Computer Vision News - February 2017

Corals have a big influence on the ecology and also on the community, in terms of economic importance. How corals are important for ecology? They bring food because they are an ecosystem for fish. They are also the habitat for many types of fish and organisms. In some places, they also serve as barriers for waves. Apart from them being beautiful, they are also important. So you have been in different settings. You work in academia. You have been in the army. You have been diving in different places all over the world. You spent one year abroad for a trip and four years as a postdoc in San Diego. Did you ever experience difficulties being a woman or did you feel that you had equal chances all of the time? It’s a difficult question. I don’t think that I encountered a glass ceiling. I do feel that sometimes I have to work harder. If not to work harder, I have to think about how I am doing things, especially when I applied to faculty. Some processes are more attuned to men. I don’t think it’s because of discrimination. It’s a male-dominated environment, so I feel that I have to stop and think: if I were a male, how would I react? What would I do in that situation? Sometimes, I even consult with male colleagues. Looking at male colleagues, I feel subconsciously the world is male-dominated and some situations are less trivial for females. If you could change one thing about the behaviors of your male counterparts, what would it be? It’s not the behavior of the males, but it’s more the environment. I feel many times men display more self-confidence and sometimes it’s not justified. I also see that in my students. If you have a male and a female with the same abilities, the male will exhibit more self- confidence. At interviews, this gives a positive bias toward the males because the interviewers appreciate the self- confidence maybe more than honesty. How can we help females have more confidence? A few weeks ago I spoke at a panel for women in technology. It’s not only self- confidence: there are some traditional weaknesses of females that may harm them on the way to pursue their career. There are many books, TED Talks, and studies about that. I think it’s a good idea for females to educate themselves about that. Not every female will have all the traditional female pitfalls. When I read some of these examples, I can identify myself in some of them. Then I can learn to recognize that and cope once I am aware of that and come up with a solution. Can you recommend one speaker or author that impressed you? Computer Vision News Women in Computer Vision 15 Women in Science “ It’s a male-dominated environment, so I feel that I have to stop and think: if I were a male, how would I react? ” I also surf and kitesurf. There I think it’s more difficult being a female than in diving or in academy. I feel there is a stigma: if you are a female surfer, and you are good, then you are really admired; but if you are just learning, and you are intermediate like many males, then people respect you less. That’s what I felt. When I was learning, people gave me less credit than males who were learning. Females don’t surf, or something like that. Now that I passed the learning stage, people appreciate me more. The beginning was more difficult for me. I think you need to prove yourself more than males. That might be actually true for other things. Anyway, we’re all to blame when it comes to stigmas…