• Question: What challenges did you face when going into your career?

    Asked by anon-316121 on 16 Mar 2022.
    • Photo: TJ Preston

      TJ Preston answered on 16 Mar 2022:

      I didn’t really know how to apply my training (physics and chemistry) to a job that I wanted to do. I am still figuring out how to contribute to society while doing research.

    • Photo: Ian McKinley

      Ian McKinley answered on 17 Mar 2022:

      It may seem strange nowadays, but when I was young discrimination in science was mainly about religion and “class”. As a catholic from a working class background, this was definitely a barrier to promotion in the Scientific Civil Service (although it would have been even worse if I was a woman). I was thus very happy to get away from all of that nonsense when I moved to Switzerland – something that I have never regretted (even though I still struggle with German as the local language).

    • Photo: Alice Newman

      Alice Newman answered on 17 Mar 2022: last edited 17 Mar 2022 8:16 am

      Speaking as a woman in science, thankfully none! I enjoyed Chemistry at College and went on to study this at University where again, we had about 25% female students – however I never felt any discrimination for being in the minority.

      I’m now lucky to work in a company where we are about 65% women on site, and have had some fantastic female managers throughout the last 10 years, all showing that its possible to succeed in your career and have a family.

    • Photo: Lucy Jones

      Lucy Jones answered on 17 Mar 2022:

      I found it challenging to get my first job in science. There was a lot of competition for the roles I applied for, so I had to learn how to deal with some of my applications being unsuccessful. I tried to learn as much as I could from this process and it really developed my resilience.

    • Photo: Veselina Georgieva

      Veselina Georgieva answered on 17 Mar 2022:

      Well, a lot to be honest – changing completely different countries and dealing with the changes of administration and way of living was very difficult – and this happened 3 times. Also, at some moments I didn’t have enough money to have a normal life. However, with every challenge I was able to deal it and I become a better and stronger person.

    • Photo: Amit Vernekar

      Amit Vernekar answered on 18 Mar 2022: last edited 18 Mar 2022 4:49 am

      None. However, adopting the newer procedures while moving from one institute to other is a bit challenging.

    • Photo: Mohanad Aldib

      Mohanad Aldib answered on 18 Mar 2022:

      You geographic location could be a challenge, especially if you already established a family in an area that does not offer many opportunities in your field of knowledge/ experience.

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