“Understand that you can do it. Understand why you do it, then go for the little victories.”
“The only limitations are the ones you put on yourself.”
In 2014, only 3% of high school females showed interest in pursuing an engineering or technology degree compared to 31% of their male counterparts. PEMM has worked to create an environment where gender bias no longer factors in to the success of a student. In fact, almost 70% of the latest incoming class to the neuroscience track were women.Gender stereotypes continue to have staunch roots in STEM. Globally, 70% of people from 34 countries demonstrated an association of men with science and females with liberal arts. Not only does this not accurately represent the diversity in STEM fields, it affects the performance of women in these fields. The research uncovered a correlation between these stereotypes and decreased success of women in mathematics and science.
Women in the neuroscience track of the Program in Experimental and Molecular Medicine (PEMM) at Dartmouth are shattering these stereotypes and breaking the mold.
Neuroscience students Arielle Baker, third year in the Gulledge lab, Laurie Delatour, third year PhD in the Yeh lab and fifth year medical, Stephanie Getz, fourth year in the Luikart lab, and Emily Stephens, fifth year in the Gulledge lab, have all recently accomplished impressive feats in their respective fields.
Baker recently outcompeted many senior students to win a Top Speaker award at the University of Vermont Neuroscience meeting. She spoke about various neuronal outputs based on the chemicals, or neurotransmitters, they are exposed to. Contrary to classical theories, she has shown that cells programmed to be a certain way are actually malleable depending on their environment. “These neurotransmitters don’t have a specific action on neurons. It depends on what kind of specialized receptors the neurons express,” she explains.
Delatour studies the “effects of binge alcohol exposure to pyramidal neuron form and function that lead to fetal alcohol syndrome.” She was recently awarded an F30 NIH grant, which will fund her thesis research and her final years in medical school. After graduating, she plans to continue her work in pediatrics.
Getz was recently published for her study about the role of the drug Rapamycin in treating autism. The lab’s question was, “What can and cannot rapamycin fix?” Her answer: “We found it could rescue some phenotypes, but not others.” She hopes her work will help to discover an “underlying mechanism of phosphatase and tensin homolog (PTEN, a tumor suppressor) loss and neuronal dysfunction as it would be immensely helpful in treatment.” Currently, Rapamycin is in clinical trials for autism, but there is no pre-selection available to determine which patients will show progress after treatment. Determining the mechanism by which Rapamycin works and which phenotypes seen in autism can be corrected, it could help doctors determine which patients will benefit from this drug.
Stephens received a travel award from the National Institutes of Drug Abuse (NIDA), in order to travel to a more specialized research conference. She studies the effects of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) treatment on the functioning of neurons. Her research shows that, “with SSRI treatment, there is a reduction in the excitatory effect and an increase in the inhibition of neural activity.” For patients with chronic SSRI treatment, this would mean the serotonergic system would be imbalanced in the opposite direction, or unchanged, after treatment, which would undermine the purpose of taking an SSRI.
Clearly these women have demonstrated their expertise, but when discussing gender bias in science, they all voiced the necessity for progress. “Gender equality is fair and logical,” says Getz. Delatour elaborates “It would be a disservice to the public to have contributions be unequal.”
In 2014, only 3% of high school females showed interest in pursuing an engineering or technology degree compared to 31% of their male counterparts. These statistics indicate that a significant concern for gender equality in science is a lack of intrigue about the STEM fields among young women. Fortunately, these female scientists had thoughts about attracting more women to a STEM career path: “To encourage young women to go into science and stay in science we need to understand what is keeping them away from science. I think the lifestyle and daily demands of science are not conducive to the things women’s lifestyles necessitate, particularly in the age range of 25-30 years, like starting a family. More often than not women make the choice not to continue in academia while their partner does,” Stephens shares.
Baker agrees, “I think that there are a lot of preconceived disparities that discourage women from entering STEM. It is seen as required for you to work 12 hours a day, but that doesn’t really mesh with raising a family. Strides can be taken to provide women with resources by which pursuing a degree in science could be facilitated, such as childcare, paid maternity leave or even disbanding the idea that women stand as the maternal role in the home.”
Getz encourages all scientists: “Understand that you can do it. Understand why you do it, then go for the little victories.” Delatour agrees, “The only limitations are the ones you put on yourself.”
Baker’s inspiration to enter a STEM field is applicable to any woman in academia: “Whenever I see a woman standing in a sea of men at a seminar or in a department, I think so highly of her because she has broken the barriers that still exist for women in science. It really inspires me to continue forward despite the hardships or roadblocks in front of me in order to reach that point of equality in science.”
PEMM has worked to create an environment where gender bias no longer factors in to the success of a student. In fact, almost 70% of the latest incoming class to the neuroscience track were women. All scientists looking to pursue a career in STEM should expect a hard road ahead, but thanks to the hard work of advisors, principal investigators, and administration, women in the PEMM program at Dartmouth won’t have to expect excess hardship in the field.
Nosek, B.A. et. al. 2009. PNAS. 106(26): 10593-10597.
U.S. News. 2015. The U.S. News/Raytheon STEM Index Shows Gender and Racial Gaps Widening in STEM Fields.