Well… Having the whole conference on Zoom was an interesting experience but in fact I like it! There were little to zero technical difficulties and we were able to ask our questions on a chat box. Except for free food, I might prefer online conferences in the future. Because, I took great notes during presentations and while watching the pre-recorded ones! I also attended a very important workshop for myself: Women in Plasma Science. I want to share my notes and opinions on it.
Commenting people: Saskia Mordijck – Amy Wendt -Jane Chang – Kallol Bera – Eva Kovacevic
SM:
- 59% of women report gender harassment in the past
- need role models
- women focused: minorities, black lives matter, genders —>emotional and mental burden larger
AW:
- personal story: EE least women in participation
- 1-peer community
- 2-leadership roles
- perspective talk on funding agencies: all speakers are male!
- Inclusivity in GEC: IGEC
JC:
- session like ‘women go to your session and talk about your problems’
- male attendees are welcome!
KB:
- impression: US is great in equality! before coming
- now it has changed
- Swetlana commented on: majority should make an effort!
- people with disabilities should be included
EK:
- mentoring in EU
- 22 June 2021, Barcelona women in plasma physics gathering
- next year: first day of the conference, with workshops in detail
Overall, it is a good feeling to know that there are people out there caring about equality and inclusivity in our area of research. On the other hand, it was clear that our efforts are not enough. Harassment is still happening in large portions of work environments and some people tend to underestimate this problem and acting as it is a solved issue. Gender problems are not only women’s problem. Gender problems are not only minorities’ problem. People in charge should make an effort instead of pushing all the gender-related roles to women. Leadership requires to take responsibility but unfortunately some leaders think saying ‘hey be kind to each other’ is enough to remove obstacles between underrepresented people and the vast majority.
- Assign more underrepresented people to leading roles
- Don’t act like you are making a charity
- Be transparent and address possible threats in the workplace