Empowerment: Three Questions for Bita Moghaddam
8 September 2019
Bita Moghaddam is a full professor at Oregon Health and Science University where she holds the Chair of the Department of Behavioral Neuroscience. In the past 26 years, she focused her research on the modeling aspects of psychiatric disorders. Last March, she participated in the Synapsy-LWiN career lunch with students of the Department of Basic Neurosciences of the University of Geneva and took time to answer our questions about gender bias in academia.
What are the most obvious gender inequalities in the world of research?
Inclusion at all levels: academic positions, awards, research resources, papers in high profile journals, and many more things.
What needs to be done to improve the quota of women in research?
I wish I had a good answer but we need to do many things. We need to find out why women are leaving research and find ways of supporting them. We need to identify younger women – and not just a token few – who have the potential to become successful researchers and mentor them better.
What would you say to the next generation of women researchers?
Please do not leave research! We need you! Find mentors – emphasis on plural – to support you. And find ways that are comfortable for you to fight and speak out about inequalities. ●
Photo credit: @ Christian Lüscher
