By Carmen Ting, Editor for SAS Bulletin
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Evangelia Kiriatzi (left) and Camilla Speller (right), the President and President-Elect of our society, respectively |
How did you get into archaeology, more specifically archaeological science? When was the first time you realised that you wanted to be an archaeologist?
Evangelia Kiriatzi (EK): As a kid I was fascinated by children’s books on ancient Greek myths but also on human evolution! History, geography and geology were my favorite subjects at school and I had made up my mind to become an archaeologist before I finished school. I entered the university of Thessaloniki where, despite the strong Greek tradition of classical archaeology, I chose to specialize in prehistory as I was captivated by the interdisciplinary character of prehistoric archaeology. I was very lucky to have excellent university teachers in prehistory who introduced me, and my peers, to archaeological research using scientific methods and techniques in a framework informed by anthropological theory. It was Kostas Kotsakis, my subsequent PhD supervisor, who infused me in the technological study of ceramics and he opened my eyes to the world of ceramic analysis. He encouraged me to follow courses on mineralogy and petrography at the geology department of the same university but also to undertake a brief internship at the Fitch Laboratory of the British School at Athens, where I was to return some years later as a ceramic analysis expert.
Camilla Speller (CS): I got into archaeology by accident. After first year university, my plan was to major in English Literature, but it turned out I was missing a course credit. I had taken Anthropology and Archaeology on a whim (I chose my courses alphabetically that year) and decided these were a great second choice. I focused on Biological Anthropology during my undergraduate degree but hadn’t had much of a chance to develop any lab experience. I knew that for my graduate studies I wanted to specialize in a scientific technique, and Dr Anne Katzenberg at the University of Calgary recommended that I consider ancient DNA analysis – a new and emerging technique in archaeology. Dr Dongya Yang at Simon Fraser University took me on as a Masters student, even though I didn’t have much experience in genetics, and after that I was hooked.
What were the obstacles you had to overcome when you were working to establish yourself as a professional archaeologist?
EK: My first job as professional archaeologist was as a contract archaeologist working for the Greek archaeological service whereas my second was as a ceramic petrographer in the UK, at the Department of archaeology in Sheffield. In the first case, being young and female definitely made things more difficult for me whereas in the second living and working in a different cultural background and not using my mother tongue did create certain difficulties for me, at least at the beginning. In both cases, the initial challenges were turned into motivations with much work and effort but also support by others. I have been always very fortunate to have great collaborators and friends in the places where I’ve lived and worked.
CS: Pursuing a career as an archaeological scientist in academia required a strong work ethic, sacrifices to work-life balance, and a willingness to move when new opportunities arose. That being said, I have been fortunate to have the opportunity to undertake my graduate and post-graduate training in institutions which encouraged and fostered female academics, and where I was surrounded by a supportive cohort of exceptional female colleagues. I have also been lucky to have the advice and mentorship of established female (and male) role-models, which have been instrumental in guiding me through my career.
What challenges do you see the female students and early career researchers you work with struggle with the most these days?
EK: I think that a number of challenges do exist for female students and ECRs, and their nature and intensity vary hugely across the globe and in relation to different sociocultural and economic backgrounds, and definitely the recent financial crisis, as well as the pandemic, have not made things better. In some cases, the challenges relate to access to university education or even access to research and academic jobs due to socio-economic barriers. In certain contexts, the challenges are not much different to those faced by male students and ECRs although balancing family and work remains an important obstacle for most women pursuing studies or a professional career, irrespective of social context.
CS: The most immediate challenge is the Covid-19 pandemic, and the restrictions to research and travel that have overshadowed the last two years. Although we’ve all faced difficulties with remote working, female researchers and academics often carry a disproportionate burden of child or family care (Deryugina et al. 2021). Work-life balance is a huge issue for female researchers, even for those that don’t have children. Although gender equity has come a long way in Europe and North America, my female colleagues who live or work in the global south still face significant barriers in terms of employment and research opportunities compared to their male counterparts.
Do you think these challenges are similar to those you experienced yourself? If this is the case, why do you think things have not improved over the years?
EK: Yes and no! Certain challenges remain the same as the family-work balance despite overall improvement and the reasons are broad, socio-economic and even political. Increasing emphasis on education, in all levels, from primary to tertiary, can be certainly promising. At a personal level, one of my main challenges was training in ceramic analysis, as there were not structured training programmes in interdisciplinary archaeological research. So, I had to struggle a lot on my own to gain knowledge and practical experience, investing time and effort, before being able to embark on such research. This situation has changed dramatically and although such programmes do not appear everywhere in the world there is a growing number of opportunities for students and ECRS from across the globe to access them.
CS: I think female scientists are facing new challenges but also new opportunities in terms of employment options. Although the number of PhDs awarded in North America has increased over the last 20 years, there’s been a steady decline in the number of tenure-track academic positions since 2008. This supply and demand problem has led to greater competition for the diminishing number of academic positions, and publishing and productivity expectations for female scientists entering academia are higher than ever. Although the salary difference has narrowed for recent graduates, men with PhDs still earn more than women across all disciplines, and women with PhDs are more likely to be unemployed, or working part-time compared to their male counterparts (Council of Canadian Academies). As a result, we need to do more to prepare female scientist for a greater range of employment opportunities both within and outside academia.
What more do you think we can do, as individuals and institutions, to help promote the role of female researchers in the field of archaeological science?
EK: Although in archaeology and archaeological science, the percentage of female students is very high, this picture starts changing at postgraduate level and female scholars are underrepresented in academic and leadership positions. Huge emphasis in necessary on equal education opportunities, but also in family-supporting public programmes, and of course policies of equality and inclusivity concerning staff appointments.
CS: Academic culture still tends to foster the belief that there are few meaningful jobs outside of academia where female scientists might thrive. Through mentorship and training programs, we need to do more to support female scientists to identify career opportunities in industry and prepare them to communicate their unique skills and abilities to potential employers. Although women have made great strides in terms of equity in the workplace, they are still underrepresented in leadership positions and earn less than their male counterparts. Equity and unconscious bias training should be mandatory in all academic and non-academic institutions to draw attention to discrimination during the hiring and promotion process (Corrice 2009).
How do you think the SAS can play a bigger role in providing more opportunities to female researchers?
EK: The SAS ‘s main role should be to help breaking borders and boundaries, creating more opportunities and increasing awareness of existing opportunities for all young researchers and mostly for female ones, where necessary. By increasing our membership, and thus our information circulation network as well as our fundraising capacity, we would be able to introduce more funding schemes, or circulate more widely information on such by others, providing opportunities to students and ECRs for research and training, encouraging and facilitating mobility and international collaboration.
CS: The SAS connects researchers at multiple career stages and dozens of countries, and as such we have a fantastic opportunity to provide greater mentorship and networking for female scientists globally. Connecting early career researchers with established female scientists can provide important mentoring and training opportunities. The SAS could also be a venue to foster non-academic networks by making connections with potential employers or companies that might employ archaeological scientists.
If you can give your younger self one piece of advice, what would that be?
EK: Keep a balance between personal and professional life! I don’t think that my career would have been much more successful if I had spent a bit more time on pursuing things I liked outside archaeology. Actually, I believe that I could have been a better researcher and/or teacher!
CS: Learn how to code! I had no idea how important learning a computer language was going to be when I started in this field. I would also remind myself to celebrate each accomplishment (no matter how small) and tell myself not to worry so much about the future. When you’re a graduate student or early career researcher, you worry a lot about future employment and job security, and it often overshadows the excitement of research, and myriad major and minor achievements we make throughout our early careers. Take time to celebrate these!
What advice would you give to other female researchers out there who would like to pursue a career in archaeological science?
EK: Do not get easily disappointed! If you want something very much you will succeed it! Do not rush but be persistent and invest time and effort towards things you really want to achieve in your career! Opportunities do exist and the right one for you may appear when you don’t expect it …and you should be ready for it!
CS: Learn how to code! Whether it is R, Python, PERL, etc. you should try and learn the basics of a computer language. Archaeological science is turning more and more to big data, and whether it’s for bioinformatic analysis, statistics, graphics, etc. the ability to code is super useful. Plus, it’s a useful transferable skill to fall back on in case you’re looking for a career change – kind of like plumbing.
One last question, if you weren’t an archaeologist, what would you do?
EK: I would go back to my other two options (while at school): geologist or geographer! Or become a cook for catering archaeological fieldwork projects! I love cooking and I think that eating well, without spending much, is very important especially during fieldwork; it increases productivity and team bonding!
CS: Good question! When I was a young child my dream job was to be the Pope. Needless to say, that didn’t work out. Fundamentally, I’m fascinated by human behaviour, so if I did it all again, I would probably end up in some similar field of study like Environmental Sociology, or History, Psychology, Human Geography. Or alternatively, I would run a small, independent, used bookstore cum coffee shop (the sadly unoriginal dream job of every academic).
References:
Deryugina, T., Shurchkov, O., & Stearns, J. (2021). COVID-19 Disruptions Disproportionately Affect Female Academics. AEA Papers and Proceedings, 111, 164–168.
Degrees of Success: The Expert Panel on the Labour Market Transition of PhD Graduates. (2021). Council of Canadian Academies.
Corrice, A. (2009) Unconscious Bias in Faculty and Leadership Recruitment: A literature review. Analysis, AAMC, 9(2), 2009.
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