Post by Véronique Paris

In the spirit of International Women’s Day I thought I share a couple of “out of pocket” comments as a woman in Science. I am very lucky to have great mentors in Jens Rolff and Ary Hoffmann who are not only big supporters of women but also gave me the confidence throughout different parts of my career to know my stance, so I want these kinds of comments to stop being a normal experience. 1️⃣ “When you finish studying you’ll be in your 30s, and people like me with real jobs will be 10 years ahead of you.” This one came from a manager who replaced someone fantastic who actually respected that I was a student. I was there to do a great job but my degree was my priority. The new one didn’t understand why I wouldn’t skip university classes to cover last-minute shifts and called me “not a team player” when I wouldn’t. I actually learned a lot about people management from that job. 2️⃣ “So, do you want kids? What about your career?” Can we please stop asking women questions like this in the workplace? Or anybody really. Some women can’t have children. Some don’t want children. Some are trying and worried about their career. None of this is small talk with a random colleague while waiting in line for coffee. 3️⃣ “Your husband helps a lot at home...wow” We both work full time and we both run our household. I’m not the household manager and he’s not my assistant. This language needs to change. 4️⃣ “You just got this because you are a woman.” This one comes up when a woman wins a position, grant, or award. Somehow it couldn’t possibly be because she was the best candidate… honestly, saying things like that mostly exposes jealousy. I increasingly call these things out when they happen because I don’t want to just keep smiling things away. I want younger women entering science to feel confident and supported, not have their confidence chipped away by comments like these. So if you hear things like this happening, call it out too.