WOMEN IN SCIENCE
Ladies first: the
struggle for equity
in Texas and beyond
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Renowned cancer researcher and female leader Professor Elizabeth Travis shares
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with International Innovation the details of her efforts to level the playing field for women
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scientists and physicians at her home institution and further afield
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Can you discuss how you became Associate
Vice President of Women Faculty Programs
at The University of Texas MD Anderson
Cancer Center?
As a PhD student, I was a bench scientist with
a general research focus on identifying the
molecular and genetic mechanisms underlying
the complications of cancer treatment –
primarily radiation-induced lung fibrosis, a
potentially debilitating late complication of the
treatment of cancers of the thorax.
Throughout my career I have been a champion
for advancing women in science and medicine,
long before it was de rigueur. When my
institution initiated a search for an individual
to lead a new initiative, the Office of Women
Faculty Programs, I saw this as a unique,
exciting and challenging opportunity to make
a difference in the lives of women in academic
medicine and science.
Do you think that women in academic
medicine and science face unique challenges
in terms of pursuing gender equity? How big
is the gender divide in these areas?
I wish the answer to this question was no, but
unfortunately there continue to be myriads
of unique challenges that are pervasive and
unrelenting, despite the fact that approximately
half of all medical school graduates and PhD
graduates in the life sciences are women.
These challenges are not new; some are
structural – the lack of paid maternity leave,
for example. Even though millennial males
are more engaged in child rearing than my
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contemporaries were, women continue to carry
the majority of these responsibilities.
There are challenges surrounding the
unconscious biases that we all have regarding
gender roles, but there are also challenges
specific to women: lack of confidence and lack
of sponsors, to name just a couple. It is not a
chasm, but it is still a sizeable gap.
What is the most important lesson you
have learned concerning the promotion of
gender equity?
When Abigail Adams sent John (the second US
President) to the Continental Congress of 1774,
she cautioned him: “Don’t forget the ladies!”
Similarly, we women must not and cannot forget
the men. Gender equity is not a women’s issue;
it is a societal issue. As long as women preach
to the choir, change will be slow – even if the
numbers of women in the field is large.
Another lesson has been that change takes
a maddeningly long time, and you cannot
take your eye off the ball. It takes constant
attention and focus to sustain the gains we have
made and, even more importantly, to change
institutional culture. Men are critical partners
in achieving gender equity.
Imagine looking back on your career in
30 years’ time. What societal advances
are you most hopeful to see as a result of
your activities?
First, representative numbers of women in
leadership positions in all of medicine and
science, as well as in society; for example,
politics and law. I want to see women have the
same opportunities as men and make up half
of our leaders, including CEOs and corporate
board members. Second, I want to see that we
value families and that institutions universally
support them with time and money, as well
as paid maternity and paternity leave. Finally,
that offices such as mine have been driven
out of business and that these conversations
are obsolete.
Why do you see sponsorship as so important
and distinct from other solutions such
as mentorship?
I would like to see committed efforts to sponsor
women for senior leadership positions at
the highest levels of academic medicine and
science. Sponsors differ in many ways from
mentors, but primarily they are individuals
with power and influence who are in a position
to advocate for an individual at the leadership
table. Given the criteria of having power and
influence, most sponsors are men, and they
advocate for men. We need to encourage them
to look for ‘people who do not look like them’
and identify potential women leaders, advocate
for them in their inner circle and challenge
women to expand expectations of their potential
and negotiate for what they deserve.
The way I see it is: what do we have to lose by
trying this approach? Not much else seems to
be working.
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ALL ABOUT
WOMEN
Pride through
sponsorship
Ensuring diversity within a
research organisation is no
easy task, but scientists and
physicians at The University
of Texas MD Anderson
Cancer Center are putting
gender equity at the centre of
their activities
TWO-THIRDS OF Europeans think that women
do not possess the capabilities required to
access high-level scientific positions. This
was one of the many findings of a September
2015 study conducted by OpinionWay and the
L’Oréal Foundation. There were other striking
revelations among the results including that
71 per cent of respondents thought of male
figures when asked to name a prominent
scientist. Of the women who were named,
Marie Curie was at the top of the short list, and
she was the only female scientist that French
respondents named.
Perhaps the most telling result of the survey,
however, was the misapprehension of how
many women are currently in leadership
positions in science and academia. In particular,
respondents estimated that 28 per cent of high
academic offices within the European Union are
occupied by women. The truth is that they only
account for 11 per cent.
On the other side of the Atlantic, the situation
is broadly the same, only with the added
complication of the tenure track – a longstanding academic institution that historically
disfavoured women. There are still challenges
that stand in the way of a woman wishing to
pursue a career in science in the US. Few role
models, a demanding professional schedule
and a culture that still places primary family
responsibilities on women all interact in a
detrimental way, preventing STEM fields from
achieving the diversity that they so desperately
need. Undoubtedly, things are improving – but
the road to equity is long and arduous for those
who are committed to achieving it.
THE LEAKY PIPELINE
According to Professor Elizabeth Travis, the
problem is not a straightforward one. Travis is
Professor of Experimental Radiation Oncology
at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer
Center, in addition to another role, which
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INTERNATIONAL INNOVATION
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