Even in Kyoto

Support in postdoc/faculty transitions. A single line uttered by one of my graduate committee members has stuck in my head and resonated. He said, quite simply, "I think the big difference for a lot of women scientists is a lack of confidence." When I think about this line, I think - I have to have faith in myself, that I can keep going, that I can do good science and make good contributions to my field. Confidence is an internalized source of encouragement.

I keep running across this in a lot of articles and from things I have heard from other women who work in the sciences. It is such a strong aspect of cultural conditioning. Women tend to down-play their work/abilities so it doesn't make for a natural inclination toward thinking, "yeah I am pretty awesome. I should totally do this." (obviously this applies to A LOT of other environments, but seems pretty heavy in the scientific/academic community.)

It says a great deal that a man on the graduate community noticed this and articulated it so clearly.