Women in science: where does the prejudice come from?

Something that is a pattern in my blog entries is the role of women in science. This is obvious, since I am a woman in science. But only a few years ago it became apparent to me that we are in trouble. As any biologist can testify, our discipline is female dominated in during our undergrad years. Those of us that were educated in a Latin American university also had a number of great female professors that became our early role models. Up until I was about to finish my PhD I didn't feel discriminated or had the impression I had worse chances of continuing in the field of science. But was this true or was I just too naive to notice? My paranoid mind now sees things very differently. The thing is, that while we are studying, budding female scientists are seen in a different way by established scientists. They are also seen in a different way by their peers, they are seen in a non-threatening way. But once you have that piece of paper that says you hold a PhD things change a lot and you are basically thrown to the lions, with not much to defend yourself with. I don't say that males aren't thrown to the lions, they are too, but they are perhaps better equipped to fight those lions that we are. 

 Some recent studies have shown that both males and females have strong prejudices against women who try to get scientific positions (here in PNAS). This could be a product of the way we are all trained to see women since an early age, and what qualities are considered desirable in women and men. Basically, a good scientist should be driven, confident, independent, and even sometimes a little cocky. Also, driven, confident, independent and slightly cocky men are highly attractive to people. They are popular. What happens if those same qualities are seen in a girl or young woman? Well, she's not going to be very popular at all, with anybody. Driven, confident, independent women are seen as bossy, intimidating and arrogant. If on top of that you add a reasonable amount of talent, and a self-awareness of that talent, then things get really difficult for the girl/woman in question. 

 I remember, that I learned early on at school not to answer any questions made by the teachers, even if I knew the answers. I also remember feeling a bit embarrassed, and apologetic even when getting top marks in exams, even in my university years. During all my time as a student, I tried not to get too much attention paid to my abilities, it made my social life a bit easier. If other women out there have done the same, then no wonder there is a perceived lack of confidence in most female scientists. Maybe this deeply ingrained social attitude towards driven, independent women is causing this bias, both in men and women. Those characteristics look good in men, but not in women, even to referees. This does create a vicious circle, because to avoid being rejected and not liked, women in science are not as forward, and less likely to take pride in their own accomplishments. This in turn, will be seen as a negative thing by referees, who will doubt the true ability of a female candidate because she is not as confident as any other equally qualified male scientist. 

Now, the tricky question: how to fight that prejudice? This isn't easy to answer, since it is deeply ingrained in all of us, and even I am not free from it. I cannot control how people feel about a confident woman who nows her stuff, and is not ashamed to speak up. But I can control how I behave, and how I react to people's attitudes towards me and my work. I guess that putting myself out there and marketing my skills with more confidence will lower my popularity score for a while, but I am not willing to accept getting less than I deserve. Nobody should. I will start by building up the courage of asking questions in seminars. Baby steps.