Compensating for youngness and femaleness in the workplace. As it stands, I do feel a headwind simply because I'm not a member of the Senior Grayhair Dude club that constitutes 90% of the local investigators.

Allow me to relate a general observation.

Dressed up like an office-dweller, it's a lot more perilous for me to get the hands-on science done, but I get less trampled-over by the administrative people whose purpose (seems to me) is to make my life hell. I look like an administrative person, women can be administrative people, that's OK.

Dressed totally badass for some hands-on science (less sitting-in-an-office-dressy, generally wearing a shirt I can afford to replace easily, carrying my set of science tools, hair tossed back out of the way, etc), stopping by the admin group to inquire about some progress? Now I'm the little girl who has a cute little science project she wants to get done, and how adorable that she's all annoyed at the 5 day lag when everyone else has a 2-day turnaround or less. Patience, little girl. Patience.

Events like today make me feel like I can only be taken seriously on days when I don't have hardcore science to do. Guess how often that happens. I have to multitask the admin and the hands-on science duties all. the. time.

I should mention I am extremely fortunate to have scientific career mentors who take me seriously all the time, who value me for my ideas and my work. And I know they have my back. But some of this overarching culture of science shit I need to navigate on my own. And a lot of it is just bullshit.