheirworkintopopularculture.
Allthreehavebiographiesoftheirlivesgracingbookshelves,andFranklin'sroleinthediscoveryofthestructureofDNAwasthesubjectofthefilmDNA'sDarkLady.
Butthebooksaboutthesethreewomen'slivesillustratejusthowdifficultitwastosucceedasafemalescientist.
BiographersofFranklinandMcClintocksuggestthatbothwereunfairlytreated,andthesebooksarecentraltextsformanywomen-in-sciencestudies.
ThebiographyofCrowfootHodgkin,DorothyHodgkin:ALife,isdifferent.
It'sataleofbalancingapassionforsciencewithbringingupchildrenandtakinganactiveinterestininternationalpolitics.
ReadingthebiographyofCrowfootHodgkin,thesupportiveroleplayedbySomervilleCollege,attheUniversityofOxford,standsout.
CrowfootHodgkinwasthefirstfellowtobecomepregnantwhileholdingafellowship,butthecollegerespondedinanenlightenedmanner,andshebecamethefirstwomanatUniversityofOxfordtoreceivepaidmaternityleave.
Thiswas33yearsbeforetheuniversityasawholeadoptedthispolicyand37yearsbeforestatutorymaternitypaybecamelawintheUKin1975.
Throughthesupportofherfamilyandthecollege,CrowfootHodgkinwasabletocontinueworkingduringherpregnancyandwhilebringingupyoungchildren.
Thebenefitstothecollegeandtoscienceingeneralhavehandsomelyrewardedthissupport.
Incredibly,morethan40yearslater,manywomen—andmentoo—findthemselvesinalesssupportiveenvironmentthanthatofCrowfootHodgkinatprewarSomervilleCollege.
Manywomenandmengiveuptheircareerswhentheyhavechildren,partlybecauseitisdifficulttocopewiththedemandsofthelonghoursneededinthelaboratoryandpartlybecauseoftheexpenseofchildcare.
Withtwochildrenindaycare,manyfindthatitischeapertostayathome.
Othersunderstandablywanttospendtimewiththeiryoungchildren.
Careerbreaksarenotalwaysamatterofpersonalchoice.
AstheeconomiesoftheUSandEuroperecoverfromrecession,manyscientistsmayfindthemselvesforcedtolookforjobselsewherefollowingredundancy,butmanywillwanttoreturn.
Andcaregivingisnotjustaboutlookingafterchildrenbutincreasinglyinvolvescaringforelderlyparents,andwithagingpopulations,thisisacommitmentwearelikelytoseemoreandmore.
Butsuchabreakcomesatahugecost,notonlytotheindividualbuttoscienceandtotheeconomy.
Afterabreak,womenusuallylosetheirplaceonthecareerladder,preventingthemfromreachingseniorpositions.
TheUKResourceCentreforWomeninScience,EngineeringandTechnology(UKRC)estimatesthatthecosttotheUKofwomenscientistsandengineersworkingbelowtheirlevelofqualification,beingunemployedorotherwiseinactiveinthissectoris2billion.
Buttherearereasonstobehopeful.
Forpeoplewantingtotakeonlyashortbreakandreturntotheiroldjob,fundingbodiesarebeginningtobuildthisintotheirstructure.
Thelegislationentitled'FulfillingthePotentialofWomeninAcademicScienceandEngineering'thathasjustpassedthroughtheUSHouseofRepresentatives,whichmandatesthatfederalfundingagenciesbuildinextensionsforcaregivers,isanencouragingsign.
SimilarinitiativesarenowbeingphasedinacrosstheEuropeanUnion.
Otherpositiveinitiativesarealsowelcome.
TheUKRChasworkedwiththeOpenUniversityintheUKtodevelopashort10-weekcourseforanyonewhohasworkedinorstudiedscienceandengineeringtoanalyzetheopportunitiesinthissectoranddevelopaplanforreturningtowork.
TheUKInstituteofPhysicshasabookletthatisfreetodownloadfromitswebsiteentitledBestPracticeinCareer-BreakManagement.
Theirguidanceshowsthatplanningaheadisthekeytoasuccessfulreturn,whetheroneistakingashortbreakandreturningtothesamejobortheintentionistotakeabreakforseveralyears.
Theiradviceincludesretainingmembershipofprofessionalinstitutionsorbodiesandusingthisasawayofmaintainingprofessionalnetworks.
Findingamentorcanhelpenormously,ascanjoiningauniversitylibrary,whichintheUKareoftenopentothepublic,providingaccesstoscientificjournals.
Otheroptionsaretoattendscientificconferences(somesocietyconferencesarereasonablypriced)ortotutorforadulteducationcoursesorfortheOpenUniversity.
ANaturePodcastentitled"CareerBreaksforWomen"(http://www.
nature.
com/naturejobs/career-toolkit/podcasts/archive/index.
html)onthesubjectmightalsopromptsomeideas.
Returnersneedaccessible,relevantadviceonscienceandengineeringandasupportiveenvironment,aswellasafairchancetobeemployed.
ItisimpossibletopredictwhetherthescientistjugglingsomanycommitmentswillonedaywintheNobelPrize.
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