Nour, one of the ‘Sisters of Science’: I have to fight with twice the strength

We leave everything inside The ins and outs Seeing the life of a scientist, ”she explains.“ In this way we hope to inspire others, for example more women, to choose this path as well. ”Noor notices that she has fewer women around her in her field.” In general, women are more educated than men, But you often don’t see them progressing after getting your master’s degree. ”

From left to right: Lott Schroders, Mimi Den Ogil and Noor Abdul Hussein.

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More women

There are several reasons why this might happen, according to the PhD candidate. “A PhD (the highest academic degree a person can get, editor), for example, takes four years. It will take ten years before you get a permanent position at university. I think a lot of women don’t want to do that because of their biological clock, For example. “

“I also think things really go wrong in high school. In my opinion, girls are not yet sufficiently encouraged to go into science. I don’t think many people know this is possible. For example, Lott once gave homework guidelines.” In high school, the children – most of them from a non-Western background – met a small number of women who were studying at the university who did not fit the stereotype. They did not know they existed. If you can’t see it, you can’t be it, Do you understand?”

Sisters in Science finds it important to create new paradigms in this way. And they are urgently needed, according to their own experiences. “Lott works as a junior teacher and is sometimes afraid to be seen as less intelligent, because she teaches as a” only “woman. While she is an analytical chemist like us, she also has a master’s degree.

On Instagram, women explain, among other things, the path you can take within the university:

Prejudices

“I personally notice that I have to fight twice as hard to prove myself,” Nour explains. “I am a woman in an experimental stage with a non-western background and I wear the hijab. Non-Western youth are often portrayed negatively in the media. There are many non-Western guys who show that this image is correct. But I am there too. For example, I was in One day speaking at a conference and a guy who was also a speaker came to me. He asked if I could help him with anything, but I said I don’t know either. Then he said, “Oh, aren’t you a volunteer?” No, I was one of the speakers. He wasn’t expecting So he continued straight away. “

Nour is used to these reactions, but they are not pleasant. “It’s still annoying. As a woman wearing a hijab your skin is thicker anyway, because it happens a lot. With an Instagram account I hope to realize that it has become normal for you to meet people like us in academia. We also want to expand it. It’s not just more Women are not only in science, but it also needs to become more diverse. The absence of such a role model has made us question our career choice. And sometimes still. We hope we can inspire others in this way. “

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