Of (Lab)Mice and (We)Men

I thought I'd start off the New Years' post on a funny note but that can wait. A more apt start is about a fascinating discussion today on Women in Science, hosted at IISc by the Women in Science Panel of the Indian Academy of Science. It was in part illuminating, concerning and encouraging...all presented to you here, albeit in dry prose.

Having spent the better part of my professional life in the US, one gets sensitized to gender and diversity early on. Be it simple things like using gender neutral terms in presentations or preferring the female form of a word -- e.g. "If a user needs to visit a webpage, she has to..." (or) "they have to..." (rather than) "he has to...", or more important matters like ensuring diversity (including gender diversity) when forming program committees for workshops. Initially, you do it to be politically correct and conform, but later you get sensitized to the reasons behind it and learn to appreciate the rationale. As a faculty, you go through Sexual Harassment Training [1] each year, required by law, where the distinctions between friendly banter and harassment are clearly spelt out, as well as the law and university policy on it. One misstep and the university faces a punitive lawsuit, and this threat was enough to get them to behave. Further, having a graduate advisor who effectively took up arms on behalf of her brethren sisters' cause ("brethren", yet another example of the gender bias of the English language), and having several close friends of the feminine gender pursuing their graduate studies only reinforced my awareness.

It wasn't a perfect system in the US by any means. I have encountered covert gender bias expressed by my peers in academia (e.g. "Since I mentor a female student, I have an edge in NSF proposal's broader impact"), and there was even a petty potty fight at my grad school when the female faculty understandably wanted separate ladies and gents restrooms rather than just unisex ones. But overall the system is setup to progress forward so that overt bias was not tolerated, and efforts are made to encourage a comfortable work environment that will eventually lead to equality.

Even simple things matter. We did end up with separate restrooms.

Given this, I did (do) have concerns on gender parity on moving to India, which has, in modern times, had a poor record on women's issues. The slew of sexual assaults that have been (rightly) highlighted in the media only heightens this reality. While it is easier to confront or stand up against sexual assault, the biases faced at the workplace environment are harder to discern, confront and fix, yet leave a lasting scar on a person's professional career. A couple of things that struck me in this regard when I joined IISc: (1) the heads of departments are addressed as Chairman -- not ChairPERSON or just Chair, but ChairMAN by default, and (2) there is not a single female faculty in my department. This got me digging for some stats, gleaned off the IISc web pages.

IISc has on the order of 500 faculty spread across about 35 departments and degree granting centres (both treated as academic units). Of these, by my unscientific (but laborious) count, 93% are male and just 7% are female! Three of the ~35 units have a woman chairperson, while the rest have chairMEN. This ratio matches the overall faculty gender ratio. Of these, only two MALE chairs use the title ChairPERSON (Centre for Climate Change, and Centre for Nano Science & Engg, both newly formed), while the rest refer to themselves as ChairMAN if they're male and ChairPERSON otherwise.

Beyond the titular distinctions, 15 units have ZERO female faculty. As might be expected, the units under Biological Science division have the best representation, with an average of 25% female faculty ratio and it includes all the three women who are Chairs. Of the five departments under Chemical Sciences, there is only one female faculty. Surprisingly, while Civil and Mechanical Engineering, traditionally male dominated in college admissions, have one female faculty each (not good enough but still present), the Electrical Division, which includes departments like Computer Science and Electronics & Communication, have just two female faculty out of 90! This is far below the female student ratio you see in these departments. You can delve into these stats more in the end note but the writing is clear that the status quo at IISc is no good [5].

The Women in Science panel I attended was more broad based, and go beyond cold, bleak statistics into the gender perceptions and biases that exist in the broader scientific community. First off, the original meeting room got packed full well before the meeting started. We have to move to a much larger hall that could hold the 50+ people, mostly science majors and some faculty. It was evidently among the best attended talks in the WIS series. The panel was presided by Prof. Rohini Godbole from IISc and included Prof. Jocelyn Burnell from Oxford, an eminent astro-physicist who first discovered radio pulsars -- for which her advisor was awarded the Nobel prize (and she was left out!!).

The panel gave both an Anglo and an Indian perspective. I'm paraphrasing some observations, anecdotes and comments that I overheard, all of them by women...

• Often, women in senior positions are the only women at that level in that group. So they end up having to play by the "boys' rules" or act like them. So they subtly transform into "SheMales" or "WeMen" to fit in. How do you retain your femininity or female identify, and yet be in a professional environment?
• Of the female students in the audience (50+), about 75% did not have a male sibling. There was a sense that not having a male sibling may help parent focus attention on the girl(s) -- particularly in rural towns where the majority of India lives. On the other hand, there was a thought that growing up with brothers helps women learn how to be like/work with men as they rise up the ladder.
• As girls advance to higher education, the pressure from parents and society to drop off increases. From high school to college to grad school to postdoc...there is a race between the biological clock and the career clock, with pressure to "settle down".
• Female students for the most part do not experience serious discrimination at the college level. The fact that there are not many female faculty as role models does not seem to dissuade them from considering a scientific career. But the gender biases start becoming apparent as they progress in their career path.
• Anecdote: A female student was being encouraged by her mentor to pursue graduate studies in biology, but in a jocular manner, he remarks that since the research involves animal studies with mice and simians, "if the animals act up and you're afraid, shout out for the guys to come and help you". This comment felt insulting.
• Discussing concerns with friendly mentors of either gender can help highlight issues, and bring them to broader attention. Sometimes, the person inflicting a bias may not even realize it and may be willing to change if educated. There is an online Harvard study that examines a person's natural biases [2].
• Women tend to be over-analytical about their professional choices and actions, and consequently, sometimes, take disabling career moves.
• Women in the medical profession have more societal acceptance, say when having to visit a patient in the middle of the night, compared to women in other sciences where going at 2AM to the lab to check on a sample is frowned upon at home.
• Lilavati's Daughters [3] is a collection of essays and biographies of women scientists in India. An inspiring read. One tangential take-away by a student who read it was that women have to be utterly passionate about doing research if they want to succeed in their scientific career, and she ended up quitting her PhD because she felt she could not meet those high standards. Why can men put in a normal effort and end up being good scientists but women have to be super-humans to get scientific recognition?
• There are programs by India's DST and DBT to encourage women in science [4]. A majority of the women do NOT want gender-based affirmative action. They want to progress because they qualify, not because of someones handout. The risk that one's success will be attributed to "quotas" rather than true potential outweighs the possible benefits of affirmative action.

In the UK,

• A male who is aggressive is seen as "energetic" while a female is seen as "pushy".
• It is common for women faculty to serve part-time appointments while they have to raise a family. The university offers the option. However, this consideration is not given to male faculty. There are also government programs that encourage women to return back to the workforce, say in their 40's, even after they've had an extended break. This is also available to men, and prevents accusations of reverse-discrimination.
• While the popular notion may be that women are held back because of the career choices they make in favour of their families, there is evidence that even when women remain single or without kids, their career growth is curtailed compared to their male peers.
• Universities are required to collect statistics on the number of female job applicants and job offers, students enrolled, number of buildings named after women, number of portraits of women in the school hallways, etc., and are given a score card of Gold, Silver, or Bronze etc. based on their gender parity. Funding agencies require institutions to meet a minimum threshold.

To conclude this elongated post, I'm irked by the subtle yet vexing question on what role men can play, i.e., not just by being un-biased or by standing up against discrimination, but in more active roles that promote gender sensitivity. It is tricky. You don't want to play too forward a role for fear of reaffirming the stereotype that men dominate (or worse, have your intentions misconstrued). For e.g., there were about 10% of men in the 50+ audience, and the first question, from a audience waiting to warm up, comes from a male student. And immediately, the female student next to me exclaims, "Oh no, a guy beats us to this too!". At the same time, since we men are part of the problem, we need to be part of the solution too. More on this as we make progress at IISc over the coming months (years?)...


Endnote:
[1] Sample Sexual Harassment Training, http://www2.ucsc.edu/title9-sh/training/player.html
[2] Harvard Implicit Bias Test, https://implicit.harvard.edu
[3] Lilavati's Daughters: The Women Scientists of India, http://www.ias.ac.in/womeninscience/liladaug.html
[4] DST & DBT scholarship programs for women scientists, http://www.dst.gov.in/scientific-programme/women-scientists.htm, http://dbtindia.nic.in/uniquepage.asp?id_pk=665
[5] Unscientific Statistics on IISc Faculty Gender Ratio (collected from active IISc Webpages)

BIO SCI DIV
Chemistry*	12	4
Ecological Sciences*	10	5
Neuroscience*	6	2
Microbiology	12	4
Molecular Biophysics	11	2
Molecular Reproduction	9	3
CHEM SCI DIV
Inorganic Chem	21	0
Materials Research	12	0
NMR Center	7	0
Organic Chem	12	0
Solid State Chem	19	1
ELEC SCI DIV
Electronic Design	20	0
Computer Sci	26	1
Electrical Comm	22	0
Electrical Engg	20	1
MATH & PHYS SCI DIV
Astronomy	4	1
Contemporary Stud	4	0
Cryogenic	3	0
High Energy Phys	8	1
Instrumentation	11	1
Math	21	2
Physics	26	1
Earth Sci	11	2
MECH SCI DIV
Aero	26	1
Product Design	5	1
Chem Engg	11	0
Materials Engg	21	0
Microscopy	6	0
Mechanical	22	1
Civil	22	1
Atmospheric Sci	10	0
Sustainable Tech		?
Climate Change	3	0
DIV UNDER DIRECTOR
Nano Science	7	0
Supercomputer	18	0
Management	5	2
Urban Planning	19	1
TOTAL	482	38

*Department has a woman chairperson

[6] The original "Of Mice and Men" by Steinbeck talks of dreams, loneliness and powerlessness. Maybe there is a lesson there?

Will it Float?

The Tata Nano is a fun car. It's got a great pick up, is nimble for city driving, and chock full of tech features. And while it may not sell for Rs.1,00,000 any longer, it can still fit 4 for a comfy ride and give 30 km/l. All of this thanks to a rear-mounted engine, low centre of gravity and a spacious, light frame…all of which is both good and bad, as I found.

The serene IISc campus is self-contained. One just does not want to leave it for the hustle and bustle (and the occasional wrestle) of the city. The couple of jaunts I have had off-campus with the Nano have been to some spanking new malls nearby. The Orion Mall and the Mantri Mall are a world of their own. A rich blend of up market international brands standing shoulder to shoulder with locally grown shopping chains. Subway and Shanti Sagar are cheek by jowl. Levis and Crocs lie alongside Landmark and Bata. Fancy a massage to relax after some heavy duty shopping? Coin operated massage chairs line the aisle! You might as well be in any large mall in the US, but for the sea of desi faces. If you were in the Bay Area or New Jersey, even that is moot. But then, there are still those oddities and niggles that remind you that we're still growing into the consumer-driven economy (Is that good? For a different post). Like the water fountains whose spouts are 5 feet high (maybe it's a shower?!!). Or the eternally empty towel dispensers. Or the strategically placed buckets to catch water dripping from the roof during a downpour! Jugaad is in full flow. 

And yes, it does rain a lot in Bangalore, as I've found. While the first couple of weeks here welcomed me with sunshine, last week more than made up for it with several showers. One might as well have been in Redmond. In fact, last weekend supposedly recorded a 30 year high rainfall! Not that I knew about it then when I sauntered out. But in all, it's been fun watching the showers through the tree tops from my vantage office at the top floor of SERC (whose roof wasn't immune to the torrent either :-)).

Maybe there is something about water that spurs innovation, reflecting through showers or musing in the bathtub . Archimedes would agree. Even Prof. C.N.R. Rao, during his recent Bharath Ratna felicitation on campus, drew inspiration from Archimedes discovering the science behind buoyancy and rushing out his bathtub shouting 'Eureka'. Which reminds me of my PhD co-advisor, who often used that expression when he regaled our lab group with anecdotes. I guess it is nice to be able to explain something as fundamental as floating that we take for granted. But one thing I never understood was Archimedes' rush to share his discovery in his state of undress (as the story goes). It was not like he had to publish it soon out of fear of being "scooped".

So what does Archimedes share with David Letterman? For those not familiar, Letterman is a late night comic, famous for this toothy grin. And, maybe picking the wrong message from Archimedes' story, he runs an occasional segment called "Will it Float?". It is one of his better bits where he'd try to dunk commonplace stuff into a tank of water to see if they would float or not. He's tried things as odd as a canaloupe (floats!) and 500ft roll of coaxial cable (floats!!). It was never an easy guess, so maybe there is a science lesson there? But one thing I'm sure he's not tried this on is a Tata Nano. And (drums please) ladies and gentlemen, today, we have an answer!

Finding the right entrance into IISc campus is a bit troublesome, what with road construction that makes many gates inaccessible. I had finally figured out a reliable route through Maramma Circle. But then, there are always boundary conditions one finds out about. As I was driving back my Nano from Mantri Mall last Sunday night, in poor visibility caused by the record breaking rains, the comfort of being able to find the gate soon gave way to the boundary condition of navigating the flooded underpass.

So how many engineers does it take to estimate the depth of water in an underpass (caveat: at night, and in a downpour)? The answer, apparently, is Not Enough! My cousin, a partner in crime, and myself "pool" our collective aeronautics engineering and computer science skills together and make a quick decision: Nah, it's not too deep. So I rev up the engine and head down the slope at a measured pace…

Well, the good news is, if you always admired those cool cars that Bond has that you can drive on land and skim through water, Nano gets you close! But in the absence of a hydro-propulsion mechanism , you are (literally), a sitting duck in water. Long story short, we almost make it to the deep end, the wheels loose contact with the road -- the car floats!! -- and the low-slung rear engine splutters out. In hindsight, we should have tried to get out thru the window but, oh well, 2ft of water pours in as we step out the door. A few heaves and hos, and me manage to push the car uphill. Our escapade at least proved a cautionary tale for several cars following us, which soon turned tail and headed off to better pursuits.

After all these amphibious adventures, the Nano had to suffer the ignominy of being paraded through Bangalore streets on its hind wheels by a tow truck, as passers-by gave it a sad look. The little car that almost could…

P.S. I know an unnamed student of mine is rolling with laughter now, after the ribbing he got after a similar incident, though with better results!

Endnote:

• Recordbreaking rains in Bangalore
• Tata Nano. It good, really!
• David Letterman's Will it Float?

 

 

On Golden Hours and Silver Linings

(aka Humanity vs Magnanimity)

One of the stark contrasts in being back in India is the worth (or lack there off) of human life and limb. This is stark when we observe the disdain that ambulances are shown on the road. As I am traveling from Chennai to Bangalore on NH 4, I see our bus coolly overtake an ambulance that has its siren blaring. And a few minutes later, as we hit a toll plaza, the ambulance joins the queue in a neighbouring toll booth, waiting for those ahead to pay and pass. It's a first come first served, survival of the fittest attitude on the streets. But an incident over the weekend gives me hope.

As I was driving to SEED, a non profit at Chennai's outskirts, on Diwali day, I was pleasantly surprised at the fairly empty roads and light traffic. It reminded me of Christmas day at LAX where the bustle turns to a trickle as people spend time with family at home. As I passed SRMC, a large teaching hospital, I see a small crowd milling by the road. I pulled over my car to check out what was happening. It was immediately apparent; a pedestrian has been hit by a motor bike and prone by the road side, while the alleged perpetrator is being accosted by the crowd. I don't see any bleeding but the pedestrian is screaming, partly in pain and partly egging the crowd to not let the motor cyclist escape. The mob surrounds the biker. A few bystanders idly take in the spectacle.

After checking with a few to see if someone has called for an ambulance, with non committal responses, I find the current medical emergency number (it's 108), and call. There is no response. Either my cell provider is acting up or the number is busy or something. Diwali may be a hectic day with burn accidents. I try 100, the number for the police. Again, no luck. Then I turn to the pedestrian and see that his leg in an unusual angle. The bone is broken in half though the skin has not torn. The onlookers are unsure what to do. Some offer water.

Such is plight is not uncommon. There are countless (unsubstantiated) anecdotes (and even some movie plots) where the people who help "accident victims" are harassed by the police as potential suspects themselves (or just asked to appear as witness in court). Sometimes, even hospitals will (allegedly) not treat accident victims due to this hassle. It is this notional inconvenience prevalent in pop culture that causes humanity to often take a back seat. No one wants to get involved. They would rather give the culprit a good thrashing and walk away rather than help the victim and get embroiled.

As some people try to move the pedestrian to the side, he screams in agony. I look for an auto rickshaw to flag to take the victim to the hospital nearby. My instinct is to help, but have someone else do the difficult part. The streets are bereft of vehicles during this festive day. The golden hour, if there is one to save the leg, may be closing. I decide to take him myself.

I unload my family, the crowd loads up the victim to the back seat, and we rush to SRMC. And it is what happens from here on that rekindles my hope, offering a silver lining to this morbid event.

The security at the SRMC gate hears my pre-emptive honks and points me to the Emergency entrance. We speed onwards. The guard at the Emergency gate can sense my urgency. The gate swings open. I don't have to stop. I pull over along side ambulances. A couple of hospital staff come over. One calls for a stretcher. A senior staff asks how he was injured. I tentatively say that he was in an accident and I was helping. (Would they admit him?) They thank me profusely!! Few in the public bother to help, the say, and a simple act of humanity seems like magnanimity.

They want me to park my car and come in. After a brief discussion between the doctors, they don't see any reason for me to have to stick around. They are glad someone helped and that is good enough for them. A nurse takes my contact details, as the person who brought the victim in. From the look of it, he may survive with just a limp (I hope). He is talking to his sister on a borrowed cell phone as I leave.

I have mixed feelings. I feel good that the victim will survive, but sad at the low expectations set by society. But the redeeming factor was the knowledge that helping a random stranger, an accident victim by the roadside, should not require a second thought. There is no bureaucratic hassle. Just the generous thanks of the hospital staff, the police (whom we met on the way out) and of course the victim who, for once, did not end up as yet another statistic.

Endnote:

• Some emergency numbers
• A plan to have a single emergency number
• Paper on road accident statistics in India. ~25% of accidents are fatal! Tamil Nadu leads the pack @ 15% of accidents and 11% of fatalities.
• The law on helping accident victims
• Motor Vehicles Act 1988 (amended 1994):  The driver of the vehicle must take all reasonable steps to secure medical attention for the injured person by conveying him to the nearest medical practitioner or hospital, and it is shall be the duty of every registered medical practitioner or the doctor on the duty in the hospital immediately to attend the injured person and render medical aid or treatment without waiting for any procedural formalities.