Breaking Barriers, Building Brainpower: Celebrating CONy's Pioneering Women in Neurology
What does International Women’s Day mean to you
Actually, March 8th was declared as IWD in 1922 to honor the women’s role in 1917 Russian Revolution. In communist countries, everybody studied this at school. Therefore, it still reminds me of a socialist part of our history. In those times, we rather used to celebrate Mother’s Day in May which was not supported by our country leaders.
Now I of course see it very differently. In many countries in the world as a woman, you may never think of any career in any field and it is difficult just to BE a woman. I wish the women were acknowledged and their rights were equal everywhere. Raising awareness and fighting for that is extremely important.
Words of inspiration for every woman looking to start or develop a career in neurology
Do not be afraid to combine family life with your professional life. It IS possible. But don’t be a perfectionist. Just give your kids and family your love and provide support when needed.
Don’t be shy. Network with opinion leaders in the field, they will be pleased to give you advice or even a hand.
Start with research already at Medical School if possible. Ideally, start to work in the university department/ lab.
Definitely plan your stay abroad.
Be an active member of esteemed neurology societies such as European Academy of Neurology.
Remember that PEOPLE are important. Choose a good mentor.
Be enthusiastic and flexible with open eyes. Be consistent.
Do not get frustrated by a failure (those who do not try do not fail…)
Do not forget your friends and hobbies.
Your female role model
I can right away think of three of them. Professor May Cohen, founding Chair of the Women’s Health Office at McMaster University in Hamilton, Canada. During my studies at the university I stayed with May and her husband Gery who gave me the courage to start neurology at the University Department in Prague.
Mary Baker is the second one. I met at EPDA (European Parkinson’s Disease Association) conference and she was the President of it, a very strong and charming woman, very British, a woman with brains and heart. Our connection propelled me to specialize in movement disorders. Now I am Head of the Movement Disorders Center at the First Department of Neurology, St. Anne’s University Hospital and Faculty of Medicine, Masaryk University in Brno.
The third one is Professor Elena Moro, current President of EAN (European Academy of Neurology) and I am honoured and extremely happy to be member of her board.
Challenges you face in your field as a woman and your hopes for the future
It is not easy to have a family and raise children as an academic and clinician at the same time. Having various positions associated with duties, a lot of work, and responsibilities for your patients, students, your research team, or even the whole institute. Sitting on various national and international boards and grant agencies as well as journal editorial boards comes with this “growth”. Multitasking is necessary and sometimes very much time consuming and exhausting, it can even become frustrating. Definitely coping with all of that and still enjoying life with your children, family and friends is sometimes difficult. But it is my family and friends and also students and postdocs in my team who keep me going. I must say that the work-life balance is something the younger generation is aware of much more than I have ever been throughout my whole life, it is still a bit of struggle for me.
What does it mean being a woman in my field, i.e. in neurology and clinical neuroscience? As a woman clinician or researcher I have never faced any problems. The situation gets more difficult when you are in a leadership position. It is of course more difficult for both men and women, however, I have the feeling that such a world is more “testosterone-driven” and for me not easy to survive in. This may however change soon, as at least in our country, most of the medical students are now women.
What does International Women’s Day mean to you
I think that it is great to have a day to celebrate the positive contributions of women to Neurology and the world.
Words of inspiration for every woman looking to start or develop a career in neurology
Find an area of Neurology that you are passionate about and devote your working time and energy to doing some good for your patients in this field. Make sure that you have full support from your life partner.
Your female role model
It is difficult to choose just one person from all of the inspiring women in Neurology and Neuroscience. However, I will nominate Professor Rose Anne Kenny from Trinity College Dublin. She is an inspiring leader who works on healthy ageing and has achieved a huge amount. She has received many awards and is fun and very warm hearted and totally dedicated to supporting the career development of those working with her.
Challenges you face in your field as a woman and your hopes for the future
When I was training in Neurology it was very much a “man’s world” and it felt hard to be valued and respected as a woman working in this area. However, this situation has now greatly changed and there are now many more female Neurologists and Neuroscientists. Women still have greater challenges in balancing work with family and parenting commitments and my hope is that fathers will continue to increasingly help with these challenges.
What does International Women’s Day mean to you
I guess every day is special but the IWD even more so as it gives a platform for women from all over the world to create awareness of the role and responsibilities women play not only on the world stage but in countries, communities workplace, homes and families.
Words of inspiration for every woman looking to start or develop a career in neurology
We must have a purpose to our lives find our area of interest where we can make a difference for good and benefit of mankind at the same time be able to support ourselves , our families and communities.
Your female role model
I have many role models :
Brenda Milner who is a leader in clinical neuropsychology known for her work on memory and cognition & her special interest in the temporal lobes
Anandi Bai Joshi, the first Indian female doctor of western medicine who inspired so many to take on medicine as a profession.
Ahilya Bai Holkar a queen from ancient India. She is renowned for good governance, social welfare, and humanitarian work along with religious, educational, and cultural advancements.
Challenges you face in your field as a woman and your hopes for the future
As of now most of what I have done is inspired by my teachers and mentors in training. However I see an unequal world where women have to be twice as fast or work twice as harder to be where they are. Downplaying by other gender is not uncommon. I hope that women in coming years are able to contribute equally in all spheres of life with cocontribution of others.
What does International Women’s Day mean to you
On a more personal note, it’s the wedding anniversary of my parents, this year already their 59th. But on a more general level, it’s a day where one should reflect on what has already been achieved for an equal position for girls and women, but especially also on what is still to be achieved. There is still a lot of inequity, often not just related to gender, but also in intersection with other factors, such as race. Especially given the recent developments in the US, there is a lot of reason to continue to strive for equal rights for women.
Words of inspiration for every woman looking to start or develop a career in neurology
My advice would be to stay close to your own personality and not just to follow a rational plan, but also your feelings when making career-related decisions. I think that there are too many women who feel that they should behave like a man in order to be taken seriously, or that they should sacrifice having a family life. Don’t do that, enjoy being a woman!
Your female role model
The headache specialist Rigmor Jesen from Copenhagen, Denmark. She has managed a great career, while staying a very kind woman, with a lot of personal interest for her patients as well as colleagues.
Challenges you face in your field as a woman and your hopes for the future
When I decided to start part-time working after the birth of my first child, this was interpreted as having a lack of ambition for scientific research. This was definitely not the case, but I had ambitions for science as well as for my family life. Also, some people consider it ‘not done’ to say that a certain appointment is not convenient because of family reasons, but prefer to say that they have ‘other conflicting obligations’. I think that there is no need to hide that a person has also other interests in life other than career-related issues. Of course one should work hard, very hard, to build a career, but it’s not needed to hide ones own character. My hope for the future is that we will cherish the differences between people, because I am convinced that diverse teams come up with the best solutions for the challenges that we need to solve!
What does International Women’s Day mean to you
Congratulations to all women in STEM! Celebrate today the International Women’s Day, and everyday all year-round your achievements, innovations, and entrepreneurship. I’m proud and honored to be part of this community!! Today highlights the importance of continuing to mentor and lead by example the future generation of women in biomedical sciences.
Words of inspiration for every woman looking to start or develop a career in neurology
For all the women who consider developing a career in STEM please take note – with hard work and strong motivation nothing can or should stop you from pursuing your career goals and fulfilling your professional dreams.
Your female role model
On a personal note, I am thankful to my grandma, the painter Lea Kitener Bat-David a descendant of the Rivlin family, who has been my role model. She taught me the value of being an independent woman and inspired me through her diligence, energetic spirit, and enthusiasm to learn and develop constantly.
Marina Roje Bedeković, Croatia
What does International Women’s Day mean to you
International Women’s Day to me represents a lot of beautiful memories from my childhood. I used to go downtown, all by myself, feeling so grown up, and buying my mum a small bouquet of flowers and a small gift. I still have those memories stored in my mind and heart and some of it in my drawers. I also still have my mum’s happy facial expression in my mind after receiving it …….
I feel very lucky not to have been raised in a family that made a distinction between men and women, not in a single aspect of life. I never felt a bias or some kind of a preference coming from my parents growing up with my older brother.
Maybe this is a good place to mention this…..My great grandmother, Anica Roje, was the principal organizer of a movement for women’s rights in my hometown Split, Croatia, at the beginning of a 20th century.
Words of inspiration for every woman looking to start or develop a career in neurology
Neurology is great profession! Great development and improvement in every segment of neurology for the past two decades! Great choice of career, go for it! And, be your self! I am still in love with neurology!
Your female role model
In general, I would rather say that I admire more some human virtues and character traits, like unselfishness, idealism, readiness to give up something to help someone else, moderation, both in women and men. And I feel very happy and fortunate that I have the opportunity to say that I had a privilege to meet alot of people with these characteristics, on my way. I learned alot from my parents and my teachers, from kindergarden onwards. From my students and sons. And I am still learning.
Challenges you face in your field as a woman and your hopes for the future
I am facing the same challenges in a field of neurology as in every other aspect of life. Those challenges are coming both from men and women, with some subspecialties from women (jealousy) and men („how did you get there?“ and „how did you manage to achieve this result?“).
My hopes for the future are that we will further improve our knowledge in etiology, diagnostics and therapy in neurology, use all technological advantages and future discoveries to accomplish that and help our patients and still manage to stay human, in all senses of that word; not to concentrate just on technology but to remain focused on patient, individually as a social being, part of someone’s family and community. And, not less important, to keep up the spirit of togetherness and a team work in hospitals!
