Dr. Karishma S. Kaushik, MBBS, MD, PhD
Why STEM needs ‘real’ stories of women scientists
Girls and women represent half of the population of India. Yet, their participation in scientific education and the workforce is insufficient and beset with challenges.
India produces over 25 lakh graduates in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) each year, a number that, despite being among the highest in the world, is insufficient for the country’s science and technology-related aspirations. Building a large scientific workforce and scientifically literate population is critical for India to harness its full potential. In line with this, the recent National Education Policy (2020) and Anusandhan National Research Foundation Act (2023) aim to transform science education and research in the country. Unleashing the intellectual and innovative potential of our entire population is of national relevance.
In this background of reality and aspirations, informing and igniting the next generation of citizens, including girls and women, about the scope, potential, and value of science—while inspiring them to consider it as an education and career—assumes significance.
As a physician, clinical microbiologist, scientist, wife, and mother, I have worn multiple hats across my life and career. After my MBBS, I pursued an MD in microbiology. A research project during this period led me to my quest for a PhD and becoming a ‘physician-scientist’. Around this time, I also got married and moved, aspirations and all, to the United States. It was difficult breaking into a new academic system but ultimately, I did a PhD from an interdisciplinary biophysics group in a US university. In one of the most rewarding yet challenging phases of my life, I also became a mother. A few years after my PhD, donning the hat of the homeland-bound, I chose to return to India on a Government of India fellowship. It was a decision driven by a deep commitment to plough my experience and education back into my country. Several career trajectories later, some of which found me storing laboratory materials in the back of my car, and some, on the cover of a UNESCO book, I was leading a national science programme in the life-science ecosystem in the country.
All in all, my career has spanned medicine and science(s!) with experiences across more than two decades, many countries, and contributions to scientific research, education, innovation, policy, and outreach. There have been many lessons and stories on the journey. My ambitions brought forth accomplishments, as much as they did realities about doing science in different parts of the world. It made me reflect on what being a woman in science meant for me, and what it means for other women in the world. Several of these learnings are those that one would expect as one navigates a career in science. Many of them were unexpected, disappointing, and even unfair. All of them are shared in this book.
Part memoir and part reportage, The Real Deal provides aspiring girl scientists an insider’s view into the experiences of a contemporary woman scientist in India.
The memoir consists of real-life stories from a life and career in science with anecdotes from student life to leadership, all with a generous dose of humour and hindsight. The reportage is intended to provide aspiring scientists a closer look into the broader aspects of a scientific career. Using research-backed information and case-in-point scenarios from different STEM fields, the chapters cover general information topics such as education and careers in science, as well as less discussed topics, such as the role of mentors and allies, stereotypes and imposter phenomenon, and work–life balance and mental health—essentially, other factors which influence science careers! A significant part of the book delves into what it means to be a woman in science, with a clear and critical view of how gender, marriage, motherhood, the leaky pipeline, and position-gap impact the careers of women in STEM. It also discusses the realities of bias and discrimination in the scientific ecosystem, including what that means for women and other marginalized groups. Across different points, the book includes solutions to some of these challenges, with evidence-based and real-life examples of ways in which these can and have been navigated. Finally, at the end of the book, aspiring scientists get an insight into how broader societal discourse shapes science. Through themes such as open science and scientific reproducibility, as well as how science intersects with beliefs, ethics and the state, this book will prime future scientists on what they can and should expect as they forge their careers amid ongoing conversations.
This book is intended for a wide range of readers, and particularly for girls and boys who are twelve years and older, including those studying science at undergraduate, master’s, and doctoral levels. The book is also aimed to be a suitable guide for parents and teachers, who can support young people aspiring to study science as well as spark conversations with them around a life and career in STEM. Given the unique challenges around girls’ education and professional advancement in our country, this book, written from the lens of an Indian woman scientist, will also serve as an advocate for better institutional and social systems to support women in science.
While there are notable books that chronicle the stories of women in science from India and across the world, a large segment of them are biographical sketches of women scientists from previous generations. As a result, very few of these accounts profile current women scientists, living and working in our midst, and even fewer are first-person narratives. Biographical accounts also risk falling prey to ‘survivorship bias’, a type of selection bias that results from profiling women scientists who have the privilege of looking back on a successful career (aka ‘those who made it’), as opposed to those currently navigating the opportunities and challenges of a modern-day scientific career, and doing so while balancing and enjoying multiple roles in their lives (aka ‘someone who is making it happen’).
Think of this book as a conversation between a grown-up girl scientist (me) and the many aspiring girl scientists across India and the globe; an authentic account of the ‘real deal’ of a life and career in science, filled with failed experiments, difficult decisions, and the realities of being a woman in science, as well as the thrills of scientific discovery, the joys of work–life balance as a scientist-mother, and the fulfilment of being a part of work that could change the lives of millions.
I am lucky because writing this book could not have come at a better time in my life and career. I hope reading it leaves you with the same feeling.
This article is an excerpt from the recent book The Real Deal: Lessons, Learnings, and Laughter for Girl Scientists (ISBN-13: 978-0143480501), and has been published with the permission of the publisher Penguin Random House.
More about the book (including buying options): https://www.therealdealinstem.com/. You can contact the author at karishmaskaushik@gmail.com.
Views expressed are personal and do not necessarily reflect those of Confluence, its editorial board or the Academy.