By Matthew Sinton, University of Edinburgh, @mcsinton
When approaching the end of the PhD, I think it’s natural to look back and take stock, to consider the events that led to the point of gaining a doctorate. I took a long and circuitous route to where I am, so sometimes it’s a lot to look back on.
I still remember being at sixth form college and feeling the pressure of having to make the right decision about my future career, worrying that, if I got it wrong, I would never be able to change my path. If I could go back and give my younger self some advice it would be this: don’t worry, try different things and if you don’t like it, find something else, something that lights a fire in you.
I tried so many different things, from a geology degree, to a doctorate in biology, to becoming a teacher, and eventually back to biology, where I am now. Do I regret any of it? No, because it helped me to realise what my real passion is, which is biology. I spent my PhD exploring metabolic dysfunction associated with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and will be heading off to study immunometabolism during my first postdoc, where I’ll be looking at this affects the immune response to parasite infections and allergies.
I’m super excited about where my career has ended up. Metabolism can be a really challenging topic to work on because it’s often like trying to put together a jigsaw except many of the pieces can fit into multiple parts of the final picture. But I love that, and the challenge of it really excites me.
Navigating these different educational and career choices as a gay man has sometimes been challenging, and at times led me to hide who I am from colleagues. Earlier in my academic career I sometimes heard people say that certain behaviours were “too gay”, or that sexuality had nothing to do with work so it shouldn’t be talked about.
Whilst I am lucky that I never directly faced homophobia in the workplace, these sorts of comments and attitudes are oppressive. They made me feel awkward and unable to fully invest myself in what I was doing. I’m very fortunate to now be in an environment where I have no qualms about being openly gay and I feel very protected, by both my supervisor and the institute as a whole.
But a lot of people still don’t have that, and a lot of people working in STEM don’t have networks and don’t feel supported. That’s why in 2019 I set up The STEM Village. The name is based around the idea of the gay village, which was traditionally a haven for LGBTQ+ people, where they could be themselves and create support networks.
Being an openly LGBTQ+ researcher is a privilege that many people around the world don’t have, even in countries where sexuality is protected in law. But being in that position means that people can enjoy their careers without fear and fully invest themselves. I want this initiative to help create networks for the LGBTQ+ STEM community.
Being a Member of societies like The Physiological Society has been really beneficial because it’s provided access to funding and a platform to promote The STEM Village. There’s still a lot of work that needs to be done, to increase visibility of the LGBTQ+ STEM community and to empower people to feel safe and allow them to be open about who they are in the workplace.
As I progress through my research career, I hope that I can continue to work with societies such as The Physiological Society, to help in the movement to increase visibility of and build networks for the community.