At the Scientific American Guest Blog, Erin Johnson relays her conversation with the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center's Linda Buck during the Women in Science Symposium held at Cornell University this month. Buck told Johnson that exposure to established female scientists is important for keeping women in science:
The Nobel laureate also shared her advice for young women who choose to pursue careers in the lab, emphasizing the importance of the process of basic science.
"Joy comes with discovery," Buck said, adding that it's important to "periodically take time to step-back, stop working in the lab, and evaluate; it's important to recognize when to give up and let go if you're going down a dead end path. … Science is meant to explore not to prove. If you set out aiming to prove a concept, you might miss the most interesting part."