In the summertime...

Cor blimey I’m still so busy! Never mind this idea that it’s the holidays… As I mentioned last time I’m working away at my job as a room attendant in a hotel – such hard work! I’ve always been amazed at the job cleaners do but never have I had more respect for the tough work they do daily. At least it’s going to keep me fit even if I silently curse all of the people who leave hotel rooms in such an appalling state. At least it pays the bills!

I thought I’d do a post on summer holidays as a student. We get such a huge amount of time off each year (term ends in July and we only start back again in October!) so how do we manage to fill it? Well over the years I’ve done a few different things…

Post exam madness

Exams (at least in Durham) finish roughly a month before the end of term, which is fantastic. This gives you a long space of time to basically just relax and have fun. Whilst there are a few bits and bobs to sort out (like module registration, occasionally some extra lectures or a project just to start on the next year’s work a little bit early) as well of the dreaded results day of course, most of the time is your own. During this time I usually

·      Travel with friends to various places around the area such as Newcastle, Northumbrian coast, York, Edinburgh and many more!

·      Survive the feat that is Summer Ball (6pm to 6am with all sorts of amazing activities like dodgems, ceilidhs at 3am and so much food!)

·      Have loads of fun at college days, Beer fests and other uni events

·      BBQ’s, parties, walks, concerts, sitting around in the sun, bar crawls and loads of other cool stuff with friends!

Summer Ball, Edinburgh and the Beach! Typical summer time fun :D

Working

Obviously one of the most sensible things to do is getting a job – it gives you some more funds on top of the meagre amount from student finance for the next year and often means you can actually afford some more fun stuff during the holiday. There are a few options for work during holidays though:

·      Paid internship – get experience in your subject/ try a possible career path out whilst getting paid! This can range from doing research to actually being a paid member of staff. Last summer I was lucky enough to be one of the Ogden Trust’s Teach Physics interns – I worked in a science department of a secondary school for a month. It was an AMAZING experience which I thoroughly enjoyed, teaching and helping out in lessons and generally experiencing what it is like to work in a school. I would thoroughly recommend it to anyone!

·      Summer job – trying to find a temporary job can be hard. Often businesses don’t want staff for such a short amount of time, however looking for work in seasonal areas is often your best bet. Have a look through normal job websites and apply for as many as possible. Experience is a must though – if you’ve never had a job before try and think of other things you have done that you can write down to show you have the skills they need. But then only go for a job that you will actually do – check that it meets the minimum wage and offers you the amount of hours you want. But also be prepared to try your hand at anything if you really want work! They’re often not as bad as you think they’ll be!

·      Seasonal work abroad – this is an excellent idea if you want to travel. There are lots of agencies that can place you doing seasonal work in resorts, as au pairs or in holiday camps. This summer I was all set up to go out to California to work as a Lead Instructor in an educational science camp, however unfortunately the visa process became complicated as I had been hired for a position that was more responsibility than the visa sponsor could allow for a student visa. However it is definitely something I plan to look in to in coming years as would have been a great experience! Look at various agencies, but also do some research. I got my job from sending a speculative CV so it’s worth searching!

·      Work experience – great for adding to your CV. I did a week in the NHS in Newcastle which confirmed my idea that medical physics is a route I would like to follow. It was great to get a real idea of what the job is like – and again I just found someone to contact and asked about work experience and ended up being offered the week and more if I wanted it! Asking politely gets you many good things!

Volunteering

I have often also used my summers to do some volunteering. In 2012 I volunteered as a Housekeeper at the Paralympic games, with all my wages donated to KISS, a Ugandan children’s charity that is very close to my heart. It was loads of fun as there was a whole group of us who did it, and we got some great experiences of the Paralympics – meeting the athletes briefly and seeing the park! Plus we knew that our work was supporting vulnerable children which made it so worthwhile. This summer I am volunteering at Camp Quest, a summer camp for children that aims to encourage them to explore the world in a rational, critical and creative way. It’s going to be fantastic – we have such great activities planned!

Housekeeping team at the Paralympics... Such Fun!

Travelling

Finally – a holiday wouldn’t be complete without some travel. Being at uni is great as you meet people from all over the place so can travel far and wide visiting them, and travel with them exploring new places. As well as visiting lots of different places in the UK, there are such good opportunities to travel the world. Often there are cheaper rates available for students, but also if you’re willing to travel in inventive ways you can get to great places for much less than the usual cost. Travelling outside of the school holiday period also makes the rates cheaper and the locations less busy so it’s a brilliant opportunity to take! Last year I travelled to Lake Garda, Milan, Verona and Venice which was amazing, and this year I’m off to the spectacular island Sardinia to enjoy the clear turquoise waters, white sandy beaches and the deepest gorge in Europe! Take the opportunities while they’re there and go see some amazing places!

Venice last year and where I'm off to this year - I love holidays!

How did I get here... and where am I going?

This week I’m going to take a look at why I chose to pursue a degree in Physics, and where I think I might be headed in the long run. Physics is a great subject to study, yet whenever I tell people I study Physics I almost always get the same response – shock that I’m studying it as either a) they didn’t understand Physics when they were at school or b) they just hated it. This inevitably leads to an awkward moment where either they say “Ooooh you must be really clever” (How on earth are you meant to respond to that?!) or you have to make a choice – do you try and persuade them that Physics is actually really cool (which tends to make you look really weird/ geeky/ over excitable) or do you just leave it and try and change the conversation before an awkward silence takes hold?

So what made Physics grab my attention and make me want to carry on studying it? Well I have always had an interest and curiosity in how things worked and in the world around me. This did not mean that I was always on a definite path towards physics – I was interested in EVERYTHING. Reading, art, music, sports, science, history… you name it I was into it. I would play with Barbies, but also build them vehicles and spend hours making sure the inside of their home was ‘just right’. It was great – I was given access to all sorts of opportunities and this meant growing up was really exciting!

Check out my ultra cool telescope that I got for Christmas
(age 7) - and check out the amazing experimental technique!

I loved studying a wide range of subjects at school, and having to give most of them up after GCSE was a difficult decision to make. I had no idea what I wanted to be “when I grew up” (I haven’t known since stopping wanting to be an Olympic gymnast at age 7) so instead of thinking about where I was heading I made the decision based on subjects I enjoyed. This didn’t stop the head of sixth form asking skeptically where these subjects were leading me to, but I’m so glad I took my range of subjects. Physics, Maths, English Literature and Music – certainly a broad range but each gave me so many different skills which have all helped since. But what to do at university?

Going to CERN whilst on a family holiday - thumbs up!

I considered all sorts of options. Someone recommended I looked at the PPE due to my interest in all sorts of things, but I didn’t fancy that. I’d always had an idea that I’d like to study English at university but then again I’d always loved Music too. However during sixth form I really got excited about Physics. I just found all the new topics I was learning about fascinating – everything from projectiles to particle Physics. I was also good at it and there was always the consideration that Physics was a very employable subject to pursue. It wasn’t an easy decision to make though, and what really did it was the fact I knew it would be easier to keep both English and Music up as hobbies. I don’t intend to ever give up on any of my interests, but all in all Physics was the best option for me.

I wont even pretend that my methods of choosing a university followed the recommended technique – but then again ordering prospectuses for almost everywhere was not actually going to help that much. I basically typed “Top 10 universities in UK for Physics” into google, looked at a few league tables, crossed out ones in London and other huge cities (I didn't want to study there) and then looked at the shortlist of ones left. I then looked at the courses (pretty much standard though!) and facilities on offer. I went and looked round several universities, but all I found that the 5 I had already pretty much decided on were the ones I would be happiest at. And in the end, I ended up in the place I had liked the most so alls well that ends well!

And well as they say – the rest is history! As you know if you’ve followed this blog, I’ve really enjoyed the course so far and love the place I study in. But where am I headed? Well over the course of my time at university I have decided I want to continue with my involvement in Physics (rather than leave it to go into finance or business). I then have several options… Firstly, teaching. I don’t want to go straight in to it though, whilst I have really loved the teaching experiences I have had to date, I want to get away from school for a while. It’s definitely something I’d consider in the future though. Secondly, medical physics. I’d love to do a job that helps people and I’ve always had an interest in medicine. I also find it fascinating how physics can be applied in a very real life setting and can make people better. A weeks work experience in the Newcastle confirmed that it would be a job I would really enjoy so I think that’s my most likely route at the moment! And thirdly, working in science communication would be awesome! I’m not really sure how you’d go about getting into that though so I think getting some experience of the ‘real world’ first would be a good way to go!

Recent homemade astronaut costume -
I obviously never stopped being really cool! 

But for now I’ve just got a job as a room attendant in a hotel (for the summer). Whilst I’m sure it will be a great experience, and a nice little source of income, I can’t see myself doing it in the future! Wish me luck though guys – first day tomorrow!

That’s all for now folks – expect another on Saturday (to make up for a missed one!) 

What's it like studying in Durham?

Well hello there! Today (delayed by a couple of days due to a really busy weekend!) I thought I’d do a post on my experiences living and studying in Durham. I’ve lived up here for 3 years now, and I love it. When I was applying for university I looked round lots of places but Durham was the place I really liked the look and feel of. I’m originally from “Dahn Saarf” so moving “Oop North” was quite a distance to go, but I’ve really enjoyed my time here and would love to stay in this area following graduation.

So Durham. Consistently ranked among the best in the country – what is it like to actually study here? The departments will differ according to subjects so I wont go into them here – but because of the standing of the university you can be sure of high quality teaching and some excellent teaching facilities (including a really great library!). One of the most important things that marks Durham apart from many UK universities is the fact it is collegiate. This means that Durham is made up of colleges as well as the academic departments. Each student is a member of a college and will (usually) live in college buildings for at least their first year, most of which are fully catered. This isn’t quite the same as living in halls of residence as it means you’ll usually eat every meal in a big dining room with everyone else whilst you “live-in” so it’s lovely to be able to get to know other people really quickly.

St Aidan's College and University College (I'm at Aidan's)

College is also central in terms of activities – each college will have its own student societies and sports teams, as well as a JCR committee (JCR: Junior Common Room). These are students who have been elected to help keep college running as the students want it to be run. They are responsible for running events throughout each term from festivals to balls, are responsible for the running of some of the college facilities like the shop (selling a variety of essentials and snacks like sweets, toasties or icecream) and the bar. There is also the college welfare team run by both staff and students so all in all college really makes you feel at home as soon as you arrive at university. Pretty much everyone ends up feeling the same college pride, vigorously arguing about how good your college is compared to the others and enjoying joining in with the traditional college chants and songs. Basically colleges are fantastic!*

College Christmas formal, Traditional Aidan's Chant "Shoes
off if you love Aidans" and Summer Ball

Durham itself is also lovely. The city is small, so you can get everywhere in the centre really easily on foot. In later years when people usually “live-out” of college in privately rented houses these may be slightly further out of the city centre, but lots of students bring bikes or use some of the good bus services. It is also great value for money for students – the North East is much cheaper than other parts of the country but just as good! The city is full of lovely buildings, most notably the cathedral (which you can see from almost everywhere) and castle (which is actually part of the university). It has a good range of shops, with a selection that you’d find in most normal sized towns, as well as a range of restaurants, loads of cafes and a range of nightlife, as well as theatre and cinema. It is also really close to Newcastle which is great for providing access to more shops, concerts and other activities. The surrounding countryside is also really beautiful. Just beware of the cobbles, the hills and the weather!

Durham (lots of Cathedral) and Newcastle

Of course university isn’t just about where you live or the subject you do. It’s about the people you meet and the things you get up to, and in this respect Durham is great. As said previously the college system is great for meeting people particularly in your first few days – I had a large group of friends I have remained friends with by the end of Fresher’s week whereas I know people at other universities who found it a lot harder (as they were separated into random flats and it was much harder to mix with new people). However Durham also provides lots of other opportunities to meet people and enjoy things you love. With a huge number of societies (from music groups to language societies to the cheese tasting society), sports teams (which compete both at an extremely successful national level to casual inter-college level) and other student groups there really is something for everyone. Whilst I’ve been here I’ve enjoyed being a part of:

·      A choir and orchestra

·      First Aid society

·      Yoga, Aerobics and Archery

·      Folk society (both music sessions and Morris dancing – so cool! :P )

·      The Atheist, Secularist and Humanist society

And had a go at a lot more! Societies are a great way to try something new and meet new people with similar interests.

IVFDF Ceilidh with Folk Society, DASH and St John Ambulance

I’ve loved uni and all of the opportunities I’ve had and the people I’ve met. I’m really glad that I ended up at Durham as I think it has been the perfect place for me, however I would recommend to anyone looking at applying to university to actually go and look at the university before you accept an offer. There’s no point accepting somewhere you’re going to end up hating. Prospectuses are also not always a good source of information – lots of universities will just have lovely glossy photos of a very small part of the campus (which you might never actually get to go to). Open days are better, but also make sure you get away from the tours and go and explore a bit for yourself – it should be about what you like and are looking for, not what the university want you to see. Get a feel for the campus, the city and if you can talk to some current students to get a clearer idea. However do bear in mind most people love uni in the end so wherever you end up, I’m sure you’ll have a great time!

Which universities do you go to/ are looking at going to? What do you like most about them? Any questions about Durham?

*It’s worth noting that while quite a lot like the collegiate system at Oxford/Cambridge, it’s not quite the same as no teaching is done in college. Instead teaching is done in lectures that everyone attends and tutorials where the groups are students from a mix of colleges. 

How to... Cope with Illness at University

Ooops – looks like something went wrong last week! I posted last Saturday but it seems to have mysteriously disappeared (it was probably me deleting it by accident or something – silly me!). So apologies about that; I was none the wiser about the lack of a proper post! I’ve reposted it below so check it out – just a couple of hints about how I like to revise for Physics exams!

Today’s blog is another one that hopefully might help someone out at some point. University is quite a daunting experience, most people move away from home to an entirely new place and are suddenly entirely responsible for themselves, often for the first time in their lives. Added to this is the fact that you become really busy – not only is there lots of work to do, but there are also new friends to meet, activities to try, places to be! All of which can leave you feeling a bit run down. Universities are a hot house for diseases to thrive in – people from all over the country (and beyond) come and share around their various illnesses in lecture halls (which are always either WAY to hot or cold) with other students whose immune systems have already taken a beating from sharing maybe slightly less than spotless kitchens and other communal areas and Friday night’s maybe slightly dodgy 2am pizza from that place that only opens for the ‘late night crowd’.

And getting ill at university is not nice at all! There are no parents to phone up school for you to tell them you can’t come in, no one brings you hot drinks or nourishing food and people are in general far less sympathetic than the treatment you got at home. Instead you have to carry on looking after yourself as best as you can, crawling out of the nest you have formed for yourself in your bedroom, looking miserable as you skulk towards the kitchen to get yourself some food. Trying to look less guilty as other people see you, as you silently apologise for even daring to leave your den of illness and share with everyone else the possibility that they too might catch it.

So yeah, it’s not great. Students are also liable to get some really nasty illnesses which can have some really significant complications at our age. So what can you do about it? I am one of those “more ill than the average person” people, so I have lots and lots of experience at being ill, and more importantly for this post, what you can do to cope.

·      Doctors – when you’re ill you go to the doctors right? Well first off, when you start university make sure you register at your new GP, your university will probably help with this. Then appreciate the fact that it may not operate in the same way as your current GP does. At my university, there are lots of students all registered to the same GP surgery, so they have to operate in such a way as to maximise the number of people they can see. So instead of necessarily just booking an appointment, you may have to attend a drop in session where you arrive and wait to see the first available doctor or nurse. This is all well and good for most people, but if you have long standing health problems you may wish to see someone consistently who gets to know you and knows about your history and appreciates your health record. Ask about whether you can have it mentioned on your record that you would like to see a particular doctor, in such circumstances I’ve found they’ve been very good about letting me see a doctor who knows me and who I like.

·      Find out about university policy. If you’re ill you will probably be missing lectures, which may or may not be compulsory to attend. Even if not compulsory you’ll be missing teaching time so either try and get notes from a friend, or try asking the lecturer do they have any slides or notes or similar. If you are missing compulsory sessions, find out what the protocol is. Often you can just contact the university or specific department to let them know you’re ill so are missing classes/ need an extension on a deadline or whatever. In lots of universities for short term problems (like flu for example) you can self certify, which means you don’t need a doctor’s note to prove you were ill, however you will probably be limited in how many of these you can submit and under what circumstances. Make sure you know the procedures for any more important circumstances such as being ill during the exam or revision period, as there are often more forms to fill in, more important people to contact and you will often need a doctors letter (which aren’t necessarily quick or easy to get and are often not free either).

·      Find out about the support networks in the university or surrounding area. If you suffer from a long term health issue there are often people you can talk to who can help you deal with these, from disability services to counselling services or university welfare teams. These people can really help by explaining procedures you need to follow, helping you find resources that might help (such as support in buying a Dictaphone if you regularly miss lectures for health reasons so the lecture can be recorded for you) and just being a friendly face you can go to when you’re feeling rubbish.

·      Look after yourself. You have your freedom now but this doesn’t mean that takeaways all the time and drinking every night is a good idea. Eat properly, get enough sleep, get some exercise in and you’ll be less likely to be ill. Pay attention to any notices sent round about any particular illnesses that are going round like mumps or glandular fever and protect yourself from them and recognise the symptoms, as they are not fun at all! Keep a check on your mental well being too as students are some of the most likely people to experience mental health difficulties as well, and help is out there. Find help if you need it as there is no shame in making sure you’re ok.

Try not to worry as well. Whilst when you’re ill the world can seem like a horrible place, but there are people who understand and people who have been through it all before. As such, there are many systems in place to ensure that no matter what happens, you should be able to access help and really enjoy university to the full, even if slip ups occur along the way. You’re not alone, there genuinely is always someone out there to help and finding them will really make you feel a lot better!

How to... Cope with Physics Exams

NOTE: Due to technical difficulties this blog was originally posted on 24/05/14 but seems to have disappeared since then - so here it is again! 

Hello everyone! I’m so sorry it has been so long, but I have been living holed up in my room and the library for the last month! However I have now broken out of the stress of exams, the monotony of revision and can once again turn my attentions to more fun endeavours. From now I will be blogging regularly (aiming for once a week, to be published on Saturdays). 

So, exams. Exams are hard, and everyone knows it. Having now been taking official exams every summer for the last 8 years (goodness me that’s a lot of exams!) I can now say that I think I’ve got my revision strategies worked out. Now of course everyone has different methods for revision, but this blog post just aims to give some ideas about what works for me, and what may work for others if they want some ideas.

First off: Revising for different subjects really does necessitate revising in different ways. I mean, different subjects obviously have different content, but that content is also applied very differently in exams. I studied Physics, Maths, English Literature and Music at A level and even then it was obvious that each subject needed to be approached in a different way. But it was approaching my first year university exams that it became clearer I needed to hone my revision techniques to be most efficient for revising Physics. At school many hours were spent doing (slightly weird) workshops that were meant to tell you what kind of learner you were, and therefore how you should revise. Everyone was encouraged to produce many different resources in order to revise, but many subjects didn’t actually give any hints about how to revise specifically for their subject.

Physics, at least at university level, is hard. The exams are tough. There is a lot of content to know (formula sheets are a vague memory from the past), but it isn’t enough to just know what you’ve been told in lectures. You have to be able to use this knowledge to do things that you may never have seen before, so you really have to understand it all too (and where it all comes from and how it all links together). You then also need to have the maths skills to do some pretty complicated mathematical tasks, where a small error will completely ruin your final answer. So what would I recommend?

·      Make your notes for the content in a way that works for you - People learn the content in different ways. I used to make colourful posters, as my memory works in such a way that I can usually visualise particular pages of revision and particular sections of that page and the colour can help me recall the image. However as the amount of content has increased, I have just found that often I don’t have enough time to cover all of the content in this way. Instead, I go through and make notes for the entire course, but making sure I understand every single part before I write it down as I will only have time to do this step once. I try and structure my notes such that content is presented in a logical order, and cross reference different parts so I understand how it all fits together and refer back to this resource whilst practicing.

·      Go back over everything regularly using the syllabus as a guide – when going back over your notes, use the syllabus (which should define what you need to know) to check your knowledge. You can write yourself a list of questions that you should be able to answer, and then go through it. (My boyfriend Adam came up with this one and it really works! :)) If you can’t write down the correct answer, go back through your notes and try again (sometimes writing it out a few times again helps). And do this regularly, starting a long time before the exams actually happen.

·      PRACTICE – the most important part of Physics revision is practice. Not only does it let you practice your maths skills properly, it can give you clues as to what sort of questions might come up and how these questions might be phrased. If you get sample solutions it can also give you good tips of how to answer questions and what to write down to gain the maximum number of marks.

·      In the exam – don’t panic. Many exams at university follow a different format to exams at school such that you can choose a certain number of questions to answer and leave the rest. Some people like to read the whole exam paper at the start, some people find that may panic them and prefer to answer some questions first, particularly if they are compulsory. But anyway – keeping calm is the most important thing. Even if you think you can’t do a question, write down what things you know about the topic. These might help you start to come up with a solution, as they can help you focus more on the topic but even if not may gain you some marks.

·      Make sure you write down your working. You’ll get told this constantly whilst at school and you know what – they’re right. It means if you make a mistake during a calculation they can see where you went wrong and then give you marks for the bits you did right. This is way more important as calculations get longer and harder.

And remember – at university the bar changes. 70% or more is excellent, gone are the days when less than 90% meant you missed out on the top grade. They are meant to be hard so don’t necessarily panic if you can’t do everything, just make sure you are especially careful when answering questions on things you can do.

All of the above may seem like common sense, but I’ve come across many people who really do find it hard to revise and are looking for a bit of help. So if that is you, best of luck! Hopefully something I’ve said might help but remember it’s all about what works for you!

To anyone else – do you have any revision tips that you think might help someone? What works for you?

Addressing the positives

First off, again I apologise that this is late – revision is really taking over my life! Easter holidays in particular are never really holidays at all due to all the revision that you’ve got to be doing, alongside all of the other bits and bobs that come up. Going to the dentist, getting your hair cut, visiting family and friends and trying to catch up with people all take up time too! My birthday is coming up next week too so all in all it has been rather hectic. However only 4 weeks (ish) until my exams are over – then I promise I’ll blog more regularly!

So in my last blog, I chose to post about some of my thoughts on some of the issues surrounding girls going on to study STEM subjects, Physics in particular. However in this blog I want to address some of the positives. Instead of looking at the fact there is a gender imbalance, we’re going to celebrate some of the achievements of women in STEM fields, particularly in Maths and Physics. Women like Marie Curie and Rosalind Franklin are now becoming more widely known and celebrated, which is brilliant. However here are just a few women you may not have heard of who all contributed to their field in significant ways, yet are rarely heard of or mentioned.

1)     Emilie du Chatelet (1706-1749)– a mathematician and physicist. Her translation of  Newton’s “Principia Mathematica” into French is still used today.

2)     Caroline Herschel (1750-1848) – as an astronomer she is credited with the discovery of several comets and for producing catalogues of stars and nebulae.

3)     Mary Somerville (1780-1872) – produced a series of writings on astronomy, chemistry, physics and mathematics and experimented with magnetism, as well as providing a translation of Laplace’s “The Mechanism of the Heavens” which was used for much of the next century.

4)     Henrietta Leavitt (1868-1921) – whilst working at Harvard, measuring and cataloguing stars, she developed an idea known as the period-luminosity relationship, which has been later used as the basis for many other famous discoveries.

5)     Lise Meitner (1878-1968) – following the work done by Ida Noddack was part of the team who demonstrated that nuclear fission was responsible for the lack of any naturally occurring stable elements beyond uranium, and that the breaking down of atomic nuclei could produce huge amounts of energy.

6)     Emmy Noether (1882-1935) – a mathematician whose work made huge contributions to abstract algebra and theoretical Physics, including the theorem that explains the connection between symmetry and conservation laws.

7)     Ida Noddack (1896-1978) – was the first to mention the idea of nuclear fission and with her husband discovered a new element, Rhenium.

8)     Cecilia Payne (1900-1979) – after being the first woman to gain a PhD in astronomy from Radcliffe, she went on to publish multiple papers. Her most significant discovery was of what elements made up stars.

9)     Maria Mayer (1906-1972) – The second woman to win a Noble prize in Physics. She was the first to propose the nuclear shell model of the atomic nucleus.

10) Chien-Shiung Wu (1912-1997) – she made significant contributions to the field of radioactivity, including working on the Manhattan project and for performing the famous Wu experiment that contradicted the Law of Conservation and Parity.

These are just a few of the many amazing women that have made huge impacts on the Physical sciences – and look at just how important some of their discoveries really were! These are only a few I picked out whilst reading recently but there are many more women who have worked in fields other than Physics. There are also so many amazing women who work in science today – just getting on with their jobs and everyday lives but discovering and doing amazing things. I just think it’s such a positive message to send out – look at all of these women who have achieved and are achieving so much.

One story that has really inspired me is that of Agnes. Agnes is a young woman supported by the KISS charity in Uganda. KISS stands for KIddie Support Scheme and works to support vulnerable children in Uganda, providing access to education, personal support and care, emergency funds and a safe place to meet and play for any child who wants to come. Every child and family is treated on an individual basis which means KISS is able to provide much more personal and appropriate help to the people in its care. I first became involved with the charity at school where every year we raised money to help support the vulnerable children KISS looked after. I was then lucky enough to have the opportunity to visit the community in Uganda on two occasions, once as a sixth former and again whilst at university. The people I met and the stories I heard have had a profound effect on me, and I hope I can continue my support of the charity for a long time. 

Agnes - such a wonderful,
bright individual.

So Agnes. Agnes is an orphan, and was raised by her godparents. Her childhood was incredibly hard. As an extra child in a new family who were already living in a very difficult situation, she was expected to do far more work around the house to help the family. However, with the support of KISS she was able to gain a full education and is now almost finished her training as an electrical engineer. But let’s let Agnes tell this in her own words… Please click here to view an interview with Agnes.

Agnes’s strength and determination to achieve what she wants despite all the struggles she has faced really inspire me. She is also just one of the most lovely, friendly people I have ever had the pleasure to meet.

So let’s hear it for girls in STEM fields – doing amazing things – daily.

If you want to find out more about the KISS charity, please check out this Youtube video and their website here.

A photo showing some of the KISS community during one
of my visits to see them.

Also finally - if anyone reading this has any feedback, questions or things they'd like me to address in a future blog, please let me know in the comments section below!

Next Blog: Survival Guide: Physics Exams

I’m not an anomaly – I'm just me!

First off – sorry that this is a little late! I’m now getting stuck into proper revision mode so my blogging may be a little erratic! I will aim to post approximately once every fortnight, however which day this happens to be on may change each time depending on how enthralled I am in theoretical quantum mechanics at the time (which is exciting, although I’ll admit theoretical anything is probably my least favourite part of Physics. It’s got to be done though!).

As promised, I wanted to do a post on what it’s like to study Physics as a female. Following International Women’s Day earlier in March, several interesting discussions took place about women in STEM, both in education and as a career. I would like to say from the outset – this is not a post saying that men are at fault. This is not a post that aims to point the finger and start accusing people of active discrimination. However bias does still exist in society. And there are lots of us that want to identify why, and come up with solutions to help combat it. Check out this talk from Shelley Correll, Professor of Sociology at Stanford University. She explains how women may be subject to negative bias within a work setting and suggests some solutions that may combat this. 

I'd also like to say that I have a great time studying Physics as a woman. I have great male and female friends and have role models of both genders that I look up to. Yes, it was annoying when I started my degree that so many people remembered me as "that girl" from the open day, just because as one of 7 girls in a group of 50 males my gender did make me stand out. However for the most part I've had a very positive experience of Physics education. I wanted to make this post to address the fact that so many others aren't as lucky as me. Please note I am not a psychologist though, and all the statements I make are based on information I have read in a variety of articles and research papers. I don't claim to be an expert, but I do feel justified in supporting other peoples ideas with my own experiences in life.

It is well known that less women study Physics and thus there are less women who go into careers involving Physics. So let’s look at the facts. In 2011 only 20% of A level Physics students were girls. This is despite the fact that girls perform just as well and usually outperform boys at GCSE level. Check out more statistics here, in a resource produced by the IoP. Uptake of other subjects such as Maths and Chemistry by girls is much higher than uptake of Physics. Uptake of Physics at single sex girls schools is again much higher. So why in general are less girls taking Physics at A level?

Reasons for this have been postulated for years, some of which have been widely accepted by the population. However many of these ‘reasons’ are not necessarily accurate, and in any case are not useful to teach as fact to the population at large. Let’s have a look at some of them:

·     Men’s and women’s brains are different: Yes, this is true. Studies have shown that there are differences in how men and women’s brains are structured and how they use their brains. But most studies are inconclusive about whether most of these differences are due to nature or nurture. From the time you are born you are stereotyped. In general girls play with dolls, boys play with cars and construction sets. Is it any wonder that boys and girls develop more in different areas if in their first stages of learning they are often actively encouraged to follow certain patterns? Even if men's and women's brains are inherently different surely every subject would benefit from having different ways of thinking about it, rather than restricting ourselves to the idea that one approach is best. However, more importantly, instead of arguing about whether males and females are inherently better at certain things, I think it’s more important to STOP spreading the belief that we are different just because of our gender. Books like “Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus” would have us all believe that nature has kitted us out for predetermined roles and that anyone who varies from the norm is an anomaly that can’t be explained. Is it not more valuable to just think of EVERYONE as unique individuals with different skills?

UPDATE: I remembered this article from the Independent. This supports the idea that the brain develops through learning, can change and thus whilst there may be small differences, most of the differences are due to our experience. 

Our brains are different - but shouldn't we recognise the fact
that we are all unqiue? Just because our brains are different
doesn't mean we shouldn't study certain subjects.

·      Girls are, from a young age, lead to believe they are bad at maths and science. This comes from toys, children’s books, TV characters (even in The Big Bang Theory, a programme that often is praised for putting a positive spin on Physics, the first ‘normal’ woman who did Physics was introduced in series 6. Series 6!) and even clothes (see here). Based on arguments like the fact that our brains are different, girls grow up with the expectation that they will be less good at maths and science, even if the evidence suggests that they aren’t actually any worse than boys. Comments such as “Isn’t that sort of a boy subject” are common but comments that “Girls are just not as good at science” terrify me most. Even parents and teachers are guilty of this, and these are people that will influence a young person’s decisions later in life. It’s also notable that this bias is not as prominent when looking at this from the opposite perspective – are there subjects that boys are inherently bad at? There are subjects that significantly less boys study (like Dance and Health and Social Care), but from my own experience and from talking to male friends about this, this is not because it is suggested that boys are automatically worse at them. Boys in those subjects may be accused of becoming less masculine but they don’t grow up with the expectation that they will be bad at them, it’s more the fact that it would be a social faux pas to take these subjects up. So yes, gender inequality does impact men as well, but I would argue a) not to the same extent and b) Gender equality benefits people of both genders anyway. Why is everyone (men and women) not working towards the same goal where no one is judged for what they find interesting? It’s not a war between men and women. It’s about allowing everyone the space to find out what they are good at for themselves.

This dog might be bad at science - not all women fall into the
same category.

·      Physics often tends to be taught in a way that does, in general, appeal to boys more than girls. Questions will usually involve scenarios that are more appealing to a male audience (footballs moving through the air, cars accelerating) and focus less on things that more girls might find more interesting. Please realise this doesn't mean make everything pink or about lipstick - that's patronising. Girls are often more inclined to want to know what real life impact something might have and more focus needs to be given to what Physics actually achieves in the world with more positive role models of both genders. Even if historically men discovered things (because they had access to the education) women are doing exciting things TODAY and this idea needs to be pushed more.

There are a myriad of other factors too, but I think it is important to show most of our preconceived ideas are challenged by evidence. Girls are as good at boys at Physics according to exam results, but choose not to continue to study Physics. I would say this therefore has more to do with a cultural expectation of what they should study rather than inherent ability. Looking at cultures that are undergoing rapid development, such as in parts of Africa and Asia the sciences are valued more in general, and women are often leading in these areas. I believe we all need to think about our preconceived ideas about who studies what and why and accept that different people like different things for different reasons. Stop labeling me as an anomaly, just recognise I am unique!

For more reading on this topic (there’s lots) here are a few articles I found interesting. Organisations such as ScienceGrrl also aims to educate people about the roles women hold in STEM subjects and hold events to discuss this and to promote STEM subjects to girls. Check out some of these links! J

Science Grrl - promoting women in STEM subjects

The Telegraph on Girls studying Physics and Maths- warning the comments are depressing!

The Government's notes on research on promoting girls in Physics