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Baroness Susan Greenfield hosted by OxWip

21 February 2005 — Baroness Susan Greenfield, renowned neuroscientist and recipient of the Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) presented a talk entitled Women Succeeding in Science: Against the Odds.

Speaking to a crowded lecture theatre, she engaged the predominantly female audience through an initial discussion of the brain itself. She differentiated between the brain (the physical composition of matter) and the mind (synaptic connections created through experiences), and showed how those connections changed over the course of a lifetime. She spoke of the idea of a male brain and a female brain, categorized based on the empathy quotient (female) and the systemising quotient (male) and cited a recent study which indicated for every 10 men, six will have a male brain, two will have a balanced brain, and two will have a female brain. Interestingly, for every 10 women, four will have the female brain, four will have the balanced brain, and two will have a male brain.

These comments were partially in response to criticism she had received for calling the President of Harvard a “toe rag”, following his comments about women not being physiologically suited to be scientists. No stranger to the press, Greenfield peppered her presentation with stories of her media encounters both as a professional (with Cherie Blair and the Queen through her role as director of the Royal Institute of Science) and as an individual (through the publicized breakup of her marriage and the press' subsequent obsession with her wardrobe).

She spoke candidly about her experiences as a child, and her teenage disinterest in science. She was critical of the way science is taught in schools, and that those experiences tend to related to pouring liquids from one vial to another, rather than examining real scientific issues. She stressed the importance of female interest in science, and the changing face of female reproduction through future scientific innovation (surrogate mothers, fertility drugs, cloning, growing children outside the womb, embryonic DNA recombination from same sex parents).

Using a number of empirical studies, she highlighted the inequalities between men and women in both the professional and academic realms. She showed trends that indicated females in science were increasingly absent at each higher level (graduate degrees, post doctoral appointments, professorships, professional jobs), and that the scale of perception of quality was skewed for peer reviewed articles written by females.

She was clear that despite her criticisms, she has encountered many males who are supportive of both her and of women in science as a whole; her critique was of the system and those who supported it rather than of men in general. She did however offer the advice to “never let men see you cry”, and suggested laughing in the face of criticism (and crying in the loo later) was the best tactic. She also cautioned against the overprotective male, who whilst well intentioned, subsequently places the woman in the subordinate role. She encouraged the women to avoid “impostering”, a syndrome where one feels that the roles/career opportunities/awards received are not merited (thus one is an “imposter” rather than the real thing). She was adamant that women should recognize their merits and acknowledge that they deserve their success.

The presentation was received enthusiastically by the audience, and Greenfield fielded a number of questions from the audience. Following the talk, she attended and intimate dinner organized by OxWip in the Paneled Room at New College. Attendance was limited to a dozen OxWip members who had been selected through a lottery.

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