Hi literarytheorist. Really sorry you are feeling like this. If you think about it though, I bet you can relate to what Prof Sally Davies said about this: no matter how brilliant they are, many women feel like imposters in the workplace; in contrast men seem to have a gene that allows them to BS their way up the career ladder. So please try to value yourself more and you will feel a lot better :-)

Sorry to hear about your difficult situation. It is insane that a woman can find herself in this position in the 21st century, especially after the Equality Act 2010 is enforced in every university in the UK. A close friend of mine was bullied by her male colleague last year causing her to self-harm and take sick leave, and when she reported it there was such a fuss he didn't know whether to beg for forgiveness or just quit the country! Universities are a place for learning, not bullying.

Maybe you can try here? http://www.imd.org/programs/mba/fees/Funding-for-Women.cfm

Sorry to hear you can't find a job. Is it nastiness? Possibly, but there may be lots of reasons for not getting a job e.g. the economy, recruiting policy, being overqualified, bottlneck in speciality etc. Best thing you can do is try to get feedback from HR on why you get overlooked.

elflick: "Get it out of the way before a career (after all, most women take time out to have kids - and I won't be doing that)."

Are you seriously comparing taking time off for a bicyle tour to a woman starting the journey of motherhood? The human race can survive without the bike race, but not visa versa.

There is a good reason why HR departments have a charter to make sure that women are not discriminated against for taking time out to raise children. There is no equivalent equality charter for bicycle sabbaticals.

Yaaay! You go girl!! x

Hi explorer1. Congratulations on choosing this vitally important topic. There is sooooo much sexism in education these days that the very thought of it can make me physically ill for days on end. If you are looking for advice on research methodology and tools can I suggest IPA analysis with NVivo software.

Welcome to the UK Elena! http://www.imd.org/programs/mba/fees/Funding-for-Women.cfm

Well done on your new family! My advise is firstly to make sure that whatever institution you study a STEMM subject at is fully signed up to gender equality (i.e. an Athena SWAN silver or gold). Institutions that are not signed up to silver by around 2015 will not continue to recieve funding from any of the five main funding bodies. This means gender dinosaur departments that don't comply will go broke, taking staff and students down with them. So your first step is to check with the Equality Officer at whatever university you apply to that they have an Athena SWAN silver or gold award.

:)

Don't worry Tulip - there are lots of ways to access funding e.g. http://www.imd.org/programs/mba/fees/Funding-for-Women.cfm

:)

Hi Anny! You should consider any universities in the UK because the opportunities for women in engineering these days are incredible! As a woman you can access plenty of funding e.g. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-25300669 and careers opportunites are subject to gender equality schemes like Athena SWAN, so you can be sure of every chance to make it to the top.

Hope this helps :)

Oh - make sure the university you choose has signed up to the Athena SWAN Charter. A few are still in the dark ages, but these universities will find it hard to survive when their funding is cut off (ouch!), as the NIHR make very clear http://www.ris.port.ac.uk/athenaswan/nihr-statement-on-funding-links-to-athena-swan-silver-status/ Check with the university's Equality Office if you need any help.

Hi Minnie (Sorry - I used to call my friend Minerva that and she hated it!).

The great news is that women studying in the UK have got lots of access to funding. Some grants cover any topic http://www.imd.org/programs/mba/fees/Funding-for-Women.cfm and you can easily find grants for specific topics, especially in STEMM subjects. If you have any trouble accessing grants then contact the Equality and Diversity Office of the university that you want to study at and ask their advice. If you are doing STEMM they can also link to in with women's equality schemes such as Athena SWAN which give you access to networks, mentoring, workshops and other excellent freebies.

:)

Word of advice: if you have any problems contact your university's Equality and Diversity Office - they should be able to identify support for you if it all gets a bit too much :)

Being an international student you might not have heard about the recent advances for women in engineering and other science careers. To comply with new equality regulations, lots of universities now have grants for women. Some are for general topics e.g. http://www.imd.org/programs/mba/fees/Funding-for-Women.cfm and others are specific to subjects like engineering e.g. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-25300669

My advice is to find a course you like and then find out what is on offer for women at that university. If you have any problems, contact the Equalities Officer there. It is very soon going to be more or less mandatory for universities to provide special access for women to careers in science subjects, so don’t take no for an answer.

Hope this helps :)


PS someone PMd me asking about funding for universities that don't give special access for women for science education and career development. The position is that the NIHR (to be followed by the other major funders) will soon only be funding institutions that comply with gender equality standards (an Athena SWAN silver award): "The NIHR has stated that for future competitions to designate and fund NIHR Biomedical Research Units, Biomedical Research Centres, and Patient Safety Translational Research Centres, it does not expect to short-list any NHS/University partnership where the academic partner (often the Medical School/Faculty of Medicine) has not achieved at least the Silver Award of the Athena SWAN Charter for Women in Science" http://www.ris.port.ac.uk/athenaswan/nihr-statement-on-funding-links-to-athena-swan-silver-status/

I think this all depends on how much women are being promoted in engineering training and engineering careers in the US compared to other countries. For example, in the UK there is a massive drive towards women being given special access to grants and career progression in engineering (also all STEMM areas). In fact due to the way funding will be allocated in the near future, it will soon be very unusual to find a university in the UK that does not promote such schemes. These measures are long overdue and I think you will agree that promoting gender equality in this way will be a HUGE benefit to engineering and the economy.