Why are sexism, homophobia and racism still so prevalent in physics? Professor Pauline Gagnon CERN
Why are sexism, homophobia and racism still so prevalent in physics? I start from my personal experience to demonstrate that in fact the personal is political. CERN, the largest physics laboratory in the world, welcomes scientists from 112 nationalities but still about 80% of them are white and 80% of them are male.
I examine why people from so many groups have been historically excluded from physics and suggest a series of easily applicable measures that could greatly improve diversity in physics. These measures would benefit all scientists, regardless of their gender, race, sexual orientation, physical ability or religion. It has been established that diversity benefits science by increasing the creativity potential, a key ingredient in scientific research.
Professor Gagnon is a particle physicist who went to CERN in 1995 first to work on the OPAL experiment then the ATLAS experiment as a senior research scientist at Indiana University to search for dark matter. In 2011, she joined the CERN communication group and became CERN official blogger until she left in 2014 to write the popular science book Who Cares About Particle Physics: Making Some Sense of the Higgs Boson, the Large Hadron Collider and CERN. www.worldcat.org/oclc/1277454166
Since her retirement in 2014, she has given more than 150 presentations to various audiences in fourteen countries, talking about physics, diversity issues and Mileva Marić Einstein. She is currently writing a screenplay for a mini-series on Mileva Marić Einstein and other women in science . pauline.web.cern.ch
DIVERSITY AT CERN
diversity-and-inclusion.web.cern.ch
... contrasts with the rather curt response to
QUESTION: Is there a silent/prayer room at CERN?
ANSWER: CERN does not provide a designated prayer space, as managing such a space falls outside the purpose and mission of the Organization.
hr.web.cern.ch/faqs/there-silentprayer-room-cern
Why are sexism, homophobia and racism still so prevalent in physics? Professor Pauline Gagnon CERN
Why are sexism, homophobia and racism still so prevalent in physics? I start from my personal experience to demonstrate that in fact the personal is political. CERN, the largest physics laboratory in the world, welcomes scientists from 112 nationalities but still about 80% of them are white and 80% of them are male.
I examine why people from so many groups have been historically excluded from physics and suggest a series of easily applicable measures that could greatly improve diversity in physics. These measures would benefit all scientists, regardless of their gender, race, sexual orientation, physical ability or religion. It has been established that diversity benefits science by increasing the creativity potential, a key ingredient in scientific research.
Professor Gagnon is a particle physicist who went to CERN in 1995 first to work on the OPAL experiment then the ATLAS experiment as a senior research scientist at Indiana University to search for dark matter. In 2011, she joined the CERN communication group and became CERN official blogger until she left in 2014 to write the popular science book Who Cares About Particle Physics: Making Some Sense of the Higgs Boson, the Large Hadron Collider and CERN. www.worldcat.org/oclc/1277454166
Since her retirement in 2014, she has given more than 150 presentations to various audiences in fourteen countries, talking about physics, diversity issues and Mileva Marić Einstein. She is currently writing a screenplay for a mini-series on Mileva Marić Einstein and other women in science . pauline.web.cern.ch
DIVERSITY AT CERN
diversity-and-inclusion.web.cern.ch
... contrasts with the rather curt response to
QUESTION: Is there a silent/prayer room at CERN?
ANSWER: CERN does not provide a designated prayer space, as managing such a space falls outside the purpose and mission of the Organization.
hr.web.cern.ch/faqs/there-silentprayer-room-cern