Xiaomeng (Mona) Xu

Xiaomeng (Mona) XU nominated by bianca acevedo

Dr Xiaomeng (Mona) Xu was born in Fuling, China, and immigrated to the United States when she was five. Shortly after, she conducted her first-ever scientific experiment. Her parents, in an attempt to familiarise her with American culture, told her the story of the tooth fairy. But Mona found this implausible, so implausible that when one of her baby teeth fell out, she slipped it under her pillow without uttering a word to anyone. It was still there the next day. Then she told her parents about the tooth and the following morning she found some coins in its place. Her conclusion: the tooth fairy couldn’t possibly exist. And since that early show of inquisitiveness, she has risen to her current position as Assistant Professor of Psychology at Idaho State University. Her research focuses on cardiovascular and behavioural health – such as weight control, smoking and physical activity – close relationships, especially romantic ones, and fMRI neuroimaging. She conducted the first study of non-Western people in romantic love using fMRI. She took fMRI scans of Chinese couples at the beginning of their relationship and 40 months after, and found neural correlates of relationship longevity and happiness.

I ask Mona if she is optimistic that there will be more women leaders in science in the future. She is. “More and more people are talking about gender imbalance, and that has changed considerably during my lifetime. One fascinating recent development is the research being done on gender bias. It’s really important to be aware that biases exist and that they might exist in you - even if you’re a woman or a minority. Are you doing well partly because you are buying into a culture that causes prejudice against women? If so, how do you address that?”

Personal Influence

When Mona decided to take her current position at Idaho State University, the fact that the Psychology Department had a female chair and the college had a female dean greatly influenced her decision to work there. “It certainly is discouraging when you go to a place and there are no women in leadership positions. You start wondering why that might be. It’s important to have women in power, who are not just doing the job, but have really strong vision and think big.”

But Mona says that women as a minority are likely to be more cautious. “That’s not great for science because you have a lot of people who hold back. Women as a minority are less likely to negotiate for things they need, to speak up, to take risks in their work. And certainly that caution is understandable, but it makes a lot of difference in terms of how things come out, who applies for grants, awards and leadership positions – even if you think there’s no chance – and who ultimately gets them.”

Make paternity leave automatic. So that once you adopt a child or have a baby, everyone gets it and you have to opt out.

Mona Xu

Paternal Leave

So how can we address the issue that there are fewer women in leadership positions in science? “Make paternity leave automatic. So that once you adopt a child or have a baby, everyone gets it and you have to opt out, as opposed to having to dig up the paperwork or make a special request to get it in the first place. I would love to see a family-friendly culture where men feel it’s ok to take paternity leave – or where paternity leave is even offered.”

She says that Caryl Rusbult, an experimental social psychologist at the VU University Amsterdam, who passed away in 2010, has been an enormous influence on her. “She’s contributed to the field of Social Psychology immensely, and she’s had a tremendous impact on the students she’s mentored. Even after she was diagnosed with terminal cancer, she kept her lab running and attended conferences and talks, especially by graduate students and young people, as if nothing was different. She was always really encouraging and excited to hear about new science.”

Longing to Feel Stupid

One thing that has driven Mona in her career is the opportunity to feel stupid. “The reason why you go into science is to get the opportunity to feel really stupid, and then learn something. It’s a wonderful feeling. You’re not learning something by rote and trying to be the best memoriser. You’re wandering into the unknown. And you’re going to fail a lot, get rejected and struggle. It’s not pleasant, but it’s very fulfilling. If my contribution is to be able to point out that I was really dumb on some things and only found dead ends that other people don’t have to find anymore, that’s perfectly fine.”

“This little stuffed sheep – Quantum Sheep – was the senior mascot for my class in high school. Whenever I feel down, I look at Quantum Sheep and think: ‘This is how I felt all through school. Even working my hardest I could barely keep up. But I survived it and got the chance to be surrounded by brilliant people, to be challenged at every turn, to feel stupid.”

Mona Xu