In December I went along to the British Ecological Society Annual Meeting which took place in Birmingham. This was the second time that I was fortunate enough to attend as an associate editor (for Methods in Ecology and Evolution, MEE). MEE feels a bit 'like home' to me, as I used to work as the journal coordinator when the journal was founded. Conferences and meeting are always places where I go to catch up on the latest science, but the BES Annual Meeting is doubly special because the society's scope is broad enough to encompass a huge variety of topics, from urban and population ecology to quantitative ecology and policy. This also means that the Annual Meeting is an opportunity to meet colleagues, friends and in general to network. This year, as I usually do, I went along to the Women Networking event. As I sat with other women, some of whom had already taken part in the society's Women in Science mentoring scheme, I felt a mixture of excited and daunted as I take on my new role as senior mentor for returners to science. Women like me, who have taken a carrier break and are hoping to come back to academia, have joined the newly-established peer-group mentoring opportunity to share their experiences and talk about the common challenges that come with balancing caring responsibilities and a professional life. Of course there is no magic wand to strike the perfect balance, but I really believe that having a peer network and talking to other people who have made that transition, may help others find new perspectives or just get useful tips on how to cope. I remember reading just that in Every Other Thursday (by Ellen Daniell), a book describing how a group of women scientist met regularly to be a sounding board, to share experiences, to wind down and feel at ease with others who shared the same challenges. I do hope that the returners to science peer-mentoring group will be that sounding board for those trying to come back to academia after a break.
0 Comments
|
AuthorGraziella Iossa Archives
August 2023
Categories
All
|