Homeward Bound - Mother Nature Needs Her Daughters
BY ALLY HUGHES
It’s the season for celebrations and what better to celebrate than women in leadership programme Homeward Bound. The birth child of Fabian Dattner (Twitter: @FabianDattner), Homeward Bound aims to bring 1000 women in STEMM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics, and Medicine) together over 10 years through their training programming which culminates with an expedition in Antarctica. The expedition includes training and activities to tie together the progress they have made throughout the programme, and landings to various research centres and islands along the Antarctic archipelago. Each woman will receive training under four main themes; leadership, strategy, visibility, and science, with a wellbeing team also being assigned to each participant. In a time when global leadership is falling apart, and our planet faces perhaps its greatest crisis, ‘mother nature needs her daughters’ more than ever before! Although women comprise 60% of graduates from university, only 10-20% make it to senior academic positions. Homeward Bound gives women the training, skills, and confidence to #TakeYourPlace. I am incredibly lucky to have Dr. Katherine Duncan (Twitter: @kate_duncan) as my PhD supervisor, and to work with (and befriend) other fantastic women that have taken part in this programme; Dr. Jana Schniete (Twitter: @janitensen), and Mia Cerfonteyn (Twitter @Mia_Cerfonteyn). This is what these women had to say about their Homeward Bound experience:
MV Ushuaia. Photo credit: Mia Cerfonteyn
Dr. Katherine Duncan (Chancellor’s Research Fellow and Lecturer Marine Natural Products Drug Discovery, University of Strathclyde, UK | HB2 participant | HB3 and HB5 Science Stream Leader and on-board science facilitator)
“Although some progress has been made to increase women in STEMM fields at school and undergraduate level, there is still a lack of gender balance at senior leadership positions. This is often termed the leaky pipeline, a study by the Royal Society of Chemistry showed only 9% of Chemical Sciences Professors are women. Homeward Bound specifically addresses this by providing a global women in science leadership program, designed to increase visibility, leadership skills and the network of women with a STEMM background. It's not about shifting the balance to favour women, it's about creating equality around the decision making table.”
Speaking about her experience as a participant on HB2, she said the greatest part of the experience was “the incredible global network of women leaders, from Nobel prize winning physicists, leaders of animal conservation in Africa, a CEO of a Not for Profit on rural water sustainability in China, Engineers without Borders, Paediatric Surgeons, the list is impressive - leadership needs to be representative of society, collaborative and equipped to lead with purpose for the greater good of our planet and society.” Being part of the Science Faculty Leadership for HB3 and HB5 has shown her that “everyone has a story, a set of values and can find their purpose - but this can be so much more powerful as a common voice informing change.”
Mia Cerfonteyn (PhD Student, Matís ohf. Iceland | HB3 participant)
Homeward Bound has “exposed [her] to a different kind of leadership than what [she] was used to: transparent, compassionate and emotionally intelligent.” She says “Before Homeward Bound I could never identify as a leader, but through the process, I learned that I already had leadership attributes. Before this program I had felt very isolated in my scientific career, where the masculine was seen as the norm and femininity as a hindrance.” She also believed that meeting this network of female leaders and “forming heartfelt connections on a ship in Antarctica” has been the greatest part of her experience.
Jana Schniete (Postdoctoral Researcher at Department of Physics, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, UK | HB4 participant - currently on her Antarctic expedition)
“It is important to give more women a voice and HB is building a platform as well as a network where female voices can be heard loud and clear. And also give women the opportunity to realise their potential and what they could achieve.” Although we spoke before she embarked on her trip to Antarctica, she already feels a deep connection with fellow HB participations, saying “It feels like you have people that have your back no matter what and we can be open with each other, there is no need for a filter, no trying to impress anyone. We can just be ourselves, this has been very refreshing and empowering.”
Photo credit: Mia Cerfonteyn
Finally, I asked each of these fantastic female leaders what advice they would give young girls wishing to pursue a career in science.
Katherine: “If not you, then who? and if not now, then when? You are the change that we so greatly need, seek good mentors, a support network that champion you and most of all, believe that you can do it.”
Mia: “Don‘t try to fit some mold of what others expect, even if those people are successful in their own fields. Science is about pushing the boundaries, following your instinct and your curiosity. You can only be the best scientist YOU can be.”
Jana: “Listen to your heart and not stereotypes, if there is a will, there is a way. If you are passionate about science there is a career for you, keep an open heart and mind and go explore.”
If you would like to learn more about Homeward Bound, visit their website, or follow them on social media; Twitter @HomewardBound16, Instagram @homewardboundprojects, or Facebook.