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Agnieszka Wykowska shares her views on responsibility, mentorship and the changes still needed to ensure that more women can pursue scientific careers.
On the occasion of the International Day of Women and Girls in Science on 11 February, EUA celebrates the women researchers whose curiosity, perseverance and leadership continue to shape research and innovation, while pointing the way toward greater gender equality in science.
To mark this day, we interviewed Professor Agnieszka Wykowska about her journey into science and the experiences that have defined her career. From an early search for the right questions to pursue, through decisive turning points and moments of uncertainty, her story offers a reflection on what it takes to build a life in research, especially as a woman.
I first studied philosophy at the Jagiellonian University in Krakow, Poland (my hometown). I was fascinated by the philosophical questions and the critical method of inquiry, but something was missing for me. And at some point I understood what it was: I missed empirical research. I missed grounding curiosity-driven questions in data that allows us to test theories and refine them.
This is when I enrolled into a course in cognitive science, And I became absolutely fascinated by questions about human cognition, the theories, computational models and exciting results provided by the empirical approach. And ultimately, I understood that I needed to change my area of research from philosophy to cognitive psychology or neuroscience.
I then moved to Germany and discovered an international master’s programme in neuro-cognitive psychology at the Ludwig Maximilian University Munich. I immediately applied, got accepted into the programme, and from then onwards I knew that I wanted to pursue an academic career in the field of cognitive neuroscience.
I simply could not think of anything else. I was reading scientific papers in my free time, finding more and more questions that I wanted to answer. So I knew that this was what I wanted to dedicate the rest of my life to.
The hardest moment for a young scientist is to transition from a postdoc to a tenure track position. In fact, I was a postdoc in Munich, and I was quite bound to Munich for family reasons, as my son was still a small child. I remember that I really wanted to stay in academia in Munich, but there were no openings for professorship positions in my field.
So, together with colleagues, I worked hard to obtain large grants that would potentially pay for my (more senior) position. I remember one of those larger grant proposals in which we passed to the final step of evaluation. We all were pretty convinced it would go through. I had put all bets in terms of my future on that grant. And then, unfortunately, we learned that the grant was not successful.
At this point, I thought my dream of pursuing a career in science had ended, and that I had no more options. After several weeks of almost giving up on academia, I started writing a new grant proposal and applied for the European Research Council (ERC) Starting Grant. I did not have high hopes, knowing how competitive the ERC grants are. But then, that application worked out.
I was ecstatic when I read the positive outcome of the evaluation. I understood that my research career could continue. That ERC grant changed completely my academic life – from a postdoc perpetually looking for new short-term contracts, I became a team leader and a tenure track researcher.
This experience taught me that you should not give up too early, if you are really passionate about your work and you believe in it, and of course if you are dedicated to science. The most important thing in academia is passion. Everything else will follow and eventually work out.
It is extremely important that senior scientists engage in mentoring roles. Academia is not only about pursuing one’s own career and research interests but also about education and guidance for younger generations. This is particularly important for women researchers who are still under-represented in certain fields.
I have a recent experience of giving a talk at a robotics conference. The conference participants were in majority men. The speakers were also mainly men, except for myself and another female professor. I remember that after my talk, two young female students approached, thanking me for my talk and for showing that it is possible to be a female professor, also in more technical fields.
They told me that they were very impressed by seeing so many female faces on my last acknowledgment slide, where I presented the faces and names of members of my team. This was a very touching moment for me, and I realized how important it is to provide a real example for the next generations.
In the ERA Forum, gender equality has been discussed in the context of one of ERA’s actions. It is an important step to have this topic brought forward in the form of an ERA action, as it raises awareness that gender inequality is still not completely solved.
However, we must not forget that this goes much deeper within our societies, cultures and the expectations that are imposed on women. Women are more likely to feel guilty about taking on a full-time job and leaving their children to daycare or babysitters. They are perhaps more likely to feel guilty about traveling for work, leaving children behind at home.
I remember that throughout my entire career, feelings of guilt always accompanied me at work – for not being at home with my son. It is important to change mindsets and social environments so that women do not have to continuously carry this kind of guilt when pursuing their careers while simultaneously being mothers and carers.
Choose wisely. A career in academia is not an easy one, and it is also not a job like any other.
It requires commitment, flexibility (also in terms of relocation and moving across cities, countries, and sometimes continents) and dedication. It does offer more freedom than working in a company, but it certainly does not offer the same stability, not at the earlier career stages.
The path until a stable position in academia is long. So you need to have a lot of passion for science to continue. If you treat it as ‘just a job’, then it won’t work. In many ways, an academic career is like a career in sports or in art. It requires a lot of commitment (like daily training in sports) and there are no clear boundaries between what is work and what is ‘outside work’.
Scientists are passionate about science. Therefore, they think of new research questions during their free time, they read scientific papers during their vacation and they might also write scientific papers on weekends.
Does this necessarily mean that they don’t have a good work-life balance? I don’t think so. Because if you are passionate about something, you enjoy doing it even outside working hours. Fun is not only outside work. Your work should be fun for you. So think if you can see research being an integral, and fun, part of your life, then science and academia may be for you.
