In Short: Alumni Awards; She Roars Podcast

From left: Mellody Hobson ’91; Carol Quillen *91

Victor Powell (Hobson); courtesy of Davidson College (Quillen)

Published Nov. 23, 2018

Women will receive both of the University’s HIGHEST ALUMNI AWARDS for the first time on Alumni Day Feb. 23. Mellody Hobson ’91, top left, the president of Ariel Investments and a leader in financial literacy, will receive the Woodrow Wilson Award presented to undergraduate alums. Carol Quillen *91, president of Davidson College, will receive the Madison Medal for a graduate alum with an outstanding record of public service.

Interviews with notable Princeton alumnae, faculty, and administrators are featured in the SHE ROARS PODCASTS, which debuted in the wake of the University’s She Roars alumni conference in October. Interviewed in the initial episodes are former dean of the College Nancy Malkiel; Washington journalist Jennifer Epstein ’08; activist/writer Helen Zia ’73; and Frances Arnold ’79, winner of the 2018 Nobel Prize in chemistry. The podcast host is Margaret Koval *83, director of special projects in the Office of Communications. The series is available at sheroarspodcast.princeton.edu and on iTunes, Spotify, and other podcast platforms.

The Princeton Gerrymandering Project, led by professor of molecular biology and the Princeton Neuroscience Institute SAM WANG, has won a national contest sponsored by Common Cause for a novel legal theory to stop gerrymanders. The group’s winning paper proposes combining basic principles of law and math to suggest a state-court-based approach to redistricting reform.

Published in the Dec. 5, 2018, Issue

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Shin-Yi Lin 11, molecular biology, Hilary Bergsieker 12, psychology and social policy , Jiayue He 08, electrical engineering , Jason McSheene 15, molecular biology , Silvia Newell 10, geosciences , Jessica Rowland Williams 15, molecular biology , Geneva Stein 14, molecular biology , Sara Szczepanski 10, psychology and neuroscience , Matt Weber 09, psychology and neuroscience , Jiaying Zhao 13, psychology

5 Years Ago

Gender Issues in Science

“Women [in science and engineering] are doing really well,” said Frances Arnold ’79 in an episode of the University’s She Roars podcast (On the Campus, Dec. 5). This is demonstrably untrue: A National Academies study released in June said more than half of women in academia experience sexual harassment (#ScienceToo). And while women in some STEM fields are reaching parity in earning Ph.D.s, they remain greatly underrepresented among tenured faculty at only 15 to 30 percent and earn less than their male counterparts.

Also misleading were her next words: “Women are doing really well if they choose to do it.” These words gaslight working women and imply that we are to blame for existing disparities. Instead, it is more accurate to say that many women “choose” something else besides research because they do not see a way through to professional success, given the system in place. It was deeply disappointing to hear Nobel laureate Arnold make the choice to say so little to support other women in science.

By contrast, president emerita and biologist Shirley Tilghman spoke up clearly at the She Roars conference about the challenges we face. She talked about the impact of harassment on the careers of early-stage scholars. She pointed to institutional solutions to address the “mommy tax,” saying, “It’s about day care, stupid!” And she spoke powerfully about the lasting shadow of imposter syndrome, even for her. We need more scientists like her, who will speak accurately about the state of affairs so that we can finally achieve gender equity in science.