PERIODically: the podcast that covers all things periods and chemistry

Winner: 2024 Horizon Prize for Education

University of Oxford

For sparking discussion around the challenges menstrual periods create for people working in higher education, acting as advocates to help remove stigma and drive change towards greater equity.

Celebrate PERIODically: the podcast that covers all things periods and chemistry

#欧美AVPrizes

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You have been standing on your feet for six hours; the solvents are making your head hurt; you feel dizzy – now you get your period. People in chemistry who have periods can be made to feel like the environment around them has not been made to include them.

Could it be a dimension of the ‘leaky pipeline’ that has been missed? Can we decrease taboo and increase belonging through discussion? PERIODically is a podcast written and produced by chemistry students at the University of Oxford, and our aim is to understand the impact of menstrual health on our lives as chemists.

Menstrual health is often overlooked and the stigma around periods often stifles conversations around them. Our team at PERIODically want to reduce the stigma around periods and menstrual health through conversation. On the podcast we discuss our own experiences with periods whilst studying chemistry, from which we found that those who struggle with periods and period-related conditions found it harder to work long hours in labs, attend tutorials and study comfortably whilst on their period. Upon release of series one we soon realised that chemists across the world recognised and related to our experiences, but also many who have had different experiences with conditions such as endometriosis, polycystic ovarian syndrome or the peri-menopause. We knew that the first series had only scratched the top of the iceberg.

With funding from the 欧美AV's Inclusion and Diversity Fund, the EPSRC and the Chemistry department, we developed the second series of the podcast, in which we invited guests to talk about their own experiences. The guests ranged from undergraduates all the way up to senior lecturers, with widely varying experiences with menstrual and reproductive health. This second series highlights the structural difficulties for those who menstruate at all points in their career as chemists, highlighting the need for change in our field.

Since the podcast began, we have had over 4,000 downloads in over 50 different countries, but what we are most proud of is providing a platform for anyone with reproductive or menstrual health to tell their story. The heartfelt responses we have received from our listeners who have empathised with conversations on the podcast has accelerated the podcast to platform as many individual experiences as possible. The support from our audience has also dared us to ask for more! Having easy access to free and varied menstrual supplies is an important and tangible first step, but we want menstrual health to be on the minds of all decision makers all the time, so that all decisions have been made with the consideration of how they might affect those experiencing menstrual health.

Once we started it became clear that it was so much bigger than just us. We saw the potential that PERIODically had to really break down barriers in science and we want to use this platform to raise awareness and keep pushing for change.

Meet the team

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Charlie Simms, PhD Student in Inorganic Chemistry, University of Oxford
Sofia Olendraru, PhD Student in Physical Chemistry, University of Edinburgh
Charlotte Oliver, MChem Student, Ex. University of Oxford
Felicity Smith, Undergraduate Chemistry Student, University of Oxford
Josie Sams, Undergraduate Chemistry Student, University of Oxford
Manami Imada, Undergraduate Chemistry Student, University of Oxford
Elba Feo, PhD Student in Supramolecular Chemistry, University of Technology Sydney
Amy Berger, MChem Student, Ex. University of Oxford
Michael O'Neill, Lecturer in Chemistry, University of Liverpool

Q&A

How would you describe your team?

A team of chemistry students from the University of Oxford working to share the stories of our inspiring guest speakers.

What would be your advice to educators who are working with colleagues going above and beyond, but are yet to nominate them for an 欧美AV Education prize?

It is a great opportunity to share the amazing work of your colleagues and allow them the recognition they deserve. The backing of the 欧美AV and the Education prize will support them in continuing their amazing work. It will also highlight the department and university as a centre which is innovating in the area of chemistry education. Particularly, in the case of PERIODically, this award has highlighted the work of students and to receive such recognition will have a lasting impact on our career choices and has encouraged us to think about careers in chemistry education.

What different strengths did different people bring to the team?

Charlie's organisation and support is amazing; she was like the mum of the group and did all of the admin and not glamorous tasks, as well as the podcast and things that the public can see. Everyone else utilised their creativity in different ways. Josie did a lot of the social media and content creation. (Manami Imada)

What inspires or motivates your team?

I think most of us on the team have faced barriers within our chemistry career that we want to remove or reduce for the people that come after us. Personally, I think this motivation was also partly out of frustration: that I had worked so hard at my A-levels and was working so hard at my undergraduate degree and everyone around me was promoting this idea of 'women in STEM' and there was 'no reason that I couldn't be as successful as male counterparts'. But there was this visceral and physical reality that in about a quarter of my lab days I was bent over the fume hood with period cramps, feeling faint and nauseous whilst my colleagues without periods were able to focus on learning and understanding the theory and the practical techniques. I was really motivated to advocate on the podcast for practical rather than solely performative or linguistical improvements. (Lottie Oliver)

The feeling of not wanting the younger generations to go through some of the things that we have gone through. Some of the negative university/chemistry experiences could have been saved if some people were more aware of this issue – we wanted to be the voice that can educate people and realise the discrepancies that people with periods can face. (Manami Imada)

I think initially we were all motivated by our own personal experiences and struggles relating to periods. We all felt frustrated or angry and wanted to share what we’d been through. However, once we started it became clear that it was so much bigger than just us. We saw the potential that PERIODically had to really break down barriers in science and we want to use this platform to raise awareness and keep pushing for change. (Elba Feo)

Why is this work so important and exciting?

There are so many papers, articles and blogs discussing women being lost from STEM but so few (if any) discussing this in the context of menstrual health. It seemed to me that this was an oversight that was preventing the scientific community from changing practical things that were impacting minorities. Visibility of role models, student's relatedness, etc, are of course all important – but the physicality of being a student or researcher in pain or needing to use the bathroom frequently or beginning a period with no period products available are straightforwardly tangible realities that we must not neglect. (Lottie Oliver)

There is such a big difference in the experience of someone with a period and without. The differences and struggles are often overlooked and we wanted to break down this barrier and stigma. We wanted to make it a topic of conversation, where people could speak up and feel heard. This is exciting as it can help tackle the gender gap especially within chemistry and other STEM subjects, not just for students but for people who aspire to have a career in it. (Manami Imada)

Where do you see the biggest impact of this project being?

It’s got people talking! The incredible response of the wider chemistry community has been such an important part of PERIODically’s success: there is clearly an appetite for an open conversation about how to make chemistry a more welcoming discipline. Some of the guests in season two brought such resonant contributions to the show, and I’m so excited to see where this conversation takes chemistry. (Michael O'Neill)

When we went to a conference, and people came up to us and told us how amazing and impactful the podcast was. A man came up to us and thanked us for sharing our experiences and said he learnt a lot! This was really touching as opening up the conversation and educating people who may not know as much was a big goal of ours. (Manami Imada)

After the first series was released, we received messages on social media from people telling us that having heard us share our stories and struggles had made them feel seen. Often the struggles surrounding periods are something we bear on our own and can make us feel isolated, but this podcast is helping to start those conversations and showing people they are not alone. (Elba Feo)

How do you see this work developing over the next few years, and what is next for this initiative/project?

We are hoping to make PERIODically a charity of some sort, to try and continue our work even after we all graduate from university. We want to help more people – we have focused more on raising awareness, but we would ideally like to help people more practically if possible. (Manami Imada)

The first season of the podcast has already inspired my Master's research project which looked at laboratory spaces, especially with regards to neurodivergent and disabled students and students with periods – which was presented at VICEPHEC this year. This research has huge scope to be developed: looking into different experiences of trans students, at students not having regular periods due to contraception, as well as staff experiences and wider experiences of menstrual health in the laboratory environment. This research strand is something that we would like to continue as part of the PERIODically project. (Lottie Oliver)

What are the qualities that make your team special?

This team came together because of our common belief in the importance of discussing the impact of periods. Most of us didn’t know each other before PERIODically and yet through this project we have found friendship and camaraderie. Everything we do, we do because we are passionate about this issue. (Elba Feo)

What advice would you give to a young person considering a career in chemistry?

If you like solving puzzles, being able to work practically and with your hands then chemistry is a great field to work in! I really love being able to work in the lab creating cool new complexes and investigating their properties. I really enjoy just finding out a bit more about the universe we live in! I also love working with people and collaborating to learn new things which is something that chemistry has allowed me to do! (Charlie Simms)

How can this project benefit the wider education community?

Perhaps I can say the thing which only a cis male academic could say: I think a lot of what I heard in season one was stuff which should have been obvious to me, but wasn’t. Of course periods affect lab practicals. Of course they affect exams. Of course they affect lectures if you have 25 contact hours a week. So of course I should start thinking about how to make my teaching more accessible. (Michael O'Neill)

Though our initial focus was on the impacts of periods on studying chemistry, the issues we discuss apply to all aspects of academia, regardless of subject or position (undergraduate, postgraduate, professor, etc.). Hopefully people will listen to this podcast and begin to understand just how significant the barrier posed by periods can be. Only when the people making decisions within educational institutions take periods into consideration will substantial change be possible. (Elba Feo)

What is the importance of collaboration in the chemical sciences?

As you progress within academia your knowledge often becomes more and more niche. When you collaborate you combine your specialties and tackle problems from different angles to reach conclusions or outcomes that may not have otherwise been possible. PERIODically is a great example of this: we came together and shared our individual experiences, which enabled us to create this wonderful thing together. (Elba Feo)

How can good science education support solving global challenges?

Science education is about giving learners the conceptual tools to tackle important problems problems, yes, but it’s also about welcoming them into a community of people who want to improve the world. Part of the reason diversity is such an important theme in science education is that we need new ways of seeing and solving problems, and we need them urgently. Seeing young chemists contributing to this agenda through PERIODically is a cause for hope about the future of the discipline. (Michael O'Neill)

How are the chemical sciences making the world a better place?

We are all chemists working on PERIODically, and we believe PERIODically is making the world a better place. Our ability as chemists to observe and analyse, and our drive to understand, ultimately led us to investigate the influence of periods on those studying or pursuing a career in chemistry. (Charlie Simms)

Why is chemistry important?

One reason chemistry is important is that thinking about chemistry is a superb education. People are growing and changing by thinking about chemistry through school, higher education, and in professional scientific jobs. Chemists’ ways of thinking bring a valuable perspective to our society: one with a rich grounding in quantitative and qualitative reasoning, and deeply preoccupied with the gap between prediction and outcome. Sometimes that perspective is useful in Whitehall or in executive board meetings, but sometimes it’s useful in communities or families, and sometimes it's useful down the pub. Chemists have a lot to give society beyond just chemical knowledge, and I think PERIODically exemplifies that really well. (Michael O'Neill)