​ I am Dr. Karuna Ganesh, a physician-scientist at MSKCC. I am a medical oncologist and treat patients with advanced gastrointestinal cancers.  In my lab, we study tumors removed from patients undergoing surgery to learn how cancers spread (metastasize) to different organs, and how to make better drugs that can target and reverse the aggressive biology of metastatic cancers.  I grew up in India, where I first learned about physician-scientists in a medical thriller novel, and became excited about the idea of using science to make a difference in people’s lives.  Since this career did not exist in India, I left aged 15, and moved to the US, UK and back to the US to train as a physician-scientist, and eventually started my own lab at MSKCC in 2019.



​ "I became excited about the idea of using science to make a difference in people’s lives."

What advice would you give yourself if you were starting your career today? What would you say to encourage other women to persevere  in their career path?

Believe in yourself and ignore the naysayers. You may be the first person who looks like you doing something, and people may be surprised by this, but don’t let that put you off.  Perseverance is often the most critical quality for achieving something in any field.  If you keep doing something that you care about, you will eventually be recognized for that.  

                           "Believe in Yourself and Ignore the naysayers."

What do you think the roadblocks are to representation of women in science? How can we improve women’s visibility in science?

Studies show that women are stymied at every level in science.  Girls are steered away from STEM due to social pressures and the lack of role models.  Early career female scientists experience subconscious and sometimes conscious discrimination in access to the best projects, resources, opportunities for visibility and promotion, often due to the reality or perception of imbalanced childcare responsibilities.  The shortage of women higher up the scientific career ladder restricts peer networks, mentorship and unconscious bias where women are not seen as a ‘good fit’ for leadership positions or high-powered scientific collaborations.  I am enthused by recent efforts across science to raise awareness among both men and women about unconscious bias, and to actively identify, mentor and promote women at all levels. However, a more sustained and concerted effort will be needed to achieve gender parity in science.   

What are your thoughts on the pressure that women face in having to make a choice between starting a family and progressing their career?

I don’t see this as an either/or.  Life involves choices and trade-offs.  My advice is to be deliberate about decisions related to career and family.  Don’t let circumstances make decisions for you instead.  Make purposeful decisions about what kind of career and family life you want, what compromises you are and are not willing to make on either front. Engage the people in your life who would share caregiving responsibilities fully in this decision-making process.  There is no one right answer for everyone, and your answers may change over time.  But in my view, having a clear idea about who you are and what you want out of life upfront increases the probability of achieving your goals.  And of course we need to keep advocating for policies and social norms that support gender parity in both work and family life.   
 
        "Don’t let circumstances make decisions for you instead."

That pressure is difficult to deal with and imposed both by the workplace and society. When I was a PhD student, it was acceptable to joke about pregnancy as an April fool’s joke to play on your supervisor, as if you were giving him/her the worst news of their lifetime. Fortunately, this attitude is unacceptable these days, although we still have a long way to go when it comes to unconscious biases. I would say that starting a family and progressing in our career should be considered as two very unrelated and extremely personal decisions. I wish there was more awareness that women can be extremely successful juggling both, as long as they don’t submit to unrealistic expectations - self-imposed or not - to be “perfect at everything”. In my opinion, choosing an excellent support system formed by the life partner who is the right person for you, family and friends is the choice that matters the most!

What motivates me every day is having the sensation that I am doing something meaningful, and having a positive impact on people surrounding me, both in professional and personal settings. Nothing beats the rush I feel when a student/trainee of mine is successful, enjoying what they are doing and achieving their goals. My morning workouts help me stay motivated, balanced and energized, and I feel their positive impact on my day.

If I were starting my career today, I would choose positions where a clear professional development plan is defined and would not shy away from asking the hard questions.
I would encourage women to be comfortable with asking for what they need and negotiating without worrying about how they would come off. Feeling appreciated in the workplace and not taken for granted are crucial to persevere in a career path that is often paved with difficulties.

My name is Jill Bargonetti and I am a native New Yorker. I went to Hunter Elementary School and High School and the transferred to the Bronx High School of Science. I earned my B.A. at SUNY College at Purchase and my Ph.D. at New York University and did postdoctoral work at Columbia University. I serve as chair of the Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology subprogram of the Ph.D. Program in Biology at The Graduate Center of CUNY and as professor of biological sciences at The Graduate Center, Hunter College and Weill Cornell Medical College. Since 1994, I have been running the Bargonetti Lab cancer biology laboratory at Hunter College, where my team is using genetically engineered tools to research breast cancer and other cancers.
I have published my research in prestigious scientific journals including Cell, Nature, Genes and Development, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, and Cancer Research. I served as a standing member of the Tumor Cell Biology study section grant review panel for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) from 2012 to 2018. I have received research grants from the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation, the Breast Cancer Research Foundation, the American Cancer Society, and the Department of Defense. I have been honored by the U.S. government as an innovator in the education of minorities in science. My awards include the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers, from President Bill Clinton; the New York City Mayor’s Award for Excellence in Science and Technology; the New York Voice Award (given to those who have made a significant improvement to the quality of life in New York City); the Kathy Keeton Mountain Top Award from the New York branch of the NAACP; the Outstanding Woman Scientist Award from the Association for Women in Science; the NYU Graduate School of Arts and Science and SUNY Purchase Outstanding Alumnae Achievement Awards and I have been named to the Bronx High School of Science Hall of Fame. I was profiled by Working Mother magazine as one of the nation’s “Stellar Moms.” My scientific work is currently funded by the Breast Cancer Research Foundation and the National Institutes of Health. I also do work on integrating science education and movement and have developed a Hunter College course called “Choreographing Genomics”.

I always recognize that prioritizing helps me to manage my many responsibilities. I also practice saying no at work so I can keep time for things at home.

People think it is alright to ask women about their choice of having, or not having children. Not all women want children and/or families. Women must remember that their personal life is personal. When you leave work, it is up to you what you do. I think we need to start having conversations about how people manage this. Sometimes husbands think the wife is available to take care of children or manage family (sometimes staying at home) so the men rarely discuss family choice. Women think it is a choice rather than a given and tell about the juggling. I think this is alright but sometimes when women do tell their stories they are judged as “less than”. This is the pressure that I think we need to have stop. Women do not have to share all the details about their personal choices. Be that the choice of marrying or not, having children or not, working all the time or not. Science careers do not have to be all or none.

I exercise every day and I drink lots of water. When things start to bother me, or when life and work get challenging, I try to take a step back. I wait to see how I feel, and what I think, the next day. I have learned that my work and scholarship are happening even when I am taking a walk. During my moments of just thinking quietly new motivations and ideas emerge.

Do not be shy about being smart. Trust yourself as much as you see the men around you trusting in themselves.

In some ways, we are our own worst enemies; we keep challenging ourselves to work harder and do more. Women often have trouble saying ‘no’ to doing more than their share. When we do, we are often viewed as uncollegial or selfish. So we tend to agree to take on more responsibility even if we are already pulling our weight. This ultimately takes its toll on our productivity, reducing the time we have to devote to our research, mentoring activities, and impacts our visibility and standing in the field over the long-term. One way to improve the visibility of women and their research is, e.g., create a listing of women scientists in your field that are available and interested to give talks, colloquia, participate in panels and workshops at meetings. The lists can be used as sources to find and highlight the work of your female colleagues.

I don’t feel that this is a choice that women in science really have to make. I think the choice is when to start a family more so than whether. It seems like there is never a really good time because there is pressure to be productive at all stages, but the stage that works best for an individual will depend on their own situation. Science – to my mind – is more flexible and open to family matters than many careers. In general, your time is quite flexible, making the inevitable juggling of family and work responsibilities easier to manage. I have seen graduate students, post-docs and junior faculty all successfully navigate the challenges of having a family at those career stages (myself included). Certainly, some do not succeed, but the outcome would likely have been similar for these women in another field.

Never turn down an opportunity. If you are passionate about science, take every opportunity to continue down that path. Passion for discovery, problem solving and finding answers is what allows me to persevere. If you have that passion, you should follow it. There is more than one path to get to a position of independence. Many people have taken unconventional paths to research or faculty positions. They just kept trying until they found a way to get where they wanted to go.

I was born and grew up in a small town in northern Italy. After my degree and almost 6 years of experience working in cancer research, I moved to the US 12 years ago with my husband. I worked in academic institutions and a family foundation and I am currently working for a private company. We have two kids who are 10 and 7 years old. What was supposed to be a few years’ experience turned into our life and we are now settled in NY.

Set boundaries. Especially now during the pandemic when we are all working from home it is important to set limits. We all want to excel, we want to shine and have a bright career but that doesn’t mean we have to sacrifice our personal life to it. It is important to learn when it is time to stop and dedicate time to a hobby, to our family, to our friends. It seems obvious and straightforward, but it is not especially if you feel the pressure of your colleagues working long hours. Our value will be recognized even if we do not work 24/7 and if the workplace is not recognizing it, then it is time for a new adventure.

In my life, I was always very lucky, and I was never put in the positions of having to choose. All my mentors and supervisors were extremely supportive, but I can see how starting a family could be a challenge for women not as lucky as I was. I think there is not a solution to that. Women will always face a bumpier path, but I do believe that if we keep believing in our dreams, we will eventually find people around us who will believe in us and support us in our growth. Mentors and colleagues who value our expertise and skills will not ask us to choose. Finding that environment will not be easy, but we should not give up our dreams of starting a family, but rather we should focus on finding that workplace where we are valued even more because we have a family. And I can say these places totally exist.

Follow your dreams, do what you like, do not be discouraged by difficulties and seize the opportunities. You will never find the perfect job, but you need to focus on what makes you happy, keeps you excited and curious. No matter what your job is, it takes a lot of your time and you do not want to be bored or struggle because you do not like it.