Challenges for women in Synthetic Biology #1 - Dora Tang
While strengthening the European synthetic biology community, we at EUSynBioS are committed to equal opportunities and diversity. Despite being a young field, synthetic biology currently demonstrates a strong gender bias [1], following other disciplines and reaffirming the global trend with only 30% of all leader positions being female [2].
Fortunately, this bias is showing signs of changing, thanks to more and more action and awareness in the science community. For example, we can acknowledge the work of SynbioBeta [3] and iGEM Paris Bettencourt 2013 [4], which highlighted the challenges of being a woman in synthetic biology. However, this progress is still very slow.
With the aim to raise awareness of gender bias, too, and to get an idea of the current challenges women can face during their careers, we are starting a new blog post series to highlight leading women in synthetic biology.
For our first blog post, we interviewed Dora Tang who leads a research group at the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics in Dresden, Germany.
Dora Tang. © MPI-CBG
What is your career path and how did you become involved with synthetic biology?
I have always been interested in working at the interfaces of different subjects. At school when I was choosing a degree I wanted to do both art and chemistry and thought that becoming an art conservator would be the best option for me. I went to art school to do an art foundation and then went on to do a degree in Chemistry with Conservation Science at Imperial College London. I really enjoyed my modules in physical chemistry and decided to finish my MSci in physical chemistry rather than Conservation Science. During this time, I was still very much involved in art and went back to art school (The Slade School of Fine Art, London) after my MSci for 6 months to explore how art practice could be used effectively in science research and vice versa. I continued to work with these ideas whilst doing my PhD in the Membrane Biophysics group at Imperial College where I studied the dynamics of curved interfaces in lipid membranes. Following my PhD (2010), I worked at Diamond Light Source for one year as a Knowledge Transfer Secondee and then started a Post-doc, in 2011, with Stephen Mann at Bristol University. For the first part of my post-doc I worked in the area of Origin of Life, specifically how the first cells might have formed on prebiotic earth. For a second post-doc I joined the BrisSynBio centre at Bristol University and engineered communication pathways between artificial cells. In 2016 I started my independent lab at the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics, Dresden, Germany as part of the MaxSynBio network. Our current research is focused on the bioinspired design and construction of dynamic or out-of-equilibrium protocellular systems. We use an interdisciplinary approach to understand and exploit the chemical and physical approaches which drive molecular organization to cells and tissues in order to controllably construct novel out-of-equilibrium protocellular systems.
Have you encountered difficulties during your career which were (directly or indirectly) linked to gender bias and how you managed to overcome them?
Within our society values are intertwined with culture and tradition, there are underlying stereotypes and expectations for how women should behave. This can be difficult if social expectations are different to one’s own. My decision to move cities and countries for new positions was not always understood by the people (society) around me. By moving for my work, I did not fulfill societal expectations of getting married and having children; or supporting a partner in the pursuit of their career; or as a second-generation immigrant of Chinese origin - staying close to my family and taking care of older family members. It was not easy to be confronted by this but understanding my reasons and motivations for taking particular steps enabled me to make the right decisions for me. I am blessed to have friends and family who may not agree with what I do but did and will support me nonetheless.
During the early stage of my career, in the UK, I felt that the infrastructure was not conducive for a decent work-life balance for women in nearly all professions. There was little to no support for dual career partnerships; childcare is expensive compared to salaries, making it not cost-effective for two parents to be working, often leaving the mother to stay at home to take over most of the child-care. Now I live in Dresden in Germany which is a city with a brilliant infrastructure and a social understanding for supporting women in the work place with cheap and accessible childcare and good parental leave benefits. I think it is important that governments and local councils play a role in providing infrastructure that enable women to balance their career and personal/family lives.
I have experienced gender related stereotyping and discrimination in the workplace. A colleague, on repeated occasions undermined my performance and abilities amongst my peers on account of me being a woman and non-white. On the whole, negative experiences derived from gender or race have been rare for me. I feel lucky that this was my experience as this may not have been the case for all female colleagues in science. My PhD and Post-doc supervisors and mentors (all men) fostered an interaction where I never considered that gender was an issue. I believe that it should always be like this. It was also reassuring to know that the majority of my colleagues, when discussing work place gender related discrimination did not find this behaviour acceptable and would have a low opinion of those people who did discriminate based on gender or race.
If present, which are the challenges linked to gender bias currently affecting you?
In my view, a current challenge is to find the best way to increase gender equality in science. The issue is complex and multifaceted. The implementation of the “wrong” measures will have negative effects and could increase the gender gap further whilst reducing the quality of the science. For example, measures to increase women in leadership positions have the right objective but could also lead to the alienation of men. Some may argue that women always had fewer opportunities and now this has to be done to balance the system. I do not believe that alienating men will reduce gender bias. Everyone (all genders) should be sensitized to the issues; included in the discussion and active in increasing gender equality at work and at home. Diversity in the work place, an inclusive and collaborative work environment and shared responsibilities at home are central for us to make innovations and progress in science, now and in the future. This is why it is of vital importance that we invest in making improvements in equality to ensure that we and the next generation of scientists continue to innovate in science for our society.
How do you wish the situation to be in the future and what measures do you think are needed to get there?
In the future I hope to see no barriers for anyone wishing to pursue a career in science. This may not necessarily mean that we will see an even distribution of genders represented in science. The barriers which may prevent women from progressing in science are dependent on the scientific field, the institute as well as the country within which the science is being undertaken. Therefore, institutions and professional bodies should be responsible for identifying the barriers based on data and statistics. Measures can be implemented to reduce the barriers and the outcomes of these measures should be assessed to see whether new measures should be put in place. Governments and funding bodies and learned societies can play a role supporting the measures with money. Pots of money can be incredibly useful for supporting child care, support for parental leave or training courses which could benefit young scientists. Incorporation of gender equality training and practice in the work place could be a mandatory part of good scientific practice. Penalties for those that do not to adhere to the guidelines could be implemented to reduce gender related harassment or discrimination.
Which kind of advice can you give to young women ?
- Don’t be a victim, if you experience discrimination or harassment then seek the courage to find the necessary support. This can be support from friends and/or from more official channels which should be available in your work place. You do not have to deal with it alone.
- Look for and take opportunities. Training as a scientist can open many doors and avenues for a varied and stimulating career in a wide range of contexts: business, governance, academia, industry to name a few. Be active and open in looking for opportunities for the next steps.
- Know yourself. Understanding your motives will allow you to make informed decisions for your career and personal life and give you conviction when you may need to step outside of the box.
- Mentorship. Having good mentors will support your path to a successful career.
Literature
1. Pablo Schyfter, 2020, Gender in synthetic biology: problems and potential, EMBO rep, https://doi.org/10.15252/embr.201949049
2. http://uis.unesco.org/en/topic/women-science, 13.05.2020
3. https://synbiobeta.com/category/entrepreneurship/diversity-and-inclusion/ , 13.05.2020
4. http://2013.igem.org/Team:Paris_Bettencourt/Human_Practice/Gender_Study , 13.05.2020