Sorina Chiorean (left) and Meagan Oakley (right) are co-chairs of UAlberta Women in Chemistry, Photo credit: Anis Fahandej-Sadi
"When you don't see yourself represented, it's hard to imagine yourself achieving the same goals. It can be really challenging," explained Sorina Chiorean, PhD student studying chemical biology.
Whether that representation is in the classroom, at a conference, or in the workplace, diversity is an ongoing concern for students, faculty, and staff in STEM fields--and the University of Alberta's Department of Chemistry is no exception, with 5 out of 35 female faculty members.
"What this highlights is that gender diversity is a multi-faceted problem," says Margaret-Ann Armour, associate dean (diversity) who taught in the department for nearly 30 years. "If there were only one or two problems keeping us from getting more women on faculty, we'd have solved them by now. But it's much more complex than that."
Armour has actively worked to address the gender imbalance in her role as associate dean (diversity) since 2005. Armour's first step in her new role was to create Project Catalyst, a series of 13 initiatives designed to increase the diversity of the Faculty of Science.
Grassroots initiative
Recognizing that change is slow and wishing to help move the needle, a group of like-minded graduate students and faculty came together in April 2017, with support from the Department of Chemistry, to form UAlberta Women in Chemistry (UAWIC), a group focused on promoting diversity and a culture of inclusivity in the field.
Co-chairing the group are Chiorean and Meagan Oakley, a PhD student studying computational chemistry.
"The main focus of the group is to support women in our department," explained Oakley. "We wanted to give a platform to graduate students and the female faculty-including visiting speakers-to have informal conversations about the issues we all face, like gender equality or lack of diversity."
"We also want to present the student body with diverse career options outside of professorships, such as technicians, support staff, and working in various industries," added Chiorean.
Like-minded individuals
Thus far, UAWIC has focused on hosting meet-and-greet sessions with visiting female professors, panel discussions with women in industry, workshops, and fundraising events for the group. This spring, they're kicking things up a notch, hosting the second annual LOGIC conference, a precursor to the annual Canadian Society for Chemistry conference, being held in Edmonton this May.
"LOGIC stands for Leaders Overcoming Gender Inequality in Chemistry," explained Chiorean. "The theme of this year's conference is paving a path for career in chemistry. We wanted to showcase diverse career paths outside of the usual professorship track. We've targeted alumni, as well as local and regional experts with diversity in mind."
LOGIC 2018 will include a panel discussion, workshops, and invited talks, as well as networking sessions.
"Having a platform for these informal discussions is a necessity," said Oakley. "You wouldn't just walk up to a professor and ask, 'So, what was it like when you had kids?' or 'How did you succeed in a largely male-dominated field?' Many of our invited speakers give students insight into day-to-day experiences and work-life balance as a woman in science. These discussions give us a place to talk about personal and professional lives, as well as a chance to learn from each others failures and achievements."
Interested in attending LOGIC 2018? Learn more on the UAWIC website, or register here.