EmailAn archaeologist has gained thousands of Twitter followers after posting photographs reflecting the daily frustrations of academic life using Lego figures.
Donna Yates, from the University of Glasgow, takes pictures of the woman scientist characters from a new Lego set called the Research Institute. She arranges them in academic scenarios and posts her pics to the @LegoAcademics account.
The account has gained 15,000 followers since her first tweet last Friday.
“Many of the images that I have put up portray normal academic concerns and experiences: little frustrations and in-jokes,” says Yates. “They are not a complaint. Far from it. They are smart people, doing smart things, facing the quibbles and quirks of academia, and they are all women.”
The photos feature tongue-in-cheek captions reflecting the common problems encountered by academic staff around the world, including the publish or perish culture, the move to open plan offices, going over time at conferences, work-life balance and the drive to focus on interdisciplinary research.
Here are some of the best:
Lego released three female scientists as part of its Research Institute set – designed by isotope geochemist Ellen Kooijman – earlier this month and they have already sold out.
Yates says: “I am a bit surprised by how popular the Lego academics have become, but I think that this goes to show that the image of a woman as a scientist isn’t just accepted, it is embraced.
“I’ve got a lot of replies about the Lego academics tweets but my absolute favourite was a mother reporting that after she showed the photos to her daughter, the little girl asked how she could become a professor too.”
The Twitter feed is not only for fun, admits Yates – she is eager to raise the profile of women in science.
“The majority of toys out there promote the message that science is for boys and that girls should focus more on vapid, shallow things,” says Yates.
“We know that one set of Lego is not going to suddenly boost the number of female undergraduates in the computing department. The onus is on everyone, both men and women, to come up with creative and effective ways to encourage gender balance in research and academia. Right now, I’m doing it with Lego.”
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