ages, so that boys and girls have parity in career choices.
Alongside our Improving Gender Balance work is Project Juno – the IOP’s initiative to recognize and reward good practice in addressing the under-representation of women at all levels in physics, be it at university departments or research institutes. Launched in 2007, the Juno award is based on six principles that organizations work towards addressing, to achieve their Juno Practitioner or Juno Champion status. Applications are “peer reviewed” by a panel of physicists, and we conduct site visits to provide supportive and constructive feedback on progress.
But Juno is more than a project about f ixing only the gender imbalance. It is based on openness, transparency and improving the working environment for all, and the project aims to promote the development of our next generation of physics leaders. Some of the Juno work in universities has been transformational, opening up recruitment, promotions and leadership selection, ensuring that everyone in physics has the opportunity to progress. A head of a physics department in a university once said that taking part in Juno “gives a message of equality, that women can do it based on capability, that promotion is open to any gender”.
Over the course of a PhD, women report feeling more isolated and having less contact with their super visor s
Research done by the IOP as well as other institutions has also found that over the course of a PhD (and any subsequent postdoctoral contracts), women’s aspirations to remain in scientif ic research decline, as they report less satisfaction with their doctorate, f ee l i ng more i so l a t ed and t hey have l e s s contact with their supervisors or principal invest i ga t o r s . To he l p w i t h t h i s , t he IOP r uns c ar ee r workshops for physics students that promote leadership development and highlight career pathways in and out of academia. We also p r o v i d e a C a r e r s ’ F und – a g r an t o f up t o £ 250 – that any members of the IOP who wish to at tend an event or conference can apply to.
O t h e r s a c r o s s t h e s c i e n c e c ommuni t y a r e also doing their bit. We know that returning from a career break can be daunting, and t he I OP wor k s c l o s e l y w i t h t he Daphne J ac kson Trust (see p23) – a charity dedicated to h e l p i n g S T EM p r o f e s s i o na l s who ha v e t a k e n a career break of two years or more and want to return to research. Its fellowship scheme is open to both men and women who have t aken a c a r e e r b r e ak f o r a number of reasons, including raising a child, looking af ter an elderly parent or health is sues. The Women Into Science and Engineering ( W I SE ) c ampaig n e n c o u r a g e s c ompanie s t o engage with its Ten Steps framework that ensures women in STEM have the same career progression opportunities as men. AdvanceHE, a higher-education charity in t h e UK , r un s t h e Au r o r a l e ad e r s h i p i n i t i a t i v e for women in higher education, and many physicists have benefited from taking part in this year-long programme.
These and many other initiatives will support and encourage women to pursue lifelong physics and STEM careers. This will, in turn, hopefully ensure that a future in science is inviting, open and inclusive to everyone, which will ultimately benefit the whole of physics.
Jennifer Dyer was the head of diversity at the Institute of Physics. She is now the head of di ver s i t y and inc lus ion at O f Gem
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Books on optics and photonics
IOP Expanding Physics
IOP Series in Advances in Optics, Photonics and Optoelectronics
Elliptical Mirrors Applications in microscopy
Edited by Jian Liu
IOP Expanding Physics
Mathematical Devices for Optical Sciences
Sibel Bas¸kal Young S K im Marilyn E Noz
IOP Expanding Physics
IOP Series in Coherent Sources and Applications
Organic Lasers and Organic Photonics Edited by F J Duarte
IOP Expanding Physics
Series in Emerging Technologies in Optics and Photonics
Lens Design Automatic and quasi-autonomous computational methods and techniques
Donald Dilworth
IOP Expanding Physics
IOP Series in Coherent Sources and Applications
Laser Safety Practical knowledge and solutions
Edited by Ken Barat
Elliptical Mirrors Applications in microscopy E d i t e d b y J i a n L i u
Mathematical Devices for Optical Sciences Sibel Başkal, Young S Kim and Marilyn E Noz
Organic Lasers and Organic Photonics E d i t e d b y F J D u r a t e
Lens Design Automatic and quasiautonomous computational methods and techniques Donald Dilworth
Laser Safety Practical Knowledge and Solutions Ken Barat
We are actively commissioning in these fields, so if you have an idea for a book you’d like to discuss please contact ebooks@ioppublishing.org. Visit iopscience.org/books f o r mor e i n f o r ma t i on and a f u l l l i s t o f t i t l e s .
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Physics World Careers 2020
