Question: have you ever been discriminated in the science world because you are female?

Nikki D'Arcy answered on 14 Mar 2016:

Hi, thanks for your question. That’s a hard one. Never really overtly but there still can sadly be a culture of what’s called an ‘Old Boys Network’. I tend to find there are a lot of women in my field but the ‘top’ jobs still seem to be occupied by men. I was asked once when I applied for a PhD if I planned to ‘go off and have babies’!!! That is none of anyone else’s business and if I decided to, it would not make me any less able to do my job! So, yes, that was discriminatory (and I think illegal to actually ask). There was another time when a boy in the lab got given all the good jobs by our mutual boss. I complained to his boss and got given more work by the bigger boss. So I think it is there, maybe people don’t realise they are doing it but there are many measures in place to prevent it happening or to address it if it does.