An interview with Dr. Becca Wilson

7 min read:

Could you tell us a little about yourself, your role and your journey to finding it?

I’m a researcher at the University of Liverpool and I develop software and processes that help to share sensitive health data that’s used in research. When I was six, my mum took me to the Natural History Museum in London and ever since then, I’ve always wanted to be a scientist.  I wanted to essentially be like an Indiana Jones, but in space. I wanted to look for life on other planets. I did a degree in geology at Imperial College, which is actually next door to the Natural History Museum. I got to study some of the samples of space rocks that are held in the museum in my undergrad degree as well. Then I moved on to a Ph.D. in Planetary Science, which was looking at whether asteroids and meteorites could have delivered the materials necessary to start life on Earth. In my research career, it’s been more around a mix of space science, atmospheric science and now health science. Anything to do with data is where I sit. One thing that’s a little different about my career is that eight years ago through illness, I found myself disabled and I am now a wheelchair user. I’m an ambulatory wheelchair user, which means that I use a wheelchair and I also use a stick and stand sometimes when I’m able to.

Do you think that there is still a stereotypical view of what a scientist looks like? If so, what do we need to be doing differently to change the narrative?

I’ve been a scientist now for coming on for 20 years and I think that sadly there is still a stereotype of who can be a scientist. I think it’s still dominated by male figures. If you had a line-up of random people and you ask children to pick out, which one of these is the scientist, I think they would more likely pick a male.

There are a lot of reasons for this. We see/hear the science expert in a news item or on the radio and more often than not, they’re male. The BBC launched the Women Experts programme a few years ago to get more female experts on the news and in the media. It needs to be diversified even more because my question is, where’s the representation of disabled people? Where’s the representation of different ethnicities? They do exist because I am one of these people. I have many diverse colleagues. Secondary to that, it’s the representation in fiction as well. In advertising, social media, the role of a scientist, how is it portrayed to people? We need to diversify that.

As a disabled researcher, have you encountered examples of ableism and disablism in the field?

So, because I acquired disability, I have an experience of what it was like to work in a science career before being disabled. And yes, there were just loads of things. Some of the things weren’t even related to the career specifically. They were just societal problems around accessibility. I found myself suddenly, as a wheelchair user, unable to get into buildings or meeting rooms or find an accessible route that didn’t require me to go on the road just to get to meetings in my own organisation (typically university campuses are spread out across the city). Those logistics are difficult. Pretty much every aspect of a job is going to take longer for one or another reason. You may have particular medical needs that you have to take care of during the day. That’s going to affect the number of hours that you’re working, or it will impact on your availability to work. Then also the amount of administration you have to do as a disabled person to keep on top of an in-work benefit, for example. There’s lots of paperwork to do – just applying for a blue badge, you have to do it every three years but it allows you to use disabled parking at work or when visiting other organisations.

Do you feel that people have been willing to make reasonable adjustments?

I think so. I can only speak of my experience in the academic sector, and adjustments are made – but may take time to implement. If you’ve got a disabled staff member or a disabled student who are wheelchair users in a university, they likely have the same needs.  Having step free access into and between buildings is going to be really useful for wider groups beyond the disabled community (including those with pushchairs, younger children or people making deliveries etc).

What needs to happen, not only in your industry but across wider society to normalise disability?

We need to foster a culture of inclusion, not just for disability, but just generally. That then provides a safe space for people to essentially “come out” about disability, because a lot of people with hidden disabilities are particularly anxious to let their colleagues know.  I know instances where the parents of children do not tell the school that their child is, for example, neurodivergent, because the child is scared of being ‘outed’ somehow in the school to their peers. If we have an inclusive culture in society where everyone feels like they’re treated fairly, then that will help people to feel more included and participatory. That leads onto the second thing, which is representation of disabled people in society. Not just in science, but generally, in the real world, if we can have representation of disabled individuals amongst leadership positions, or as doctors or lawyers, that then helps to normalise it.

How early can an interest in science begin? How can we encourage more children to engage with STEM?

I literally had pinned my tail on my career at age six, and everything I’ve done has been towards that one goal. I’ve done it, and I’m not alone in that. I think science definitely lends itself to that natural curiosity that’s part of child development.  Toddlers want to know what things are and are naturally wanting to explore, so you can definitely use science to engage really young children. There are things you can do, and places you can visit, that exploit that natural wonderment and that engage that curiosity as science is very sensory as well. I think it really does lend itself to the Early years. I think that what happens by secondary school is that the joy and love of science can fade as teachers are focused on that real structure of formal assessment.  We lose that joy that you can get from the playfulness of it. It is a challenge for teachers to keep that wonderment, that excitement, which is difficult in a very structured framework, but if you allow your students to experiment enough, the learning will happen. My advice to teachers would be go and look at and see what’s happening in your local area because often there will be experiences for free or for minimal costs. Whether it’s your local natural history museum or a local library, or most university science departments will deliver outreach for free in schools. So, you can find a scientist that will lead bespoke activities for you that are different, or they can come and bring items into the school. We used to travel into schools with space rocks and pieces of Mars and deliver activities and talks.

Why is representation so important and what can schools do to ensure they are giving every child a fair chance of success in your industry?

I think representation of minority groups generally in science is hugely important because It’s about showing a child you can basically be whatever you want to be.  The more diversity we have representing science careers to children, the better. We are failing children if we don’t show them that they could be a scientist. If they can see it, they can believe it.

Dr. Becca Wilson

Becca Wilson is an interdisciplinary researcher with a career spanning the space, atmospheric and health sciences. She is currently at the University of Liverpool developing open source software for the sharing, access and immersive data visualisation of sensitive health data. Becca holds significant expertise in science communication and public engagement – working with schools, museums and funders nationally. She is passionate about increasing diversity in STEM, particularly amongst ethnic minority groups and people with disabilities, and is a disability activist committed to improving inclusivity in the academic sector.