Vol 86 Issue 3 jul–sep 2015
Glass ceilings & Monastic men Keeping Women in Science More than bums and backs: IEA 2015 Special
State of the nation:
Earth, Sea and Sky
15 years:
Young Tall Poppy Awards
How to subscribe
Subscribe and pay online at www.aips.net.au/aq-magazine/subscribe The subscription period is based on the calendar year: January to December - 4 issues per annum. Back copies will be forwarded.
Subscription Rates
Rates include GST. *GST does not apply on overseas subscriptions. Postage included in rate. Airmail used for overseas distribution.
AQ Individual and schools subscription AQ Individuals (Overseas) Individual Digital Subscription (through www.pocketmags.com.au)
$26 $35* $14.99
AIPS Membership includes AQ subscription
$88
Organisations (Australia) Organisations (Overseas – Asia & Oceania) Organisations (Overseas – Other than Asia)
$132 $145* $165*
AIPS Membership Overseas includes AQ subscription $110*
CONTENTS
AQ Vol 86 Issue 3 JUL–SEP 2015
14
32
8
28
36
3
14
28
To Create, not Cut:
Glass Ceilings and Monastic Men:
State of the Nation:
Keeping Women in Science
PROF Peter Klinken
DR Kate White, prof Carola Vinuesa, Prof Veena Sahajwalla, Sarah Terkes
32
26
Dr. Ildikò Szabo
15 Years of the Young Tall Poppy Awards Camille Thomson, Prof Pat Buckley
8 Ergonomics and Human Factors: More than Bums and Backs Assoc Prof Verna Blewett
Budget Reply Summary of major science announcements
IMAGE CREDITS: Please see article placements
3
Earth, Sea and Sky
Luminary: Dr Lauren Wright
36 Book Review Awakening: Four Lives in Art Review by Dr Juliette Peers
40 References COVER IMAGE: © kmlmtz66 - Fotolia.com
JUL–SEP 2015
AUSTRALIAN QUARTERLY
1
AQ
a word
Australian Quarterly
D
id you know that globally the number of male scientists outweighs female researchers at a rate of 71 per cent to 29? And that countries such as Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan have achieved gender parity in their research sectors, while in Australia many institutes have absolutely no women in senior science management roles?
Or that being a woman means you’re less likely to be an academic journal editor, or cited in high impact publications, or receive science prizes, be on a research board or be listed as a principal investigator? In this edition of AQ, Dr Kate White takes a good look at why Australia is struggling to keep women in science. We also hear from some of Australia’s most decorated female researchers to find out why Australian science needs to start nurturing its female talent rather than stifling it. And speaking of fostering Australian science, 2015 marks 15 years of the national Tall Poppy Campaign, which oversees one of Australia’s most respected science awards for communication and research. AQ investigates the Campaign that has helped shape some of this country’s science leaders. We are also proud to launch our new State of the Nation section that will see each of Australia’s Chief Scientists give us a bird’s eye view of the science landscape in their state. We begin with Prof Peter Klinken from Western Australia and the future he sees for the resource state. In August, Melbourne will play host to the International Ergonomics Association Conference 2015, so we take the time to look at the future of Human Factors and ask: What actually is Ergonomics? And once again our AQ-writer-at-large, Dr Lauren Wright sends in missives from Italy as she visits the lab of one of the world’s foremost experts in electrophysiology, for our new Luminary section. All that and more inside. If you have anything to say on any of the articles or issues, you can find us on Facebook (AQAustralianQuarterly) or send us a tweet on Twitter (@AQjournal). "Science is not a boy's game, it's not a girl's game. It's everyone's game. It's about where we are and where we're going.” – Nichelle Nichols, former NASA Ambassador and Star Trek actress.
Grant Mills
Editor
Notes for Contributors AQ welcomes submissions of articles and manuscripts on contemporary economic, political, social and philosophical issues, especially where scientific insights have a bearing and where the issues impact on Australian and global public life. All contributions are unpaid. Manuscripts should be original and have not been submitted or published elsewhere, although in negotiation with the Editor, revised prior publications or presentations may be included. Submissions may be subject to peer review. Word length is between 1000 and 3000 words. Longer and shorter lengths may be considered. Articles should be written and argued clearly so they can be easily read by an informed, but non-specialist, readership. A short biographical note of up to 50 words should accompany the work. The Editor welcomes accompanying images. Authors of published articles are required to assign copyright to the Australian Institute of Policy and Science, including signing of a License to Publish which includes acceptance of online archiving and access through JSTOR (from 2010) or other online publication as negotiated by the Australian Institute of Policy and Science. In return, authors have a non exclusive license to publish the paper elsewhere at a future date. The inclusion of references and endnotes is the option of the author. Our preference is for these to be available from the author on request. Otherwise, references, endnotes and abbreviations should be used sparingly and kept to a minimum. Articles appearing in AQ are indexed ABC POL SCI: A Bibliography of Contents: Political Science and Government. The International Political Science Abstracts publishes abstracts of political science articles appearing in AQ. Copyright is owned by the Australian Institute of Policy and Science. Persons wishing to reproduce an article, or part thereof, must obtain the Institute’s permission. Contributions should be emailed to: The Editor at info@aips.net.au
2
AUSTRALIAN QUARTERLY
JUL–SEP 2015
Editor: Grant Mills Assistant Editor: Camille Thomson Design: Art Graphic Design, ACT Printing: Newstyle Printing, SA Subscriptions: www.aips.net.au/aq-magazine/ subscribe enquiries to: Camille Thomson, General Manager, AIPS, PO Box M145, Missenden Road NSW 2050 Australia Phone: +61 2 9351 0819 Fax: +61 2 9351 0758 Email: info@aips.net.au Website: www.aips.net.au/ aq-magazine/ Facebook: www.facebook.com/ AQAustralianQuarterly ISSN 1443-3605 AQ (Australian Quarterly) is published by the Australian Institute of Policy and Science. This project is supported by the Commonwealth Government through a grant-in-aid administered by the Department of Finance and Deregulation. ACN 000 025 507 The AIPS is an independent body which promotes discussion and understanding of political, social and scientific issues in Australia. It is not connected with any political party or sectional group. Opinions expressed in AQ are those of the authors. Directors of the Australian Institute of Policy and Science: Richard G McLean (Chair) Leon R Beswick Andrew Goodsall Maria Kavallaris Janelle Kyd Ross McKinnon Peter M McMahon Peter D Rathjen Lance Twomey Robert Wells
Aside from administrating the Tall Poppy Campaign, The Australian Institute of Policy and Science is also the publisher of AQ: Australian Quarterly.
To Create, not Cut: 15 years of the Young Tall Poppy Award
Never has the ability to communicate science, and translate scientific endeavour, to a public audience been more important to a researcher’s work than it is today. Brave a quick search on Twitter for science-related terms and you’ll be witness to the breadth and scope of study, opinions and debate – some informed, others not-so-much. Almost 20 years ago The Australian Institute of Policy and Science (AIPS) recognised the need for wider public recognition of Australia’s leading scientists and the effective communication of their work into the mainstream. ARTICLE BY: Camille Thomson
I
n 1996, The Institute decided to use the anniversary of the birth of Sir Howard Florey, one of Australia’s Nobel Laureates, as an opportunity to shine a light on other scientific research leaders in the present day. This led to the creation of the Florey Medal to recognise lifetime achievements in Biomedical and Human Health Advancement. This Medal has recognised the life work of illustrious researchers such as Professor Graeme Clark, Professor Ian Frazer, Professor Robin Warren and Professor Barry Marshall. The
image: © Travel Oriented-Flickr
JUL–SEP 2015
AUSTRALIAN QUARTERLY
3
Ergonomics and Human Factors:
More than Bums and Backs This August Melbourne will see an influx of about 1200 human factors and ergonomics (HFE) specialists from around the world. The attraction is the Triennial International Congress of the International Ergonomics Association (IEA).1 Established in 1961, the IEA2 is the global peak body for human factors and ergonomics researchers and practitioners. The IEA Members are HFE societies from over 50 countries, including Australia’s HFE professional association, the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society of Australia (HFESA), which was established in 1964.3 ARTICLE BY: Dr Verna Blewett
I
n the public mind, HFE tends to be associated with bums and backs, health and safety at work, or those funny chairs you kneel on. But it’s much more than this. HFESA has been reflecting on where the profession has been, what it’s achieved and where it’s going. As part of this, it recently conducted a survey of its young members. Given that specialisation in HFE is largely a post-graduate activity, the Society defined ‘young’ as under 42. After all, as every galactic hitchhiker knows, HFE could just be the answer to life, the universe and everything!
image: © Ged Carroll-Flickr
8
AUSTRALIAN QUARTERLY
JUL–SEP 2015
Ergonomics and human factors
As every galactic hitchhiker knows, HFE could just be the answer to life, the universe and everything!
What is HFE all about? A description of the discipline is perhaps best left to current HFESA President and visual ergonomics specialist, Dr Jenny Long.
Ergonomics and human factors (the terms are synonyms) is commonly associated with workstations, backs and chairs, but it is a much broader discipline than this. The underlying principle of ergonomics is to achieve a balance between the capabilities and limitations of a person and the demands of the work/leisure environment. This can lead to improved comfort, safety and satisfaction with products, designs and systems. It addresses physical factors (e.g. the size of a chair, arrangement of a workstation), cognitive factors (e.g. presentation of information so that it can be easily comprehended, visual perception) and organisational factors (e.g. job design, work organisation, rest breaks and fatigue). In some ways the HFE profession is hidden because, although ergonomics and human factors knowledge is an intrinsic part of many industries and disciplines, it is not always labelled with these terms. The user-interface (UI) designer working to produce a user-friendly app, the industrial designer concerned with the useability of a product, the manager looking for the most effective way to involve the workforce in improving health and safety, and
the operations manager or control room designer who wants their control room to be safe and efficient, each use knowledge from HFE. However, it’s just as likely that they “do HFE without really thinking of it as HFE”. The lack of general awareness and understanding about HFE is a significant challenge for HFESA and its members. Australia’s HFE professionals have studied the HFE body of knowledge, usually at a graduate level. They generally have an underlying profession—engineering, psychology, science, medicine or allied health, design, management, or the social sciences—all are represented in the HFESA membership. So what differentiates a common or garden variety engineer, designer, health professional or manager from an HFE professional with an engineering, design, health or management background? Essentially it’s their worldview. The HFE professional takes a human-centred, systems approach to considering the nature of their work; they view the world through HFE-coloured glasses. Like any broad discipline, HFE has specialist areas. There are some obvious ones: automotive design, human-computer interaction, anthropometry (the measurement of the size and shape of people),4 aerospace, and safety and health at work, for example. The IEA has 26 Technical Committees that specialise in a range of sub-disciplines in HFE. Some that might be less obvious to the casual observer are: affective design, ergonomics for children and educational environments, agriculture, resources, organisational design and management, and process control.
The HFE professional takes a human-centred, systems approach to considering the nature of their work; they view the world through HFE-coloured glasses.
IMAGEs: freemindworks.com, Marcin Wichary-Flickr
JUL–SEP 2015
AUSTRALIAN QUARTERLY
9
Keeping women in science
Glass Ceilings and Monastic Men: Keeping Women in Science
Approximately 30 percent of research scientists world-wide are female. At first glance this figure is pretty shameful, but beneath that single percentage hides a raft of complexities. Unpack this 30 percent and you find that at PhD level in science in Australia, well over 50 percent of students are often female! Yet the higher up the chain you climb, the lower the rates of female participation become, often resulting in no women present in senior management roles. Moreover, if you look at the Australian Academy of Science only seven per cent of fellows are female. What is happening to stop women progressing to the heights of science leadership and what can be done to stop some of our country’s best minds from bumping against the glass ceilings of old? ARTICLE BY: Dr Kate White
T
he absence of women in science research, and particularly in science leadership, is a national issue with which many governments are currently grappling. A recent UK House of Commons committee report asserted that one compelling reason to keep women in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) ‘is that the UK economy needs more STEM workers and we cannot meet the demand without increasing the numbers of women in STEM’1, while an Australian inquiry into medical health research called for universities and research institutions to implement gender equity policies that would attract more women to science research2. Clearly governments have identified the negative impacts on the economy of
KATE WHITE is the author of Keeping Women in Science.
14
AUSTRALIAN QUARTERLY
JUL–SEP 2015
IMAGE: © Katrina Lawrence
the new book
Keeping women in science
Success is the best revenge: Prof Carola Vinuesa Article by: prof Carola Vinuesa
I
was fortunate to grow up with the best possible role model a young woman could have: a highly intelligent, hard-working and generous mother, who managed to maintain a successful academic career while raising four children, in a conservative country at that time (Spain), where women were not encouraged to work. I studied Medicine, travelled widely and believed the sky was the limit for me professionally; never had it occurred to me that gender would make a difference to my career. I was 30 when I arrived in Australia, and the world had rolled into the 21st century. Although all the gender-related stresses I have faced during the last 10 years cannot be attributed only to maternity, it was unequivocally the birth of my children that made me realise that the mysterious glass ceiling sadly did exist. And it was a pretty visible one too. The first glimpse came when, immediately after the birth of my first daughter, I found myself having to write fellowship and grant applications to secure my salary and funds for my starting research group. It had never occurred to me that I would not be able to find the time to do much writing during maternity leave, or that I would feel
IMAGE: Š Mark Chew
20
AUSTRALIAN QUARTERLY
JUL–SEP 2015
so exhausted and stressed that it would in any case become practically impossible to do it. I was struck with the unfairness of a national funding system that only offers a single deadline for grant submissions each year, which in my case, happened to occur very close after the birth of each of my daughters. My career mattered to me, my research had become an important and exciting part of my life, and I believed that what I was doing could make a difference to people suffering from immune diseases or chronic infections. A simple solution (that my mother had taught me by example) was clear to me: look for help. Given that I had no family in Australia, I was ready to pay for help that could free up some of my time so I could keep my research team going. First surprise: I had never anticipated it would be such a struggle to negotiate dedicating part of my salary to pay for home-help. A possible solution magically appeared while I was pregnant with my second daughter: a competitive cash prize was announced that would be awarded to a Spanish scientist overseas. I was extremely happy to be told I was the winner but discrimination kicked in: I was made ineligible when I told the awarding pharmacological company that I could not fly overseas to receive the prize because I was heavily pregnant.