see
Clare Elwell and Petra Schwille exchange views on breaking female stereotypes in science
Swapping notes on how to thrive as topranking female physicists in a male-dominated environment, Petra Schwille and Clare Elwell
Munich, Germany, and works on fundamental processes in cells. London-based Clare is more applications-focussed,
developing
instruments
that help doctors solve medical problems. They discuss why so few women occupy the top jobs women by saying: you’re as good as everyone
Clare Elwell Both women have developed their own strategies to defy the trend. you feel a bit fragile, but you know you’ve got to
Gender Stereotypes
get on with it.”
Petra describes herself as naturally quite shy. At
Despite 21st century expectations, dated female stereotypes are not yet a thing of the past. When
school, however, she clocked a male friend who
Clare was asked to be on an expert panel, she
was always dominant and outspoken largely to his
session started and this chap came up to me, gave me a pile of papers and said to me ‘oh excellent,
I never stopped. You have to be a bit on the cool
we’ve been waiting for the photocopying to be
side, not showing your feelings too much.”
done’. It became evident over the course of the day but I mean, what a desperately awful assumption to make.”
you’re doing. And there might be points where
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