Computer Vision News - February 2018

Computer Vision News 33 Michela Paganini is your favorite player? I like Roger Federer. That’s too easy! I go for Simona Halep. Was it ever difficult for you to be a female scientist? I didn’t feel difficulties in becoming a female scientist until later in my career, perhaps in college or graduate school. Italy has quite a different perspective on science having a very long tradition of excellence in science. I think a national pride for science maybe trumps the prejudice of it being a male dominated field. As I was growing up, I had a lot of support from my family, teachers, and classmates. I went to a scientific high school. We were about 50/50 in terms of boys and girls in my class. It never even occurred to me that science was not something for women. My major inspiration was my mother. As it got more serious with my college and university career, I started noticing a deficit in the number of women. There were certainly instances that I can remember that were not easy, especially when it came to more practical skills that I did not necessarily have. I remember that my very first electronics lab in undergraduate was tragic. It was probably one of my worst experiences. Not that the class was bad. But I felt extremely out of place. I never really tinkered around with any electronic kits as a kid, or anything manual. I always thought of science as something very theoretical. I really felt out of place among a lot of other students that had had experiences with robotics in their American high schools. I, instead, was in a sorority and I definitely did not look like I belonged. It started becoming apparent to me. I’m sure it was apparent to many others at first. It was never a weight for me that I had to carry around. I think around that time after the second year of college I started to realize that I really don’t look like I belonged in that department, but I did because I was a good student. In the end, it worked out well. It worked out fine, but it was hard. Do you still have this feeling of not belonging? It’s always there in a way. When you go to conferences, and 90% of the people are of a different gender. A majority of the authors you admire don’t look anything like you or don’t have the same issues to deal with on a At home inMilan, Italy Women in Science