This week I was very privileged to attend a parliamentary reception hosted and organised by Claire Curtis-Thomas MP and the Institute of Physics Women in Physics Group regarding policy and networking for European women in science.

This event took place to highlight the work of the -European Platform of Women Scientists. which supports the work of a whole range of existing national, European and international networks of women scientists from all disciplines (natural, medical and social sciences, engineering and technology, the humanities and arts). I heard talks from very inspiring scientist who had returned after large career breaks to become leaders in their field and also learnt about the gender bias in science and the strategies that are being employed in academia and in schools to start to overcome this. I would certainly recommend to any one who wants to better understand the role they can play in the research policy debate or who requires support from an international women in science network to contact the EPWS.

After the event I continued to network in Westminster and had a very productive meeting followed by a long journey home on the tube. Now, as I spend most of my time with my two young daughters, I am rarely in a skirt or heals, but to go to parliament and to network with all these interesting people whom I had never met before, I took the decision to wear a skirt and the only heals that I have (which are very high!). Needless to say that on my return my feet were full of blisters and I made sure that I got a seat on the VERY HOT and CROWDED tube (which had incidentally been delayed very for a long time). The majority of people on the tube were a mix of city people men and women returning from work and most were standing.

After the first stop I heard a child, probably about two years old, screaming. I saw, right at the end of my section of the train a young lady holding a little girl who was beside herself with the heat and was obviously tired and thirsty. The mother was doing as much as she could pacify the girl, but as all the mums reading this will know, this is a really stressful situation for mum and child. She was standing up holding a screaming (and very red) baby, the train was packed, she couldn’t get to her bags, people were looking at her upset about the noise and not one person who was sitting, man or woman thought to offer her a seat!

When I was young I used to take the tube to school and on each carriage there was are least one advert to say “please give up your seat to the elderly and to women with children” and I remember questioning at 14 why they put this, when its obvious!. Obviously I was very naïve and thirty (ish!) years later the mentality it totally different. There are no reminders that there are certain people who may need a seat more than someone who has had a stressful day at the office, probably because no one would pay attention. Indeed when I did offer my seat to this lady I didn’t see one person embarrassed that they hadn’t thought about it first.

It isn’t sexist or ageist to offer your seat to someone who might need it more than you and the worst that could happen is that the person would say no, so what’s going on? Have we become such a selfish nation and is it like this in other countries? There may be no more community spirit, particular in a big city like London, but where is the compassion?