Physics outreach event preparation: Looking for feedback

[nanila]

In about a week, I'm supposed to be opening a "Girls Into Physics" event at a sixth-form college with a 20-25 minute talk. The aim of the day-long event, which includes break-out discussion groups and practical activities, is "to show girls how studying physics at A-level and beyond at university can open up career possibilities that they probably haven't thought of and that it's not just a male industry." The organizers asked me not to use PowerPoint, which I'm okay with as I try not to use PP excessively anyway, but it's challenging trying to prepare. I've attempted to write an outline, but I find I keep thinking of clever ways to phrase things and I start scripting, which is incredibly boring. Anyway, I'm looking for a bit of help here.

I'm planning to structure the talk as follows :

1. Introduction - What I Do Now (5 minutes max): Start with Saturn & its rings and moons. Move to the spacecraft (Cassini) with its science instruments. Describe the magnetometer instrument. Explain why measuring magnetic fields is useful as their interactions propagate at levels we can detect to distances beyond other effects (example: Enceladus). Finish by describing my duties as operations & archive engineer.
   
   
2. Background - How I Got Here (5 minutes): Brief bio of childhood in Hawai'i (helps motivate desire to travel). However, not born knowing I wanted to be a scientist (examples before age of 14: writer, veterinarian, translator). In high school - their age - found ability not a limitation. When interested in everything, how to choose? Picked science & maths because seemed most practical. Let other interests take a back seat as hobbies. First two years at uni tumultuous, but found a strong mentor - female - who helped me focus and find that I wanted to study chemical physics as a postgraduate.
   
   
3. Experiences - Formative People & Events (7 minutes): First, role models, such as a (male) PhD supervisor who made an effort to recruit women. It works. Five years in his group & always had equal numbers. Touch briefly on rare incidents being discouraged by narrow-minded individuals. Issue not so much their gender - though all were male - but use of rank & position to intimidate. Second, supportive colleagues. Am a strongly cooperative person and learned to seek groups where I knew I'd find more collaboration than competition. Third, deciding to quit after my first post-doc and return after a year to a completely different field. Fourth, moving to another country, and staying, made possible by my education. These last two were liberating and also made me realize how useful my skills were, not just in a specific field but everywhere.
   
   
4. Recommendations - Points I Hope They Take Away (2-3 minutes max): First, seek supportive mentors. Don't be afraid to keep looking until you find someone who's a good fit for you in terms of learning style as well as your educational/research interests. Second, remember you’re doing this because you want to. You have an interest in it. There’s nothing wrong with that, and if anyone tells you there is, well, they’re wrong. There’s also nothing wrong with deciding you want to take a break from science or that you want to quit. You never know where you’ll end up, and your education will prove useful to you no matter what you choose to do next. Finally, studying science affords you opportunities you might not expect. You can make a reasonable to exceptional salary, you can live in other countries and you will have colleagues and work that are always stimulating and exciting.

Assuming that wasn't Teal Deer for you, please let me know if you feel there's anything I haven't touched on. For those who've known me for a while: Is there a personal experience I've discussed with you that you think I ought to include?

It's been a while since I was a 16-year-old girl. If you are one, know one, play one on telly or have more recently been one than I have, I would really appreciate it if you'd let me know whether you'd find this encouraging and inspirational.

Comments

[catdraco]

It sounds pretty good to me. Although I'm as old as two sixteen year olds =D I am pretty sure I'd have found a presentation like that to be quite inspiring.

[nanila]

I'm as old as two sixteen year olds, too. I never had an opportunity to hear someone speak to me like this when I was that age, so I don't have any experience to draw on, sadly.

Thank you for the encouragement.

[quoththeravyn]

This looks pretty cool. Especially starting with something spectacular like the Cassini data from Saturn, and talking about the non-traditional career path, and what-all else (and unexpected) you can get with a good education (like being able to move countries if you want to).

But then I am, as catdraco says, nearly as old as two sixteen year olds. :-/

[nanila]

I wish I'd had the chance to hear someone speak to me like this when I was that age. Of course, I doubt I'd have appreciated it fully at the time, but in retrospect I think it would have made a big impression if I'd met a female scientist with a doctorate when I was sixteen.

Thank you for the feedback!

[rhaegal]

I'm an astro grad student so this is all a lot more recent for me :-)

It sounds great to me - especially starting with showing them something very cool that they could end up doing. When I was at school, all I was told was that I had to do something "useful," and since I was good at math I was pushed into accountancy. It took me until my mid-20s to realise that was the wrong choice and go into physics. I don't believe anyone ever mentioned to me before that that academia was a valid career choice, so even making them aware it exists is a good step!

Re gender issues, I can't deny I've had prejudice (including, as an undergraduate, my lab instructor admitting when drunk that he'd marked me down my whole first year because he assumed I was getting the boys to do my work!). However, I've also found that being female opens doors - not in a discriminatory kind of way, just that it makes you stand out and helps people remember who you are, which is really important in science. So if you're talking about hurdles faced by women, I would be sure to mention that gender can work to their advantage as well - it's not all a horrible uphill struggle.

[nanila]

Yay, thank you.

I don't believe anyone ever mentioned to me before that that academia was a valid career choice, so even making them aware it exists is a good step!

That's a good point. I always forget that this isn't something most people (including me!) consider as a potential career path when starting university.

So if you're talking about hurdles faced by women, I would be sure to mention that gender can work to their advantage as well - it's not all a horrible uphill struggle.

Wonderful, thank you. I will definitely fit this into the "Experiences" section as I don't want to dwell too long on the challenges of being a female scientist. I had a small number of terrible experiences, especially at conferences, which I found emotionally draining and stressful when I was younger, and not just because I was presenting challenging material. I want to acknowledge them but it'll help a lot to mention that being female makes you memorable in a positive way as well.

I remember once a conference, a prominent male scientist approached me at a poster session to apologize for mentioning the other postgrad in my group, who was male, and not me, during an announcement at the start of the day's proceedings. He didn't want me to think that he'd failed to mention me because I was less important. It was an announcement about a pair of glasses we'd found. The thoughtfulness of his response despite the triviality of the incident made a positive and lasting impression on me.

[tetra]

I'm wondering if you've considered mentioning famous female physicists?

I've always admired Vera Rubin.

[nanila]

That's a good idea. I think I'll mention that a lot of the principal investigators for the instrument teams on Cassini are prominent female physicists - including my boss. Thank you!