It’s not that often that I stumble upon Huffington Post articles, but this one popped out. “A Male Host Interrupted A Female Physicist So Much The Audience Intervened.” Kind of says it all in the title, but I read on.

 

When a panel of the brightest minds in science are brought together to discuss the big questions of the universe, it would surely make for a great discussion. However, the lack of regard for the sole female panelist, Professor Veronika Hebeny, in not equally engaging her among her colleagues sparked uproar, highlighting sexism in science.

 

Not only was the Professor the only women on the panel, but when asked a question specific to her research in string theory and quantum gravity, probably the reason why she was there, her time was cut short by interjections from the moderator Jim Holt, causing audience members to speak up; “Let her speak, please!”

 

While the moderator paused, back-tracked then apologised, the mansplaining shown prior demonstrated that sexism still exists in the science community.

 

It was something that I thought about all day. Why was that established and regarded academic not given the same treatment as her male colleagues. It reminded me of the concept of equity and equality and the difference between them.

 

Equality is where everyone is given the same resource towards a goal. Equity is where resources are allocated depending on the advantage of others, just like the graphic.

 

This got me thinking. Are women like Veronika being shushed in their professional or academic careers and why. Is it because Veronika was particularly timid and probably not as dominant as her male counterparts? Or is it simply because she is female?

 

The equity/equality concern applies here. In engaging more women to look towards science, resources should be given to encourage more women to move towards science. However, if this mansplaining in the mainstream media and in public continues, it calls for institutional change.