I have tremendous faith in the next generation of women who are just beginning their journeys to become plant breeders.
When I gave a talk to a group of university students last summer, I found that many of the young women who attended were secure in what they want, what they need to do to get it, and see bias and inequality as a relic of prior generations.
Some of these young women asked me questions and listened to my feedback, but often I sensed they were more interested in speaking to bigger fish. One student I spoke to that day stands out. Midway through our conversation, she noticed someone standing nearby who she felt could be more important to her career and broke off our conversation so that she could go speak to them. I felt badly about that at first, but then I thought ‘good for her’. She knows what she wants, she knows who can help her get it and she isn’t afraid to seize the opportunity to champion her own cause.
I’ve thought about what advice I could give to young women just starting out as plant breeders, and it’s this: when you’re in school, you need to be more organized, more efficient and quicker than whoever is supervising you. When you enter the workforce, you need to learn how every part of the industry works. You need to know who makes which decisions and how things move around. And you need to be aware that there is a lot of noise out there. You’ll be included in a staggering number of corporate email exchanges, and you need to learn fast which ones are important and which ones can be ignored. You also need to plan ahead, set your priorities, and build a strong network. It’s especially important that you retain a clear vision of the path you need to follow to achieve your goals and make decisions that keep you on that path.
Most importantly, young women need to understand that everything they know right now is applicable, but they don’t yet know how to apply it, and their ambition has not yet been challenged. So yes, I am hopeful for the next generation of women plant breeders, and I’m here to support them in achieving their goals.
