My journey in academia: Things not on the CV
Journal article, 2020

I am a professor at Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden. I trained in chemistry in Sweden but went to the USA for my postdoc. I remained there for 12 years, being faculty at two American universities, before I returned to Sweden for a professorship in the northern city of UmeƄ. More recently, I returned to my alma mater Chalmers University of Technology in Gothenburg, where I have taken on senior leadership roles. On paper, my career trajectory looks straightforward, but there are many detrimental aspects and lucky coincidences that are not listed on my CV. Life in academia is never easy, and one is never 'done'. But working in academia is wonderful, as it provides so much freedom and creativity, including being very accommodating towards having kids. Here, I will describe my own personal journey, with the hope of inspiring young women to follow their own path in academia. Yes, there is still bias against women in academia, but change is happening, and the many benefits of being an academic beat such drawbacks.

Distinguished Women in Chemistry and Chemical Engineering

Author

Pernilla Wittung Stafshede

Chalmers, Biology and Biological Engineering, Chemical Biology

Pure and Applied Chemistry

0033-4545 (ISSN) 13653075 (eISSN)

Vol. 92 5 789-796

Subject Categories

Gender Studies

History of Ideas

Cultural Studies

DOI

10.1515/pac-2019-0805

More information

Latest update

12/17/2020