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Women in Physics. A Conversation with Professor Margarete Mühlleitner
I think that girls should be given stronger introductions
to the natural sciences and to technology.
It would also be good to approach the girls in school
and encourage them to take part in this school experiment.
We should tell them: Believe in yourselves!
It’s important to encourage them.
I can see that having an effect.
Of course, you have role models that you can emulate.
Everyone wants to be on Deutschland sucht den Superstar [Germany’s Next Superstar],
or wants to be a supermodel, or goes after a career
as a super-professor, because they somehow like these role models.
What’s it like working as a woman in the male domain of physics?
I find it quite nice.
I like it.
Of course, I don’t know what it’s like to work in a female domain,
but I like working in the “male domain” of physics.
My colleagues are very nice.
I like how we have discussions.
It’s very uncomplicated.
Do you ever have the feeling that you’re treated differently — whether
positively or negatively — in certain situations because you’re a woman?
I can’t think of any example on the spot where I was treated poorly as a woman.
One possible disadvantage is the fact that I often have to go to events and meetings
because at least one woman needs to be present.
This takes up a good number of my working hours.
But on the other hand, this is also an advantage because it has familiarized
me with many different bureaucratic structures.
A further advantage is that one sticks out a bit more as a woman.
When I’m at a conference and deliver a talk,
people notice.
This makes it easier to become known and make a name for oneself.
On average, girls get better grades in school, have a better Abitur result,
and are also more likely to go to university.
Why are they still a minority in disciplines like physics?
That’s a difficult question.
I’ve thought about it quite a lot.
I don’t know if my answer is right.
Perhaps it has something to do with
how one grows up and is socialised.
Girls don’t get any Lego or chemistry sets
as Christmas gifts.
They don’t grow up with those things.
If you aren’t constantly confronted with technology,
mathematics, or science, it might not occur to you to study one
of those subjects in college.
And even if it does occur to you, you might not be confident enough
to go through with it because you don’t have any experience in those domains.
Those are possible explanations.
Can going into a research-intensive discipline such as particle physics
be compatible with having a family?
It has to be compatible with family life.
Researchers don’t want to live like hermits.
We want to have a family as well,
but it’s hard because we work a lot.
Researchers are constantly attending conferences,
and also have to travel abroad.
We do this gladly, but we still spend several years abroad.
This can only work if your partner is understanding and supports you through it.
Furthermore, it’s important to organize your days well,
and to spend your free time with your partner and your children.
Then it works.
Other countries, other customs?
Are there more women physicists outside of Germany?
I don’t know all the details,
but I did live in France for a while,
and there were more women physicists there.
There were also more women physicists in leadership positions.
I think this has something to do with
how women are supported in their family planning,
in particular with regard to child care.
This is important for women who want to have a career.
You can’t ask anyone to forgo a family.
If you want to have a career in science, you need to have support
in your family planning and organization.
They do this very well in France.
The structures are already there.
In France, there’s more acceptance of women who have both
a career and two or three children.
People don’t think of that as strange.
In Germany the situation is a bit different,
but I think that the attitudes are changing.
Over the past few years, the childcare options have increased here as well.
What advice do you give to your female undergraduate students and your female doctoral students?
Do you have any special tips for future women scientists?
None of my female undergraduates or doctoral students has ever asked for any tips,
but if they did, I think the main one that I would give them would be:
Do what you enjoy.
You’ll only truly be able to work a lot and be good at it if you enjoy it.
Have faith in yourselves!
Both are possible: family and the sciences.
And you need both of them in life.
One wants to have this wonderful profession as a physicist,
but one doesn’t want to forgo a family at the same time.
Many women are afraid. Can I manage it?
Until you have a child, you won’t know how it is.
And when you do have a child, then you’ll have plenty of energy to combine
a career with family life.
You can do it!
I have plenty of female colleagues who are successful even though they have children.
It’s important to encourage the female students.
Don’t hide your talents!
Don’t hide your talents!
People do this at the beginning because they can’t see the overall picture yet.
You can’t let yourself get discouraged.