I see YOU.

A recent email from Better Allies mentions a new article in Nature titled ‘Ignored and not appreciated’: Women’s research contributions often go unrecognized.?? The article cites the following stats:

• The probability of men being named an author or inventor was 21% compared to 12% for women.
• Even when women and men held the SAME position, women were 5% less likely to be named than men.
• Even when women are listed as an author (either first or last), they are less likely to get cited or referenced.

This reminded me of my research advisor's explanation of why he listed all the authors with only their first initial and last name. He said it would eliminate gender discrimination during the review process. That was over 20 years ago, yet we STILL have work to do.

The article says that this disparity is due in part to

“women’s contributions . . . are often not known, not appreciated or ignored.”

We can begin to change this inequality in 3 easy steps:

1). Own it - make people aware of how you are contributing; regularly present your work to your manager and/or your team

2). Take the lead - submit disclosures, journal articles, or white papers for the work that you and your team are doing

3). Say their names – shout out your fellow women engineers whenever you can

"I know you're fed up, ladies, but keep ya head up" -Tupac

Yes, we have work to do, but together we can make change happen. Keep going.