‘If we make informed and thoughtful choices, it can catalyse diversity in our community’
On 27 February 2024, Assistant Professor Jaana Vapaavuori hosted a breakfast event to catalyze all kinds of diversities, in conjunction with the U.N. Day of Women and Girls in Science. Different diversities can be, for example: ideas, identities, representations, backgrounds, experiences, and bodies.
A talk was given by Assistant Professor Luana Dessbesell.
‘For instance, the last thing that I heard was that maybe I shouldn’t hire someone with kids, because it might take longer for them to complete their PhDs. And I think that if the system has such flaws, we should help fix them.’
A panel discussion brought together the perspectives of Staff Scientist Martin Lennox, Assistant Professor Gopika Premsankar, and Assistant Professor Mashrura Musharraf. They agreed that we should make sure that everyone is able to participate.
‘We need open discussions, where we can share our experiences,’ said Premsankar.
‘I think we should openly reflect and talk about our experiences,’ Musharraf added.
Helping team members and others is important. How can I support you is one of the truly powerful questions.
‘If we can all examine our choices in the way we interact with people. Sometimes, we don’t know how the smallest gesture can affect people. If we make informed and thoughtful choices, it can catalyse diversity in our community,’ Lennox said.
‘And we should be able to catalyse diversity in a way that it’s not an added task on top of everything else, but it should be embedded in our duties and contracts,’ Dessbesell said.
Read more news
The company established by three anthropologists relied on strong research expertise
Etnografinen tutkimustoimisto Kenno Oy was established in 2014 when its three founders were finalising their master's degree studies at the University of Helsinki and wanted to create an interesting job for themselves.
The idea of three researchers generated a deep tech company
Sim Analytics Oy relies on strong research expertise. Its story began when three researcher colleagues working in different laboratories at LUT University began to consider how to provide and analyse data in a way that would support industrial companies in making business decisions.
Vertics Oy was born from the vision of two upper secondary school students
Atte Pohjanmaa, who founded a company when he was still an upper secondary school student, succeeded in growing his company even during the coronavirus years.