This year’s focus for NWO Insight Out is: Connecting women in STEM.
The specific themes are:
- Navigating the Dutch academic system
Navigating the Dutch academic system can be challenging, especially for international scientists, scientists in their early or mid-career and/or with an unconventional career path. Part of the solution is understanding the written and unwritten rules of the academic world as a working environment. How can you make this system work for you and others?
How do you balance work in academia and your private life, and how do you maintain your mental health? Private roles, such as parenting and caretaking, can be enriching, but can also create conflicts when trying to combine them with an academic career. Especially in this era where we still work from home regularly, combining work and caring for a loved one can be challenging. Online event 1 will include personal stories from role models and workshops about ‘academic mental health’, whereas online event 2 will pay specific attention the topic ‘mothers in STEM’.
- Social safety in the workplace
An important, fundamental condition for making your voice heard is the extent to which you feel safe to speak up in your workplace. Making behaviour in the workplace a structural topic of discussion can help strengthen this feeling. This theme will therefore offer a place for inspiring stories and sharing experiences, and will provide tools to apply in your own workplace. This theme will be part of the live event and special attention will be given to the topic ‘mental health’ on online event 1.
- Connecting in your working environment
As a result of Covid-19, nowadays it is common to (partly) work from home, also for academics. Hybrid working has become the new norm in many academic organisations, with several meetings still taking place online. How do you make real connections in ‘hybrid meetings’ and how do you build and maintain your network in this semi-digital era?
