hey, hello, hi!
This weeks #WISW/#WomeninSTEMWednesday is from Vic who quite possibly has one of the most interesting jobs ever!
Hello! 😊 I’m Victoria, or Vic to most! I’m 24 and grew up in Weymouth, Dorset (down on the south coast of England, UK) but moved to Cardiff, Wales in 2015 to start my degree in Biomedical Science at Cardiff Metropolitan university. I then stayed at Met to do my masters where I specialised in Medical Genetics and Genomics! I’m now working for a probiotics manufacturing company in Port Talbot as a research and development scientist and living in Swansea! I actually got offered this job on the 23rd of March 2020, the day the pandemic started (typical) so didn’t get to start until the September but I’ve almost been there a year now and loving it!
Since moving to Swansea I’ve started roller-skating and swimming in the sea and having lots of beach days (definitely didn’t appreciate the sea when I was in Weymouth), I very occasionally go on runs and I will admit I do love a netflix binge!
What does your job role involve and what’s your day-to-day life at work like?
Being in the research department of a probiotics lab means I work on trials and projects to determine how probiotics can benefit us and whether they could be beneficial to prevent/lessen the effects of certain disorders.
I work in the containment lab so I work with all the faecal samples which is just as pleasant as you would imagine! A general day would include culturing the samples aerobically and anaerobically on selective media from which we can identify and count the different bacterial colonies. With that data we can determine how the gut microbiome changes with or without probiotics.
What pathway did you take to get into your job?
If I go back to the start, I took Maths, Chemistry, Biology and Spanish at A levels and funnily enough I really disliked biology at the time! I applied to Cardiff Uni to study Pharmacology but didn’t get the grades and if I’m honest I was gutted. But after speaking to a teacher at sixth form (sixth form is where we do A Levels in the UK), she said to pick a broader degree that would include pharmacology. That’s where I found biomedical science and got into Cardiff Met through clearing! I will say that things definitely happen for a reason because that ended up being the best decision I’d ever make!
I was also lucky enough to spend 2 months in Tenerife with the erasmus program during my degree where I did my lab work for my undergrad dissertation, this incited my love for genetics and led me to do my masters in it!
After my masters I did feel a bit lost, not knowing what to do with myself, applying for lots of jobs and not hearing much back, it was a bit disheartening. But very luckily, my housemate heard of a position going at her work and told me to go for it so I did and now here I am!
What’s your favourite thing about your job and why?
I’m constantly learning, be it with work or speaking to my colleagues about new topics! Also, my friends at work are great, we love celebrating birthdays and holidays with cake and lots of food which is always good! I also love that I am using my degree and hopefully this work will help people! On a more selfish level, I’m very excited to get my name on an academic paper one day, contributing to research trials is a big thing in this industry and I can’t wait to be acknowledged for that!
What do you find most challenging about your job and why?
As microbiology is not my speciality, I have found it difficult getting used to the terminology and distinguishing between bacterial colonies. The more papers I read and research I do though the more confident I’ve become! Also, trying to find new methods to use requires a lot of patience and understanding of academic papers, which you do get used to at uni but it can take a long time with a lot of reading! On the plus side I’ve read so many interesting papers and learnt so much from them!
Do you ever doubt your abilities while at work? And if so, how do you overcome these situations/feelings?
ALL THE TIME! I’m surrounded by the smartest people with way more experience and knowledge than me so I often doubt myself! I realise being in a micro lab I truly am learning on the job in a sense but everyone has had to learn and everyone is always so helpful. You’ve always got to remember that they might know more about one thing but you probably know more about something else! Helping each other is key!
What were you interested in growing up and do you think extracurricular activities and hobbies play an important role in encouraging more girls into STEM?
At school I loved maths and science lessons but I also loved art so I was a very creative kid and I wouldn’t say I thought much about science outside of school. I spent more time just hanging out with my friends and I only decided to go into the health science industry because I wanted to help people and have an impact on the world! Originally the dream was to be a surgeon, probably thanks to scrubs or house, but when I realised how long it took to become qualified and how shaky my hands were, I thought science was a better route for me.
I did go on lots of school trips to uni’s etc. to see the labs there which was really important as I think the industry is never as you imagine it to be so these trips give an insight into what it’s really like.
I feel personally that if you know you want to go into STEM then it’s important to find other hobbies so you don’t tire yourself out with academic activities! Having breaks from school/uni/career is key to not burning out, so go on the trips, read science news or watch the documentaries but also go hang out with your friends, try a sport or get creative!
While growing up, do you recall anyone that particularly motivated you to go into STEM?
I can’t think of anyone in particular whilst I was growing up, I’ve just always loved science and helping people! I feel like I just fell into science because I happened to be good at it and a lot of my friends also liked it which definitely motivated me! Especially at A levels, I would revise long hours with the girls which made me actually enjoy the subject more when we would all work together on it! When I got to uni there were some female lecturers who were so amazing and definitely strengthened my love for the field!
Have you ever felt you gender has influenced the opportunities you’ve been offered and/or experienced so far?
In my time in science, I have seen disparities between genders however in my current workplace and throughout my degree the women outnumber the men! This seems unusual for a STEM field but I guess I’m very fortunate being in the biomedical side of STEM. So, for me personally, I don’t think I’ve noticed my gender having an effect and I hope that this is the case for many women in the future! We need to keep up the momentum of encouraging girls into this industry!
What do you think needs to happen to encourage more girls into STEM?
Firstly, I think the idea that men are better suited or have an edge when it comes to STEM subjects needs to be forgotten as I and many women around me, and the others in this series, have proven! Also, we need more role models I think! Things like instagram would be so key now! Imagine seeing a cool female scientist influencer! I also would like to see more talk in schools about how females have influenced science as we always hear about the same men again and again, but the stories of people like Rosalind Franklin, Henrietta Lacks or Anne McLaren are just as interesting!
What advice would you give to young girls who are interested in pursuing a STEM career?
Go for it! Do whatever you want to do and ignore if anyone says otherwise! Also, don’t be discouraged if you have some setbacks, like me not getting the A levels I needed, it’s all worked out in the end! Things always work out so work hard and keep going!
Vic, I’ve loved hearing about a research position within a company rather than within academia(universities)!
I think you’ve hit the nail on the head by saying it’s important to ensure you have activities outside your field of study to minimise burn out! It’s very easy to get consumed with your future goals and plans and end up missing out on the present because of it.
A cool female scientist influencer… can someone that is less camera shy, with a little bit more confidence than me sort this out please?! There are a lot of SciComm (science communications) instagrams around at the moment but they are still quite niche and you probably wouldn’t know about them unless actively searching for them. Do you think a STEM version of Love Island would work…?
Vic, thank you so much for taking part in #WISW you’ve really made me appreciate the field of research again (PhD life is definitely giving me a love-hate relationship with it).
All my love, Meg x
Girls Who STEM 