Researcher spotlight CPC member Athina Vlachantoni celebrated for UN’s Women in Science Day
For others, the worry and uncertainty coupled with new caring responsibilities or living arrangements have caused stress, leading to lack of sleep and possible long-term physical and mental health implications. Professor Vlachantoni has been at the forefront of many of these new studies as a member of CPC and the Centre for Research on Ageing at the University of Southampton. As we have seen earlier in this edition, her research examines the roles of those in the ‘sandwich generation’ - those supporting both children and parents – as well as unpaid carers and how we can support people through longer lives and the intergenerational exchanges that are happening as a result. Below we find out more about her career and what it means to be a woman in science.
CPC member, Professor Athina Vlachantoni, is a Professor of Gerontology and Social Policy at the University of Southampton. In February, she was interviewed by the Southampton Daily Echo as part of the celebrations for the United Nations’ (UN) International Day of Women and Girls in Science. Set up by the UN in 2015, 11 February marks the annual celebration of the critical role women and girls play in science and technology. The day also recognises that women and girls continue to be excluded from participating fully in science, with women making up less than 30 per cent of researchers worldwide. According to UNESCO data (2014 - 2016), only around 30 per cent of all female students select STEM-related fields (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) in higher education. The aim of marking this day is to help achieve full and equal access to and participation in science for women and girls, and further realise gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls. This year’s theme for Women in Science Day was Women Scientists at the forefront of the fight against Covid-19. Many of our CPC researchers have changed their research focus since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, investigating what the pandemic restrictions have meant for UK families. Covid-19 lockdowns have seen families living in ways never before experienced. For some, more time together seems to have improved relationships between partners and with their children, providing a welcome positive outcome from the crisis.
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Welcome Athina, can you please explain your role? I am Professor of Gerontology and Social Policy at the University of Southampton. Gerontology is the study of ageing over the life course, and social policy is about individuals’ and families’ needs in society and how the welfare state can address them. My day-to-day work is a combination of teaching, research and administration. I teach postgraduate students and supervise PhD students. I work alone and with colleagues to examine key research questions in several areas related to areas like informal care provision, health inequalities, pension protection among minority ethnic groups, intergenerational support and social care. And I have a number of senior administrative roles, for example I am Director of Programmes for the Department of Gerontology, and also Director of a partnership between Southampton, Brighton and Portsmouth Universities, which awards MSc and PhD scholarships every year. What do you love most about the work you do? There are two bits of my work that I really like, and both of them have to do with working with other people. I love working with colleagues, for example in research. Being part of a research team means that the team collectively draws on different people’s strengths, and that’s really rewarding when we are successful. For example, one of the teams I work with was recently awarded a national prize by the Economic and Social Research Council, who fund much of our research, for the
impact of our research work on society. This was one of the top three highlights of my career so far. Belonging to a team also helps when we are not successful, because we can reflect on what we can improve together, and come back stronger, whether it is an article or grant rejection. And I love working with students – literally every single time I teach, I am learning something new. What is it like being a woman in science – and what has changed since you started? I am a woman in social science, which I think is quite different from being a woman in the natural sciences. I have been part of all-women teams, and part of teams where I was the only woman. I genuinely think that individuals’ personalities and ways of working are more important than their gender. I think probably the only difference, and it’s a big one, is that I have seen more women openly juggling their work with caring responsibilities, and being more vocal about their rights and challenges. Men do a lot of caring too, but they are less vocal about it, and I think that’s something that has been changing since I started. I also think that social sciences are far less hierarchical than when I started, there is more space for established views to be challenged, and that’s a good thing. What advice would you give to any young girl or woman looking to get into the field? My key piece of advice would be to speak to people who are one step ahead in their career (as opposed to a decade ahead), in order to get different views about what is needed for that next step. What are the costs and what are the benefits? This is especially important at key points of the life course when one’s career has to be juggled alongside other things, like investing in a relationship, trying for a family or caring for different people in one’s family.
This interview is an excerpt from an article in The Southern Daily Echo, published 11 February 2021.
