#18 Peer support and “the ability to develop agency”: an interview with Associate Professor Lesley Ward
Episode published: 18/10/19
In episode 18 Dan Aspel speaks to Associate Professor Lesley Ward (University of South Australia) about her work within the fields of Complex Analysis and Harmonic Analysis, her experience of working at INI, her feelings upon being awarded the Kirk Distinguished Visiting Fellowship, and the ongoing need for support of women in mathematics if the historical gender imbalance in the science is to be redressed.
00:00 – Introduction
01:00 – Early life in South Australia and the United States
02:50 – Work with Complex Analysis and Harmonic Analysis, theoretical and industry-based
04:18 – lecturing within the INI “Complex Analysis” programme (“there are a lot of questions”)
07:30 – “High level interaction with people of other disciplines”
10:35 – Feelings on receiving the Kirk Distinguished Visiting Fellowship
12:15 – Peer support groups for women in maths (“just feeling that you’re not alone is helpful”)
13:35 – “There was no ‘existence proof’ that one could become an academic mathematician and a woman at the same time. We had literally never seen that”
15:10 – Advice for operating support groups: “the ability to develop agency”
17:20 – Overcoming Imposter Syndrome
19:45 – The ongoing challenges for underrepresented groups
22:27 – The experience of living in Cambridge and working at INI
Associate Professor Lesley Ward explains the ongoing need for support of women in mathematics if the historical gender imbalance in the science is to be redressed
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