Women in STEM Terry Grande, Biology
A study in evolution
By Kaitlin McMurry
Terry Grande, PhD, has always believed in teaching students to be critical thinkers and collaborators. She's been teaching comparative anatomy at 黑料门since 1992, and in her current role as graduate program director for the Department of Biology Grande mentors 12 students in their study of the evolution of fishes. She is currently researching sound perception in fishes, and whether or not fishes with those adaptations are evolutionarily related.
Grande is passionate about encouraging more women to pursue careers in STEM fields. While there have been more opportunities for women in the field than when she first started more than 25 ago, she believes it is important for women to work together and continue helping each other succeed. Here, Grande talks about some of the difficulties women face in science and why we should encourage more women to pursue careers in STEM.
Who or what inspired you to get into your field?
I've had a few incredibly wonderful role models who鈥檝e continually encouraged me throughout the years. My field is male dominated, but the women in my field have been very encouraging. What women tend to do in my field is deeper than just saying words of encouragement; they become collaborators and they help you fine-tune your research. If they know of an opportunity for you, they'll call you up and encourage you to apply. And I don鈥檛 see a lot of men doing that, to tell you the truth. But women in my field do that. They鈥檙e always looking for opportunities to help other women to shine.
How has 黑料门influenced or supported you in your career?
What I like about 黑料门is this balance between research and teaching. I love to teach, and I love doing research. I didn鈥檛 want to be at an institution where if you didn't get your grants, they turn off the lights, or a place where there鈥檚 so much teaching, you couldn't get your research done. 黑料门has a nice balance for both and has always been supportive of me throughout the years.
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How do you think you鈥檝e made a difference as a woman in your field?
I think women in the field often migrate to other women. We鈥檝e published together, we鈥檝e presented at national meetings together鈥擨 have more of a collaborative approach to teaching where I anticipate that when my students graduate we will be collaborators. It鈥檚 not just a student/faculty relationship. I expect them to transcend me and go on to greater things but at the same time be colleagues when they鈥檙e finished.
I think my lab might be a little more difficult than a lot of other labs because I don鈥檛 tell my students what to do and how to think鈥攖hey have to develop their own projects within this realm of evolutionary biology and fishes or lower vertebrates, and then I mentor them through their project. It really becomes their project and they take ownership of that project. I believe we should teach students how to be scientists, how to be independent researchers, and most importantly, how to be critical thinkers.
Why is it important to encourage more women to enter the STEM fields?
It鈥檚 important because there are so few. I think we鈥檙e gaining traction, but so many women are undergraduates in science and then some decide they don鈥檛 want to pursue it as a career. We have to move women into higher positions because women give a different perspective on things, and they won鈥檛 be taken seriously until they鈥檙e among the people who are making decisions, making policy, and promoting other women. It鈥檚 not easy being in this field鈥攊t鈥檚 not easy getting grants, constantly publishing, trying to balance all of this stuff, including home life.
鈥淚 believe we should teach students how to be scientists, how to be independent researchers, and most importantly, how to be critical thinkers.鈥�
鈥� Terry Grande, PhD
Has it been difficult to have a work-life balance?
Yes. I have all of these toys in my office because when my kids were out of school, they came here. They didn鈥檛 go with my husband, they came here. I was the one who picked them up, I was the one who rearranged the schedule. Plus, trying to get tenure鈥攅ven under the best conditions when you have a fantastic partner, it is hard. When my kids were in grammar school around 2 p.m., I鈥檇 start worrying鈥攚as it my day to pick them up from school? If it wasn鈥檛, are they going to get picked up on time? It was fantastic being here at 黑料门because the schedule was flexible as a professor.
What do you envision for the future of women in STEM at 黑料门and beyond?
I think things are getting better but I think there鈥檚 a ways to go. That鈥檚 why we鈥檙e pushing so hard and can鈥檛 give up. My two daughters, for example, don鈥檛 understand. I鈥檒l say something and they鈥檒l say 鈥淥h ma you鈥檙e such a feminist.鈥� And it鈥檚 almost as if it was an insult. They didn鈥檛 have to worry about the things that I had to worry about.
When I started off as an assistant professor or in graduate school, I would never wear nail polish because it would be considered feminine and not serious. Now I wear nail polish, but I wouldn鈥檛 do anything like that back then. It was 鈥渋f you want to move into science you couldn鈥檛 be feminine because you wouldn鈥檛 be taken seriously.鈥� There were a lot of obstacles back then but it鈥檚 getting better. We need to always remember where we鈥檝e been, and continue to push the boundaries to move forward.
