Minority Women in Science

Karin Koch of Accidental Twins Productions sent me a link to a video she produced last year, "Minority Women in Science". According to the ATP blog, the inspiration for the film came from seeing women she knew struggle in their science careers:

The idea for the film Minority Women In Science developed from observing the obstacles and frustrations experienced by my sister and some friends of mine, as women academics in the United States. Most are struggling to be considered for tenure or tenure-track positions in their university departments.
[. . .]
On one occasion, I remember asking my sister: Why is there still a gender gap problem? I thought universities were research institutions where objectivity prevails and people, irrespective of gender or race, are hired and promoted based on merit, where everybody is competing on equal terms, at least in theory.
Little did I know how far reality diverges from theory.

Read her whole post for more background.

The video shows a roundtable discussion of four women scientists who were all born outside the United States, talking about their experiences as women scientists. The participants were:

• Saeqa Vrtilek, Senior Astrophysicist at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
• Irene Bosch, Assistant Professor of Medicine at theUniversity of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester
• Magaly Koch, Research Associate Professor,Center for Remote Sensing, Boston University
  
• Sucharita Gopal, Professor, Geography and Environment, Boston University.

The video premiered at last year's Cambridge Science Festival.



Tags: Minority Women in Science, Accidental Twins Productions, video