equality4success Blog
Welcome to the equality4success blog!
This page provides a space for Institute staff to share their views, experiences and creative thoughts with colleagues and the wider public. Ideas, comments? We love to hear from you - please send us an email. Enjoy reading!
The views and opinions expressed here are those of the individual authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the Babraham Institute.
Inclusion: A tribute to Michael Wakelam from Laura Norton
Laura Norton, the Babraham Institute's first Equality and Diversity Manager, shares her memories of Michael from the lab to the Athena SWAN committee and how he always promoted inclusion in every aspect of his role.
05/05/2021
Thinking beyond binaries
It's easy to think of the world in black and white, good and bad, right and wrong; but binary thinking can be very limiting. Kate was interested in learning more about how this works and the long ranging effects and here she shares what she's learned about binary thinking.
16/02/2021
A tale of two Melanies: mitigating the impact of lab long term leave
Long term leave, like maternity leave, has major impacts on researchers' careers. At the Babraham Institute, we've trialled a roving researcher position to support scientists on leave. Melanie and Melanie share their stories from both sides of the experience here.
08/01/2021
The equality4success Alternative Gift Guide
The holidays are upon us once again so Elizabeth is back with a whole new set of gift suggestions!
27/11/2020
A tribute to Michael Wakelam
Since it began, Michael Wakelam was a permanent member of the Institute’s Athena SWAN Self Assessment Team, now equality4success. Here, the two chairs of the committee share their memories of working with Michael and how he was essential to the Institute’s achievements in improving diversity and inclusion.
17/11/2020
equality4success book reviews
Staff and students from the Babraham Institute share reviews of a variety of books about equality, diversity and STEM.
27/03/2020
Celebrating women at the Babraham Institute
Women contribute to the Babraham Institute in roles throughout the organisation including students, cleaners, group leaders, nursery staff, and many more. This International Women’s Day, we are celebrating their achievements with five women sharing their stories.
10/03/2020
Relearning how to speak: how to be more inclusive every day through language
Language is an important tool in creating inclusive environments but how can you be sure to get it right? In this article, Elizabeth gives some advice on basic principles that will help communicate inclusively.
06/02/2020
The equality4success Alternative Gift Guide 2019
Elizabeth is back with a selection of fun stereotype-defying gifts that entertain and inform. You're sure to find something you want to get for people on your list, or maybe yourself!
12/11/2019
Why gender equality is important to me: five male perspectives
Gender equality is in everyone’s interests – including men. This International Men’s Day, five men from our equality4success team share their reasons for getting involved.
11/10/2019
How scientists are making research outcomes more inclusive
At the recent EDIS symposium, scientists got together to share ideas on making research outcomes more relevant to everyone. Here Elizabeth shares the variety of methods the scientific community is using to make that a reality.
24/09/2019
8 things we learnt from lunch with Katrin Rittinger
Four Babraham Institute PhD researchers share what they learned from a chat with Katrin Rittinger and her talk about her career journey
14/08/2019
Practical examples of demonstrating impact in an Athena SWAN application
Cheryl expands on her advice for creating an impactful Athena SWAN application with examples from our own recent successful Silver Award
24/07/2019
Tips for building inclusive LGBT+ workplaces
This LGBT+ STEM Day, Elizabeth has some tips for making your workplace more LGBT+ inclusive
05/07/2019
What managers want: valuable transferable skills
Elizabeth shares personal experience and managers' thoughts on what skills really help when you are applying for a job you don't have experience for
10/04/2019
Same difference? Perceptions of workplace culture
A new study highlighted how differently men and women perceive the same workplace culture. Elizabeth, e4s manager, looks at the data and outlines suggestions for closing the gap.
26/03/2019
IWD2019. We’ve come a long way. Rather recently.
When it comes to equality a lot has changed in a surprisingly short time. For International Women's Day 2019, Christel Krueger reflects on her own perceptions of gender equality in the 21st Century and what more still lies ahead. Join in with the #BalanceForBetter campaign.
08/03/2019
Inclusive resolutions for a supportive new year
With 2018 coming to a close, Elizabeth has seven suggestions for ways to support equality and inclusion in 2019.
26/12/2018
The equality4success Alternative Gift Guide
Elizabeth offers a diverse and creative selection of gift ideas to help you find something exciting and new for all the difficult-to-buy-for people in your life.
11/12/2018
Rethinking success as a working dad
19th November marks International Men's Day, a day for celebrating men and the contributions that men make to improving society for the greater good of everyone. This year, to mark the day, Simon Walker the Head of our Imaging Facility and an equality4success team member reflects on his experience of becoming a father and the challenges of finding a new work-life balance. Is it time for us to rethink how we measure success?
19/11/2018
Won’t anyone think of the children?
As part of European Researchers’ Night, Babraham Institute staff will be reading stories with gender equality themes to children during LifeLab’s ‘Tell Me a Story’ event
17/09/2018
LGBT+ STEM day – Why show our colours on 5th July
The 5th July 2018 is the first ever Lesbian, Gay, Bi, Trans (and more) in Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths day and the Babraham Institute is showing support by flying the rainbow flag and wearing bright colours. But why are we doing this?
27/06/2018
Babraham Institute welcomes first Daphne Jackson Fellow
The Institute welcomed Dr Irina Abnizova, our first Daphne Jackson Trust Career Re-entry Fellow in October 2017. Irina joined Dr Wolf Reik’s laboratory in Epigenetics. equality4success Manager, Laura Norton, met with Irina to welcome her to the Institute and to ask about the process of applying for a Daphne Jackson Fellowship.
30/05/2018
Returning To Work After Parental Leave
What is it like returning to work after parental leave? Two returners, Laura Biggins and Laura Norton, write about their recent experiences at Babraham.
26/09/2017
Navigation of the Early Science Career: Get Support at Every Step!
Christel Krueger, from the Institute's Bioinformatics Facility, muses on the latest 'My Life in Science' talk at the Babraham Institute
30/06/2017
Treading the Path to Independent Research
Laura Woods, a final year PhD student in the Hemberger group, is considering the next steps in her career.
24/05/2017
What it’s Like to Speak about Shared Parental Leave at a Female-dominated Event
David Kent, a group leader at the Cambridge Stem Cell Institute, shares his experiences and views on the Babraham Institute IWD 2017 symposium.
28/03/2017
Open Access – Sharing Experiences on a Life in Science
Danielle Hoyle introduces Danny Kingsley, who talks about Open Access, Open Research Data, and the challenges she has overcome in her career.
10/02/2017
Circus Skills in Science - can we Learn the Balancing Act?
Cheryl Smythe describes what she learned at the Work-Life-Balance training course organised by our project and EU-Life partner institute CEITEC (Brno, Czech Republic).
07/02/2017
Your Life, Your Science: Getting the Balance Right for You
Adrian Liston from the Translational Immunology Lab at the VIB in Leuven, Belgium decribes how it is important to balance the joy of parenthood balanced with exciting research.
17/01/2017
International Men’s Day… Men and Gender Equality at Babraham Institute
On International Men's Day, Laura Norton discusses how taking shared responsibility for all aspects of family life leads to benefits for the entire family.
19/11/2016
What Are Your Unconscious Biases?
Implicit or unconscious bias occurs when our brains make incredibly quick judgements and assessments of people and situations without us realising. Our biases are influenced by our background, cultural environment and personal experiences.
01/10/2016
Job Sharing at Babraham Institute
Job sharing is less common in science than many other professions and work places. On 27th September Babraham held an event about job sharing to address why this is and to hear about the benefits and challenges of job sharing in science from our post-doctoral job sharers Dr Claire Senner and Dr Sarah Burge.
28/09/2016
The Importance of Annual Leave
Laura Norton, equality4success Manager talks about the importance of holidays to us all!
31/08/2016