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Their formula for success

Despite the odds, passion and hard work have helped women taste success in scientific research, says KAUSALYA SANTHANAM

This is a field where the men vastly outnumber the women. Ask people to name women scientists and many still come up with only Madame Curie! "Think Indian," you prod and the informed come up with Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw. Out of 12.1 million science graduates and diploma holders in the country, the second highest number — 12 per cent — is in Tamil Nadu. According to the Gender Cell of Science City, Chennai, a government organisation for the promotion of Science and Technology, there are about 900 women scientists in Tamil Nadu. The women are predominantly in the life sciences and there are fewer in the physical sciences. Space technology, automobile engineering and other unconventional fields have an insignificant number.

"Science is not a sector where there is time flexibility," says Dr. Sudha Nair, award-winning bioscientist at the M. S. Swaminathan Research Foundation. "One has to be at the laboratory or place of work on a regular basis. Women drop out for various reasons at the tertiary level. It is the `leaky pipeline' syndrome. I was able to rejoin my parent institution (CLRI) after taking a break when I had my child. But generally, it is difficult to get back."

Ganga Radhakrishnan.

Not many youngsters are taking to science. The lack of employment opportunities is one reason, Dr. Nair points out. "Though the pharma sector and nanotechnology are opening up, IT, with its attractive remuneration, is drawing the younger generation in. Fellowships have come down.

"I'm fortunate to work with a mentor such as Dr. Swaminathan, but how many have good mentors? We should introduce flexible options for women and open up self employment opportunities for them," states Dr. Nair, Convenor of the Golden Jubilee Biotech Park for Women, which was set up in Siruseri in 2000.

Dr. Kamala Krithivasan took to computer science in 1970, soon after it was introduced in the Madras University. After completing her Ph.D in Theoretical Computer Science, she joined IIT Madras and is now the only woman professor in the department. In the initial years, there were problems of networking and it was tough, she says.

Sudha Nair.

"There was no Internet then. The men would stay on in the institution after work and hold discussions. But I had to go home and attend to my duties as wife and mother. Sometimes, one was left out. I would not be told of meetings scheduled to be held in the department." In spite of publishing many papers (she has 70 to her credit), she could not participate in international conferences for many years.

Family responsibilities, the job transfers of the husband and gender discrimination can disrupt or terminate the career of a woman scientist. A "glass ceiling" is very real. The lack of R&D centres even in a city like Chennai makes things more difficult. Many young women go abroad seeking better infrastructure facilities and climate for research.

"Passion for your subject is essential to sustain and succeed in the academic line," says Dr. Ganga Radhakrishnan, Director Grade Scientist and Head, Polymer and EXCEL at CLRI. She has been there for the past three decades and is the senior-most woman scientist in the institution. She was involved in the carbon fibre project for space and other strategic applications. "Later, I worked in polymer materials development for leather and leather products. My career has been satisfying and I haven't felt any gender bias," says Dr. Radhakrishnan, who has established a lab at CLRI for analysing eco sensitive chemicals in the leather sector.

Kamala Krithivasan.

"We find that our counterparts in the West face as much discrimination as we do here," say the women. In India, there is very little representation of women in policy making. In the 60 years of the CSIR and 38 labs across the country, there is not one woman who is the Director, says a report.

Fortunately, in the last three years, there have been efforts to improve the visibility of women in science and give them recognition through awards. The scenario is changing, but very slowly.

Preserving a tradition

PHOTO: R. SHIVAJI RAO

K. Vijayalakshmi.

"The positives are more when the husband and wife are both scientists," says Dr. K. Vijayalakshmi, a zoologist, who along with her husband A.V. Balasubramanian, a biochemist, set up the Centre for Indian Knowledge Systems (CIKS) at Kotturpuram.

The CIKS is devoted to "exploring and developing the contemporary relevance and applications of traditional knowledge systems. We have ongoing research and training programmes in the areas of biodiversity conservation, organic agriculture and vrkshayurveda (the ancient Indian plant science)."

Being a woman has not deterred her from travelling to the farmers' sangams that the centre conducts in remote rural areas at night, she says. "At present, the centre is working in five districts of Tamil Nadu and in the last ten years, has reached out to 10,000 farmers. We have identified and conserved important traditional seed varieties.

"I have no problems because I am a woman but only because I'm working in an offbeat area. My husband and I bring different perspectives to our work. Equal partnership in this effort has paid off," she says.

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