Athene Donald

We are thrilled to welcome Athene Donald, the esteemed Professor Emerita in Experimental Physics and Master of Churchill College, University of Cambridge. Athene joins us to talk about her incredible and sadly prescient book, Not Just for the Boys: Why We Need More Women in Science.

Herself a distinguished physicist, Athene explores societal expectations during both childhood and working life using evidence of the systemic disadvantages women operate under, from the developing science of how our brains are-and more importantly aren’t-gendered, to social science evidence around attitudes towards girls and women doing science. It also discusses how science is done in practice, in order to dispel common myths: for example, the perception that science is not creative, or that it is carried out by a lone genius in an ivory tower, myths that can be very off-putting to many sections of the population. A better appreciation of the collaborative, creative, and multi-disciplinary nature of science is likely to lead to its appeal to a far wider swathe of people, especially women.

This book examines the modern way of working in scientific research, and how gender bias operates in various ways within it, drawing on the voices of leading women in science describing their feelings and experiences. It argues the moral and business case for greater diversity in modern research, the better to improve science and tackle the great challenges we face today.