Athene Donald
Retired professor of physics and former Master of Churchill College Cambridge. Interested in science policy, skills, education and EDI issues; author of Not Just for the Boys; blogging at occamstypewriter.org/athenedonald/
- Reposted by Athene DonaldThis government is determined to unleash ambitious and high-quality sustainable growth in Greater Cambridge. We have today launched a consultation on proposals to establish a centrally-led Urban Development Corporation for the area 👇🏻 www.gov.uk/government/c...
- Katherine Blodgett, the first woman to receive a PhD from Cambridge's Cavendish Laboratory www.phy.cam.ac.uk/news/the-inv...
- Reposted by Athene DonaldFuming 😡 Teacher: "you can usually tell the girls that want to do physics, they look a bit tomboy-ish" #WomenInSTEM #ASPIRES3 @iop.org
- Reposted by Athene DonaldBorn #OnThisDay in 1885 was Marjory Stephenson FRS, biochemist and one of the first two women to be elected to the Royal Society. Stephenson also founded the Microbiology Society and served as its second president. #HistoryOfScience #WomenInSTEM www.youtube.com/watch?v=hr5b...
- Why should women have to be 'feisty' to survive in STEMM? It's always been thus: time to fix the system!#womeninstem occamstypewriter.org/athenedonald...
- Women shouldn't need to be feisty to survive in science. But it was tough for Margaret Cavendish 350 years ago, and it's still tough now #womeninstem occamstypewriter.org/athenedonald...
- RIP Nancy. She impacted me in various ways: as my graduate tutor at Girton and I took over from her as Director of WiSETI, an organisation she had set up at Cambridge. She was a hard act to follow
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- With the setting up of the new DSIT Women in Tech workforce, I've been asking how far we've come since the late Nancy Lane Perham's ground-breaking The Rising Tide report in 1993 occamstypewriter.org/athenedonald...
- My latest blogpost considers the life and legacy of Nancy Lane Perham (which includes Athena Swan) and its relevance to the recently announced Women in Tech taskforce occamstypewriter.org/athenedonald...
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- Glad to see Churchill College heron still in residence when we stopped by this afternoon
- Thoughts on the importance of teaching aspiring scientists about how to communicate their science to policy makers and the wider public, prompted by @dianecoyle1859.bsky.social and @michaelkenny.bsky.socials piece on the topic in Nature occamstypewriter.org/athenedonald...
- My reflections on @dianecoyle1859.bsky.social and @michaelkenny.bsky.social 's recent article in Nature about getting science back into policy-making occamstypewriter.org/athenedonald...
- Seems topical to have this Long Read today about the 1975 Sex Discrimination Act, as steps to combat misogyny and violence against women & girls get new focus. Epithets may have changed, but attitudes towards women still often patronising, demeaning & much worse www.theguardian.com/world/2025/d...
- Good step forward, with many caveats being raised, but I fear this headline should read 'boys will be taught the difference....'. Will they learn it? We have to hope so! www.theguardian.com/society/2025...
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- Important new move from DSIT as it launches a Women in Tech taskforce. So many problems start so early in life so it is good to know they'll be looking at the education system as well as the job market www.gov.uk/government/n...
- Asking the right questions is a key skill in any walk of life. It doesn't necessarily come easy. occamstypewriter.org/athenedonald...
- How do you learn how to ask the right questions when seeking evidence? Do our exams assess what the modern world of work wants in its new employees? Some reflections on Practice and Experience occamstypewriter.org/athenedonald...
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- Today's blogpost is about how #womenin stem can present themselves most effectively. Too retiring and risk being ignored, too assertive and risk being accused of ambition or aggresion. I ask 'What Voice?' occamstypewriter.org/athenedonald...
- How should #womeninSTEM present themselves and their research? Being too self-effacing is unhelpful, being too full-on often rejected. I ask: What Voice? occamstypewriter.org/athenedonald...
- What are the consequences of not giving every child the best start in life? Nicola Padfield and I explore this over on the @bennettinstitute.cam.ac.uk blog, particularly looking at the future impact on NEETs www.bennettschool.cam.ac.uk/blog/the-con...
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- I've been doing some digging into my family generations back. Turns out there were some quite serious botanists....occamstypewriter.org/athenedonald...
- Thinking about #womeninSTEM I make a personal foray into history, and discover some unexpected connections. Botanists in the family occamstypewriter.org/athenedonald...
- Reflections on a meeting @royalsociety.org on Historical Perspectives of Women in Science. What has changed from the elections of the first women FRSs to now? #womeninSTEM occamstypewriter.org/athenedonald...
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- The importance of the departmental tea room where you can bump into anyone ....the importance of hearing diverse views. Today's post: The Importance of Community occamstypewriter.org/athenedonald...
- The importance of getting away from your screen and talking to other people: The Sense of Community (with thanks to @andrewmaynard.net for stimulating this post) occamstypewriter.org/athenedonald...
- Reposted by Athene DonaldIs AI making job recruitment less meritocratic? We're getting some v interesting research studies on this question now, and the news is... not good. @jburnmurdoch.ft.com & I dive in, in the latest edition of our newsletter The AI Shift www.ft.com/content/e5b7...
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- Practical science at school is really important for developing curiosity as well as examinable skills! Reflections on last week's workshop @royalsociety.org occamstypewriter.org/athenedonald...
- Reflections on the importance of science practicals now and the messes I made of my own school practicals. Now with a 'hair-raising' comment from @jane-bernal.bsky.social, a near contemporary at my school occamstypewriter.org/athenedonald...
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- On the joys, challenges and importance of school science practical work, something the recent Curriculum and Assessment Review barely touched on occamstypewriter.org/athenedonald...
- Reposted by Athene DonaldBritain’s top scientists have written to the PM warning that the education system is holding back children and the country and expressing concern about the timidity of the government’s curriculum and assessment review @theobserveruk.bsky.social observer.co.uk/news/nationa...
- Do economists value women's unpaid labour in the home appropriately? A review of three books about economics points to a' need to rethink social and economic structures with care in mind'. www.ft.com/content/f646...
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- Today is Lise Meitner's birthday, as well as Marie Curie. I wrote this blogpost about Meitner and her life a while back. Let's celebrate the woman who 'never lost her humanity'. occamstypewriter.org/athenedonald...
- Reposted by Athene DonaldIn honor of the upcoming #WomenInPhysics Day, let's create a thread of amazing women physicists. I'll start with one my favorites, Chien-Shiung Wu, who is best known for conducting the Wu experiment, which proved that parity is not conserved. ⚛️ 🧪 👩🔬 🎢
- Dear Physicists and Physics fans, I would like to encourage you to celebrate #WomenInPhysics Day this Friday, November 7th. Why November 7th? Because it is the birthday of two of the most impactful women physicists of the 1900's: Marie Curie and Lise Meitner. 🎢 ⚛️ 🧪 👩🔬
- Reposted by Athene DonaldDear Physicists and Physics fans, I would like to encourage you to celebrate #WomenInPhysics Day this Friday, November 7th. Why November 7th? Because it is the birthday of two of the most impactful women physicists of the 1900's: Marie Curie and Lise Meitner. 🎢 ⚛️ 🧪 👩🔬
- I've been reading @andrewmaynard.net and Jeffrey Abbott's book on AI and the Art of Being Human. It prompted me to question myself about what makes me human occamstypewriter.org/athenedonald...
- I've been reading Jeffrey Abbott and Andrew Maynard's book AI and the Art of Being Human. It's prompted some self-reflection. Is that what makes me human? occamstypewriter.org/athenedonald...
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- Striking, if slightly threatening light in Cambridge this evening
- In a week of big announcements for the OxCam corridor and Cambridge specifically including an Innovation Hub, the University of Cambridge has also published its Civic Framework, setting out its responsibilities and priorities occamstypewriter.org/athenedonald...
- There were many important announcements for the Cambridge region this week, discussed at Thursday's Innovate Cambridge summit and more widely. I consider @cam.ac.uk's Civic Responsibilities and plans occamstypewriter.org/athenedonald...
- Great day at Innovate Cambridge Summit. 2 ministers to talk about funding for OxCam Corridor and fascinating presentations and panel discussions
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- My weekend post: learning to be difficult as a teenager. Good practice for coping with academic life as an adult occamstypewriter.org/athenedonald...
- Today's post looks back to when I started finding my spine as a teenager at school: Mrs Handley and the Whippets occamstypewriter.org/athenedonald...
- Ah, the need sometimes to speak up and be difficult! Some stories from my youth, when I was just practicing....Sunday morning reading: Mrs Handley and the Whippets occamstypewriter.org/athenedonald...
- In praise of 'difficult' women occamstypewriter.org/athenedonald...
- Sunday reading explores 'difficult' women: from Jane Goodall to Jess Phillips. We need more to move things forward #equality occamstypewriter.org/athenedonald...
- Sunday morning reading in praise of difficult women occamstypewriter.org/athenedonald...
- History lessons are just as short of female representation in the national curriculum as STEM, says End Sexism in Schools (ESIS) report. We need to find ways o make all lessons more respresentative of society (then and now). www.tes.com/magazine/tea...
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