Opening Doors to Science in Tunisia Zohra Ben Lakhdar
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ESSAY GLOBAL VOICES OF SCIENCE Following the Light: Opening Doors to Science in Tunisia Zohra Ben Lakhdar hen I was young, everyone around Nobody even thought about going to second- desire to achieve me said that science was a field for ary school, which required traveling 25 kilo- the same scientific edu- Wmen to pursue and that it was too meters to the nearest big city, Sousse. With cation and status as men and to open ways for difficult for women. They said there was a no buses or cars around, this was a very long other women to do the same. fundamental intellectual difference between and difficult trip. Most girls went just to There were good reasons to work toward men and women, and between primary school for a few years, this goal. As a child, I was dazzled by the girls and boys. The assumed role The Editors hope you and then got married, usually at power of science. I witnessed amazing feats, of women in society was to take have enjoyed this around the age of 15 years. some of which took place in my own home. A care of the family. I did not accept year’s Global Voices Marriage was by far our French surgeon had saved my mother’s life by these notions. I liked mathematics of Science essay primary concern. That was what performing open-heart surgery on her. The and all of the sciences, especially series celebrating society expected of us. Our lives contraceptive pill was providing women with physics. It became my goal to 125 years of Science. couldn’t have been farther removed the power to decide when to have children show, through my own example, The voices of the from science and technology. And and take on the rigors of raising a family. Men international com- that I could do science as well as that was true not only for girls. alone would no longer be the only ones with munity of scientists men could. have an enormous There were no Tunisian engineers, those powers. I witnessed the establishment I attended primary school in amount to offer, and professors, or doctors in the coun- of the industrial production of chicken: the 1950s in the cities of Mahdia it has been our try at all during that period. All of food for everyone! “Yahya el Elm,” said my and Jemmal, where the highest privilege to feature these professionals were French. mother each time I tried to explain these level of education available to them in this year’s One early source of inspiration things to her. That’s essentially a tribute that girls resulted in a “certificat d’é- anniversary events. for me was the importance my means, “science be praised.” tudes primaries.” This is like a We have learned parents placed on the value of In 1956, when Tunisia gained its inde- high school diploma, except that much from their education. But even my father pendence from France, women were granted it marks the completion of pri- unique perspectives. used to assume that his boys were equal rights with men under the law, and mary school only. I know of no Series editor, the ones who could succeed in education became a primary issue in gov- other girl, besides myself, who Ivan Amato technical areas. He wanted his ernmental politics. My family moved to was in school with me at the sons to be engineers. “Power is Tunis, the nation’s capital, a city now with a time who even received that with science, and with people population of more than 3 million. There, “diploma.” There were few girls in the pri- who are good in mathematics,” he told them. I succeeded in entering secondary school. mary school I attended—less than about 25 Boys had power and opportunity by nature. I I spent 6 years in the best school for French in the first year—and only 6 of us made it all could see that women would have to earn their and Arabic studies for women. I earned my the way through to complete our education. place in a man’s world. This only fueled my baccalaureate (first part) with the best Zohra Ben Lakhdar Tunisia It has been almost 30 years since Zohra Ben Lakhdar received her appointment as a professor of physics at Tunis El Manar University in Tunisia. Now director of the Department of Physics’ Laboratory of Atomic-Molecular Spectroscopy and Applications, she does both theoretical studies of the spectral properties of matter and applied research and development in several areas, including optics-based pol- lution monitoring. From her primary-school days onward, Lakhdar has had to battle political, social, and cultural obstacles as she muscled forward toward her lifelong goal of becoming an active and productive member of the global scientific community. After earning her Ph.D. in atomic spectroscopy from the University of Paris VI in 1978, she turned down offers to work in relatively luxurious conditions overseas and instead returned to Tunis University, where she has remained ever since. She has authored numer- ous papers and textbook chapters, advised and mentored many students, and was a founding member of the Tunisian Optical Society. In 1994, she was elected to the Islamic Academy of Sciences and since 2001 has been an associate member of the Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP) in Trieste, Italy. She also has organized and/or chaired international conferences and workshops in laser physics and related fields. Earlier this year, she was honored by being named a winner of the 2005 L’OREAL-UNESCO Award for Women In Science. All essays and interactive features appearing in this series can be found online at www.sciencemag.org/sciext/globalvoices/ CREDIT: MICHELINE PELLETIER/GAMMA www.sciencemag.org SCIENCE VOL 310 2 DECEMBER 2005 1435 Published by AAAS G LOBAL VOICES OF SCIENCE results at the national level. Unfortunately, ever, I wanted to continue my scientific train- At the same time, I was struck by a curious though, this school had little to offer in the ing. As it turned out, an opportunity arose for irony surrounding the technological feats of sciences. If I was going to become a scien- me to do so. the era. For example, during the Apollo 11 tist, I would have to take extraordinary steps. At the end of each academic year, in mission in 1969, the entire world watched on June, a professor came from France to television screens as Neil Armstrong became Joining the Boy’s Club supervise exams and to validate our diplo- the first person to walk on the moon. Yet no One important step that I took was to pre- mas. Each year, the Tunisian government one had ever photographed an atom. An pare for my baccalaureate (second part) in awarded fellowships to the best three to five image of an atom, free and in a stationary mathematics at Sadiki College, the best students to continue their studies at univer- position, would be in hand only 20 years later. men’s school in Tunis and one that was sities in France. In some cases, top students I found it amazing that exploring the world of known particularly for its strengths in could use their fellowship to pursue basic atoms was in some ways more difficult than physics and mathematics. Nobody advised research in France. setting foot on the moon! me to go there, though many were quick to In 1967, I was selected by the university By 1971, I had earned my next degree. My tell me it would be too difficult for a for the opportunity to go to France to study for thesis work focused on using spectroscopy woman. Yet, because of my strong academic a Diploma of Further Studies (Diplôma d’é- and spectral analysis to deduce the potential record and because women now had equal tudes approfondies, DEA). That year, the pro- of different atoms to interact with one rights with men under the law, girls also fessor who came from France to validate our another. All of my subsequent scientific work could gain access to has emerged from this training. I am fasci- Sadiki. Even so, other nated by what makes different substances than myself, only one take on different shapes and how substances other woman attended undergo phase transformations. the school. My parents I brought these experiences and my were proud of my grades, expanded knowledge back to Tunisia where I which were very good, became only the second Tunisian woman to and I earned my degree in work as an assistant on the staff of the science mathematics in 1963. faculty. I spent 3 years in this position, but I This was a degree that was unable to conduct my own research. For opened doors for me. With that, I needed a doctorate. So I returned it, I could enroll in the to France, to the University of Paris VI. Tunis University faculty Following a 4-year period of study, during of medicine, which had which I finally earned my “Doctorat d’Etat,” just been established, or in Pollution patrol.The author uses laser-induced fluorescence analysis to my then-new husband, also a doctor of the faculty of sciences, detect pollutants in plant tissue. physics, and I both received offers to stay in which then was just 3 France and build our careers there. That was years old—the same age as the almost new diplomas happened to be from the Université tempting for both of us, but we chose to return university itself.