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  • CAREER COLUMN

Saying ‘no’ in science isn’t enough

When women refuse requests to do unrewarded tasks, another female colleague often gets asked instead.
  1. Linda Babcock

    1. Linda Babcock is a professor in economics in the Department of Social and Decision Sciences at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and a co-author of The No Club.

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  2. Brenda Peyser

    1. Brenda Peyser was an associate dean and distinguished service professor of communications in the Heinz College’s School of Public Policy at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and is a co-author of The No Club.

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  3. Lise Vesterlund

    1. Lise Vesterlund is a professor of economics in the Department of Economics at the University of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and co-author of The No Club.

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  4. Laurie R. Weingart

    1. Laurie R. Weingart is a professor of organizational behaviour and theory in the Tepper School of Business at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and a co-author of The No Club.

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In August 2022, a group of female scholars wrote ‘Why four scientists spent a year saying no’: an article about what they had gained by saying no to 100 work-related requests over the course of year. We knew we had found kindred spirits in the authors. We, too, have lost time by saying yes to work that didn’t move our careers forward. That led us, four female professors, to form the No Club.

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doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-022-03677-6

This is an article from the Nature Careers Community, a place for Nature readers to share their professional experiences and advice. Guest posts are encouraged.

References

  1. Krivkovich, A. et al. Women in the Workplace 2021 (McKinsey & Company & LeanIn.Org, 2021).

  2. Babcock, L., Peyser, B., Vesterlund, L. & Weingart, L. The No Club: Putting a Stop to Women’s Dead-End Work (Simon & Schuster, 2022).

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  3. Chan, C. K. & Anteby, M. Adm. Sci. Q. 61, 184–216 (2016).

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  4. Williams, J. C., Multhaup, M., Li, S. & Korn, R. You Can’t Change What You Can’t See: Interrupting Racial and Gender Bias in the Legal Profession (American Bar Association’s Commission on Women in the Profession & Minority Corporate Counsel Association, 2018).

  5. Williams, J. C., Li, S., Rincon, R. & Finn, P. Climate Control: Gender and Racial Bias in Engineering? (Center for WorkLife Law & Society of Women Engineers, 2016).

  6. Babcock, L., Recalde, M., Vesterlund, L. & Weingart, L. Am. Econ. Rev. 107, 714–747 (2017).

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Competing Interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

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