Angela Speck
Interview Posted By: Ashley Smith
1. Can you tell us a little about your background? i.e. Where you grow up, what education do you have, a summary of your resume, did you always want to do what you are doing now, when did you start to become interested in STEM, what internships/ volunteering
I grew up in the city of Bradford in Yorkshire (North of England). I went to “public” school (the term Public School means something different in Britain – here I mean a regular, publicly funded school, not a posh private school).
I went to a regular high school. In the UK most kids leave school at 16, I stayed on to do the college prep courses (A-levels) and graduated with excellent grades. I went to college in London to major in Astrophysics. When I graduated I works in menial jobs for a short while and then in industry before return to college to do my PhD (initially in a city called Milton Keynes, but I soon transferred to London). I have always been interested in STEM. I decided I wanted to be an astronaut at age 5, and that was about the time my dad started college. I would talk to my dad’s college friends about space and stars and stuff. I didn’t really have much opportunity to do volunteering or internships in STEM. I did do fundraising projects, but they were related to famine in Africa, not to STEM.
2. What exactly IS your job? What do you do on a day to day basis?
That’s a tough question and the answer changes every day. Essentially I do a mixture of research teaching and admin. My research is on understanding stardust and involves computer analysis. My teaching covers all sorts of things about astronomy. For most of my teaching I am in a classroom talking with students. One of my courses is online – so at the computer.
Service is probably the most varied and the smallest portion of my job. I attend many meetings and am part of many committee that look at many aspects of academic life/ STEM issues/ Astrophysics funding and the like.
3. How does STEM relate to your job? How do you use the information you learned from your degree in your job?
My job is all STEM all the time. I do research and teach astrophysics. My service relates to STEM and getting more diverse participation in STEM. I teach many of the courses I did in college – so its all useful.
4. Have you faced any discrimination/ challenges being a woman in a stem field? If so, how did you deal with it? Do you have any advice for up and coming women in STEM?
I have not had to deal overt discrimination until relatively recently. After having my first child, assumptions were made about how I spent my time with the kids instead of working, which was not true. I pointed out that I’m just as productive as I ever was. I also now deal with something I call “presumed incompetent”. Essentially there is an assumption that I am not able to do tasks given to me and it’s pretty annoying to be told how to do stuff by men who know less about the issues than I do. I just tell them that – but I am a (full) professor with tenure and thus their opinions cannot hurt me.
5. What is the best and worst part of your job? What do you look forward to in your job on a day to day basis? What do you wish you could change?
In both cases – it’s the people. Whether it’s research, teaching or service – seeing people gain realization of some topic or other is so fulfilling. On the other hand there are many old-fashioned people in the discipline who don’t see that we need to change some of our practices (that keep women and other minorities out of science). I love working on problems with people. I would change the narrow-minded people. So many senior scientists are incredibly narrow-minded and egotistical – I would love to get rid of them.
6. How do you balance your work and personal life? Any secrets or advice you’d like to share?
I don’t think of it as a balance so much as a partnership. I tend to merge to private and work life and this allows me to do more with my kids and more with my work. Most people try to keep the two halves of their life separate but for me it is much more efficient to mix it all up.
7. What do you define success as?
What a great question. I guess it depends. Success is when you achieve what you set out to achieve. The problem is we don’t always define our end goals very well – so it’s hard to tell.
8. What is one personality trait that you think is universally important for a successful career?
Determination
9. Who was a mentor to you throughout your career? (can be more than one!) What did they teach you? How did they impact your life?
I find this question very hard. I have had supporters, but not many mentors. My thesis advisor in grad school managed to be a mentor whilst being very hands off – many of his students feel this way – we have no idea how he does it. My boss in my first post-PhD position is probably my most important mentor – she taught me a lot about how to succeed in academia. I have had some unexpected mentors amongst the administrators at my university (the provost the his staff) – they helped me to understand how to figure out what I want to do next.
My science/math teachers in school were mostly not particularly supportive, but I had fabulous French and Art teachers. Also my parents have also been a great support. And since meeting at the beginning of grad school my husband is also my supporter. I would say that we mentor each other. We share what we learn and between us we have a lot of important experiences within academic settings.
10. What do you think is the best advice you've ever received? What advice would you give your younger self if you had the chance? What’s one piece of advice you can pass on to us?
Advice is tricky out of context. Actually one of the best pieces of advice I got was to submit proposals for money (and telescope time) at every opportunity. Even if you are already successful, don’t slack off – keep submitting, because the process works in a way that means you have a better chance of overall success by participating every time.
I think I have turned this idea into something else – something broader which is: “never turn down an opportunity” . This is in fact a partial quote from Gore Vidal and was also said to me after I had come to this idea myself by someone who has the Chief of Staff of the President of the University of Missouri System at the time, and an unexpected supporter/mentor.
I grew up in the city of Bradford in Yorkshire (North of England). I went to “public” school (the term Public School means something different in Britain – here I mean a regular, publicly funded school, not a posh private school).
I went to a regular high school. In the UK most kids leave school at 16, I stayed on to do the college prep courses (A-levels) and graduated with excellent grades. I went to college in London to major in Astrophysics. When I graduated I works in menial jobs for a short while and then in industry before return to college to do my PhD (initially in a city called Milton Keynes, but I soon transferred to London). I have always been interested in STEM. I decided I wanted to be an astronaut at age 5, and that was about the time my dad started college. I would talk to my dad’s college friends about space and stars and stuff. I didn’t really have much opportunity to do volunteering or internships in STEM. I did do fundraising projects, but they were related to famine in Africa, not to STEM.
2. What exactly IS your job? What do you do on a day to day basis?
That’s a tough question and the answer changes every day. Essentially I do a mixture of research teaching and admin. My research is on understanding stardust and involves computer analysis. My teaching covers all sorts of things about astronomy. For most of my teaching I am in a classroom talking with students. One of my courses is online – so at the computer.
Service is probably the most varied and the smallest portion of my job. I attend many meetings and am part of many committee that look at many aspects of academic life/ STEM issues/ Astrophysics funding and the like.
3. How does STEM relate to your job? How do you use the information you learned from your degree in your job?
My job is all STEM all the time. I do research and teach astrophysics. My service relates to STEM and getting more diverse participation in STEM. I teach many of the courses I did in college – so its all useful.
4. Have you faced any discrimination/ challenges being a woman in a stem field? If so, how did you deal with it? Do you have any advice for up and coming women in STEM?
I have not had to deal overt discrimination until relatively recently. After having my first child, assumptions were made about how I spent my time with the kids instead of working, which was not true. I pointed out that I’m just as productive as I ever was. I also now deal with something I call “presumed incompetent”. Essentially there is an assumption that I am not able to do tasks given to me and it’s pretty annoying to be told how to do stuff by men who know less about the issues than I do. I just tell them that – but I am a (full) professor with tenure and thus their opinions cannot hurt me.
5. What is the best and worst part of your job? What do you look forward to in your job on a day to day basis? What do you wish you could change?
In both cases – it’s the people. Whether it’s research, teaching or service – seeing people gain realization of some topic or other is so fulfilling. On the other hand there are many old-fashioned people in the discipline who don’t see that we need to change some of our practices (that keep women and other minorities out of science). I love working on problems with people. I would change the narrow-minded people. So many senior scientists are incredibly narrow-minded and egotistical – I would love to get rid of them.
6. How do you balance your work and personal life? Any secrets or advice you’d like to share?
I don’t think of it as a balance so much as a partnership. I tend to merge to private and work life and this allows me to do more with my kids and more with my work. Most people try to keep the two halves of their life separate but for me it is much more efficient to mix it all up.
7. What do you define success as?
What a great question. I guess it depends. Success is when you achieve what you set out to achieve. The problem is we don’t always define our end goals very well – so it’s hard to tell.
8. What is one personality trait that you think is universally important for a successful career?
Determination
9. Who was a mentor to you throughout your career? (can be more than one!) What did they teach you? How did they impact your life?
I find this question very hard. I have had supporters, but not many mentors. My thesis advisor in grad school managed to be a mentor whilst being very hands off – many of his students feel this way – we have no idea how he does it. My boss in my first post-PhD position is probably my most important mentor – she taught me a lot about how to succeed in academia. I have had some unexpected mentors amongst the administrators at my university (the provost the his staff) – they helped me to understand how to figure out what I want to do next.
My science/math teachers in school were mostly not particularly supportive, but I had fabulous French and Art teachers. Also my parents have also been a great support. And since meeting at the beginning of grad school my husband is also my supporter. I would say that we mentor each other. We share what we learn and between us we have a lot of important experiences within academic settings.
10. What do you think is the best advice you've ever received? What advice would you give your younger self if you had the chance? What’s one piece of advice you can pass on to us?
Advice is tricky out of context. Actually one of the best pieces of advice I got was to submit proposals for money (and telescope time) at every opportunity. Even if you are already successful, don’t slack off – keep submitting, because the process works in a way that means you have a better chance of overall success by participating every time.
I think I have turned this idea into something else – something broader which is: “never turn down an opportunity” . This is in fact a partial quote from Gore Vidal and was also said to me after I had come to this idea myself by someone who has the Chief of Staff of the President of the University of Missouri System at the time, and an unexpected supporter/mentor.
