Interviewers: Ashley Kim and Madison Lein
Authors: Elaine Wei, Holly Williams, Linnea Turner, Sondra Scoggin
Dr. Noelle Cutter, an accomplished Molecular Biologist, is striving to advance in the male dominated STEM field, but the transition is easier said than done.
Dr. Cutter is an associate professor at Malloy College in Long Island, New York, who has accumulated experience during her PhD studies at Stony Brook University, New York and working for the Mission to Mars, the initiative of robotic exploration on the Red Planet. Currently, her studies focus on understanding how pediatric patients diagnosed with medulloblastoma, a rare form of brain cancer, become resistant to chemotherapy.
Although her interest in science grew in high school, as she entered college, Cutter was unsure of her major so she decided to study in the broad field of biology.
“This major was so diverse--it was very challenging, but it was going to offer me many opportunities,” Cutter said.
And it did prove to be quite challenging: during her pursuit of a specific field of study, Cutter experimented with many of the distinctive fields within biology, and she eventually fell in love with biochemistry.
According to Cutter, growing up she believed that she would become a veterinarian, and never planned on pursuing biochemistry, conducting research, or teaching students.
Keeping her own experience in mind, she encourages her students to explore different fields, because “...it is okay not to know your major…” Cutter said.
Given that Cutter attended an all-women college, she did not feel out of place studying in the STEM field, but Cutter noted that as she entered more professional fields, they were male dominated.
“...it was a challenge for college, but it’s becoming an increasing challenge as I progress through the field,” the Molecular Biologist said.
Despite the challenge, she was supported by family, peers, and instructors, both men and women alike, but her female STEM role-model was vital in creating a sense of belonging in her designated research field.
This support did not mean that jobs, pay, or opportunities are equal.
According to Cutter, in a predominantly masculine field, many women try to be likeable or masculine, but they cannot be both, and the addition of striving for a promotion or pay raise complicates matters further.
“This balance becomes particularly more challenging for women,” she said.
She points out that in general, research shows the pay gap between men and women of the same job still exist, and only biases and discrimination are to blame.
According to Cutter, she did not experience discrimination in her career until she started working toward a leadership position; she was told to aim for a different trajectory because leadership positions were not the place for women.
“For the first time in my life, I was hitting a wall,” she said.
She revealed that this wall was not put up by a man, but instead by a woman insisting she was never going to advance in her career. However, this doubt and the doubt of others drive her to achieve the tasks that people say she can’t achieve.
“If somebody tells me I can’t do something, it makes me want to do it ten times more,” Cutter said.
As Cutter’s professional career progresses, however, she has run across more and more hardship, especially while pursuing a deanship.
“As I’ve moved up in my position, I’m sort of at a teetering spot where if I move into leadership I’m finding a lot more obstacles than I have previously been challenged with before,” Cutter said.
According to Cutter, many women aren’t immediately seen as leaders; people assume that they are a lower rank because of “misunderstood motherhood” where women can’t have both a successful career and a family, and the pressure can make life hard to balance.
Despite these existing societal restraints, Cutter is firm in her belief that women can truly have it all.
“People in general tend to think that you can’t do both: you can’t have a career and you can’t be a mom. I think that you can…” Cutter said.
She believes that “a whole societal mindshift change is going to be needed” to fix the discrimination against women in STEM. Additionally, she encourages other women in similar positions to work to change this mindset and implement better standards to level out the “playing field.”
Not only does she advocate for a mindset change, but also for the improvement of STEM education.
“In order to improve stem education as a whole… we need to offer these opportunities to diverse learners,” Cutter said. “Regardless of where you study, what major you’re in, what your career goals may be, this idea of a diverse curriculum and education of the whole person is probably the most important thing to me.”
Although Dr. Cutter has experienced many trials and tribulations with being a woman in the STEM field throughout her career in Molecular Biology, she has accomplished many great achievements and can be seen as a role model for many aspiring scientists. With her own experience in mind, she emphasizes the demand for scientists with diverse backgrounds in this overly complex and problem ridden world in which we live.
“We have this untapped pool of people, women, and minority students who just need to be encouraged and told that they can have a very fulfilling life in science” Cutter said.