Updated : 2014-07-03 19:27 The Korea Times Women, think big and keep going forward Jeong Sun-joo, professor at the department of molecular biology in Dankook University Jeong Sun-joo, 52, a professor at the department of molecular biology in Dankook University, said that women need to play a truly modern role as leaders and pursue big dreams under any circumstances. She made the remarks on June 25 after receiving the LOreal-UNESCO Award for Women in Science. You should dream big. once you achieve your dream, you should have another dream, Jeong told The Korea Times, marking the July 1-7 Womens Week which is aimed at raising awareness about gender equality and women empowerment. You may be offended by others around you. Dont think of it as a sign of being a loser and losing your self-esteem. Think about it as achieving the bigger aim you have, she added. She has been studying ribonucleic acid (RNA) and discovered a connection between cancer and beta-catenin, a dual-function protein. Jeong also served as the first female dean at the Office of International Affairs at Dankook University. Shortly after graduating from Seoul National University, one of the most prestigious higher learning institutions in Korea, she finished her doctoral degree program at the University of Utah, aged 27 and then gained a postdoctoral fellowship at Stanford University. She also had a baby while studying, but was able to become a professor at Dankook University a year after finishing her postdoctoral fellowship. A quarter of scientists in Korea are women, according to UNESCO data. However, only a handful of them can become long-term researchers while maintaining their careers at the university due to the glass ceiling and the male-oriented culture of the academic world. As the research is focused on teamwork with other researchers through financial support from the government or an institute, Jeong was somewhat excluded as a researcher because of her gender. One female, who is good-looking and is a sociable person, in male society, can survive to some extent. However, when a female takes on an important position and raises her voice, male society tries to exclude her from society. Luckily she could become part of the university, but she was a mother and young researcher who had no time to look after herself. Becoming ill, all she could do was keep going forward. People said random things to me such as ‘You are strange in front of me. But to some degree, you need to ignore those details. Women are sophisticated so they think too much about details, but it doesnt help to survive. You might need to rebuild your personality. It is not becoming a man, but being efficient at work. Jeong said she thought she has faced brutal realities as all other women have. She could keep going, thinking she was one of them, so she didnt feel that lonely. Female students came to me and said, ‘You look great. But looking good is not important at all. You will shortly know it is not a fancy-looking job. What you need to think about is what you really like in your life and background. She hopes to become a scientist who contributes to world health and an adviser to junior researchers and female workers so that they can become future leaders. The society doesnt expect women to do something more. But dont pay too much attention to that. Focus more on what you are doing. Weirdly, womens status went down after marriage. It gets worse when you have a baby because childcare overwhelms you. However, dont be too preoccupied with childrearing, and think about your work. Women are good at meeting new challenges, so that they can make it.
Posted on: Sat, 05 Jul 2014 02:59:27 +0000
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