Jingmei Li, PhD - Science is genderless

ARTICLE

Science is Genderless

Dr Li Jingmei, Singaporean scientist and recipient of the 2014 UNESCO-L’Oreal Women In Science International Fellowship shares her success journey at the recent HSBC Women Leaders’ Forum 2016, asserting how both female and male views are vital in the world of science. She also challenges the dual roles women are still obliged to undertake.

It is hard to imagine that Dr Li Jingmei, a polished, confident and eloquent young woman once spent her days in a science lab fussing over cockroaches as part of a study, or that she was — like many of us — as clueless with where life would take her. Now a champion for women’s causes, Li has come a long way with several awards under her belt and has goals of not only furthering breast cancer research but eventually altering a patient’s prognosis.

Support system

Li attributes her full undergraduate scholarship with the National University of Singapore (NUS) to the support of her friends. “I wasn’t aware of scholarships. If my senior hadn’t made me fill out an application, I wouldn’t have even thought to apply.” “It was a defining moment when I could tell my working class parents that they did not have to pay for university. I was very grateful.”

At NUS, the rising star continued to shine — she was valedictorian, won a Fraser and Neave Book Prize in 2006, and made the Dean’s List. She was also a finalist in the Lee Kuan Yew Business Plan Competition.

“At University, I had the unwavering support of my family and my thesis advisor, who is an incredible woman. She was my role model. She shared her ideas and was always encouraging.”

Li went on to attain a PhD in Medical Science at the Karolinska Institute (KI), Sweden, after receiving a full graduate scholarship with the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR). The young scholar, who continues to work on researching the role genetics play in breast cancer, went on to achieve the greatest award of her life thus far, the 2014 UNESCO-L'Oréal International Fellowship.

Currently an Assistant Professor at KI, Li reminisces about first having arrived at the Institute: “Everything was unfamiliar, but the moment I met the team, I felt inspired. Every single person was passionate about working with breast cancer — a lot of them are women whom I admire very much. There is an undeniable spirit of collaboration.”

Women and science

The scholar is a firm advocate of having more females involved in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) fields.

According to UNESCOⁱ, only 28% of researchers globally are women. Interestingly, that statistic in Singapore is equal to Pakistan at 30%, and pales in comparison to Asian counterparts like Malaysia, Philippines and Myanmar at 50%, 52% and 86% respectively.

“Given that numerous studies suggest there is a direct relation between having more women in a particular field and that field expanding, there shouldn’t be a lack of women in STEM fields. Science is essentially problem solving which requires different approaches. Men and women think differently, you need both to really advance science.”

“It’s impossible to find a lab comprised of men only. Research is increasingly becoming a collaborative arena — not just between the genders but between scientists from various fields,” she adds.

Social conditioning

The obvious way of having more women in science or in any industry, according to Li, is to lessen the burden women carry in accordance to social norms.

“Women are still forced to play multiple roles, including to have a job, take care of a family and perform all domestic tasks. Men just have to do the job. So of course you’ll see more of them doing very well in any field. It seems unfair but it doesn’t have to be. More men have to step up and take responsibility over their families and their homes as well.”

“In Sweden, there’s equality in matters of the home. For example, there are 480 shared days of childcare leave, of which 90 days are reserved for fathers. It is common for men to share all responsibilities which are domestic in nature. It’s the social norm. Singapore needs to give more recognition to men at home so that women are also allowed to rise to their fullest potential at the workplace.”

According to information from the Ministry of Manpowerⁱⁱ , fathers are only allowed up to two weeks of paternity leave in Singapore. “Yes, there are some women who do it all outstandingly, but they are at the end of the bell curve, plus they shouldn’t have to. It is still largely a disadvantage imposed on women by society and reinforced by policies which have to change.”

“You will see every aspect of human life benefit when every person is given an equal opportunity to live up to their fullest potential,” she concludes.

Expressions of opinion are those of the panellist. The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited, Singapore Branch accepts no liability or responsibility whatsoever for any direct, indirect or consequential loss arising from the use of or reliance on this document or any information contained herein by any person.