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Who can join WiSci?
Membership is open to men and women in any science or engineering department at UGA. Undergraduate and graduate students, postdocs, faculty, and staff are all welcome. Only enrolled students who pay the student organization fees are eligible to be elected officers.
What does membership mean?
Being a member of WiSci means you are interested in attending the events that we organize throughout the year, or participating in our mentoring program. There are no dues required to join. There are no minimum required hours or involvement to be a member.
Why should men join WiSci?
I think that equality in the STEM fields is important and a major issue today. More women deserve to be at the head of their field (and research university) and contribute to the overall understanding of science. I am motivated by the great ideas that have been pushed to the wayside because women aren't given the opportunity to have these major research position and professorships.
Daniel Baker, Ecology PhD student
We are fortunate in UGA's Ecology program to have healthy representation of female graduate students, but (a) this is certainly not true in graduate programs across the sciences, and (b) there is still a disproportionately higher attrition rate for women in academia after their graduate studies. Persistent issues for early career women scientists include unconscious gender biases among their peers, and balancing career and personal goals (for example, having children) in a highly competitive job market. Addressing these issues not only requires better proportional representation of women at all levels of academia, but also better understanding by all career scientists of how preconceived, subtle gender biases influence our decisions as mentors, employers, reviewers and letter-writers. Institutional change requires dialogue across the sexes, and I'm excited at the opportunities WiSci offers to learn more about what I can do to support gender equality at UGA and beyond.
Dr. Richard Hall, Ecology faculty
To me science is a fundamental human activity, and it seems all of us should strive to make science better reflect human diversity. Men have to be involved in this change as men are still most of the faculty and administrators in science - where the power lies. At the same time, it is clear that most men - even those who already consider themselves enlightened and interested in doing this - have a lot to learn about implicit bias and all the ways in which being a minority in science (whether by sex or ethnicity) comes with additional challenges like being over-used in committees (a vicious circle, since that is done to increase representation).
Dr. John Wares, Genetics faculty
With many more women enrolled in the sciences today, the concerns about fairness and equity are great than ever. Having strong group support will help. Having men and women talking with each other has to be part of any network because gender does matter. We need to listen and learn from another. As uncertain as the future is, there are ways to adapt and thrive!
Dr. Alan Covich, Ecology faculty
Membership is open to men and women in any science or engineering department at UGA. Undergraduate and graduate students, postdocs, faculty, and staff are all welcome. Only enrolled students who pay the student organization fees are eligible to be elected officers.
What does membership mean?
Being a member of WiSci means you are interested in attending the events that we organize throughout the year, or participating in our mentoring program. There are no dues required to join. There are no minimum required hours or involvement to be a member.
Why should men join WiSci?
I think that equality in the STEM fields is important and a major issue today. More women deserve to be at the head of their field (and research university) and contribute to the overall understanding of science. I am motivated by the great ideas that have been pushed to the wayside because women aren't given the opportunity to have these major research position and professorships.
Daniel Baker, Ecology PhD student
We are fortunate in UGA's Ecology program to have healthy representation of female graduate students, but (a) this is certainly not true in graduate programs across the sciences, and (b) there is still a disproportionately higher attrition rate for women in academia after their graduate studies. Persistent issues for early career women scientists include unconscious gender biases among their peers, and balancing career and personal goals (for example, having children) in a highly competitive job market. Addressing these issues not only requires better proportional representation of women at all levels of academia, but also better understanding by all career scientists of how preconceived, subtle gender biases influence our decisions as mentors, employers, reviewers and letter-writers. Institutional change requires dialogue across the sexes, and I'm excited at the opportunities WiSci offers to learn more about what I can do to support gender equality at UGA and beyond.
Dr. Richard Hall, Ecology faculty
To me science is a fundamental human activity, and it seems all of us should strive to make science better reflect human diversity. Men have to be involved in this change as men are still most of the faculty and administrators in science - where the power lies. At the same time, it is clear that most men - even those who already consider themselves enlightened and interested in doing this - have a lot to learn about implicit bias and all the ways in which being a minority in science (whether by sex or ethnicity) comes with additional challenges like being over-used in committees (a vicious circle, since that is done to increase representation).
Dr. John Wares, Genetics faculty
With many more women enrolled in the sciences today, the concerns about fairness and equity are great than ever. Having strong group support will help. Having men and women talking with each other has to be part of any network because gender does matter. We need to listen and learn from another. As uncertain as the future is, there are ways to adapt and thrive!
Dr. Alan Covich, Ecology faculty