Welcome to Glamour's weekly column, How I Got My Job, featuring one woman with an amazing job, and the real route to get it. Looking for career inspo? For this week's instalment, kick-ass space scientist Dr Maggie Aderin-Pocock MBE shares her CV...
Who? Maggie Aderin-Pocock, 45
What? Space scientist who founded space-education company
Science Innovation Ltd because of her passion to make the public more interested in science.
I’m dyslexic and was practically written off at school because of my reading and writing. I was in remedial classes until, aged 8, I discovered science and everything changed. Turns out I’m great at numbers! Writing still terrifies me; I hated doing my degree thesis, but I love anything practical.
After an engineering degree, the oil industry was the natural progression. But the recession killed jobs, so I applied for the aircraft division of DERA (which was part of the MoD). The job description was very vague: after getting it, I found myself strapped down in an open plane, operating equipment!
Princess Diana made landmine detection so high profile. Working in Cambodia, I saw the devastation firsthand. Science can be used for good and harm, which is why we need to be knowledgeable.
My first job in space! Well, looking at space. I was using a spectrograph, which turns the light from a star into a rainbow to reveal how the star is moving. It’s beautiful… but very difficult to transport. I was so excited to take it to South America – until it arrived in 27 boxes I had to rebuild.
I set up my company because, as a scientist, when I tried to recruit staff I couldn’t find anyone in the UK. Even in the recession. I thought, ‘Why aren’t kids considering science?’ Is it seen as too nerdy? Or too hard? Or irrelevant? I realised people didn’t know enough, so I started giving talks about space, everywhere from schools to the WI.
Completely out of the blue, a letter appeared saying I’d been nominated for an MBE. I couldn’t believe it. When I met the Queen, I told her
I was a ‘space scientist’. I’ll never forget her impressed ‘Oooh’ in surprise.
This fellowship aims to engage people in science via talks and TV. Brian Cox is doing wonders, but I wish people had told me about the amazing women. Marie Curie won two Nobel Prizes, then there’s Mae Carol Jemison – the first Afro-American woman in space. I’m determined to spread the word.
Dream big. My life has been driven by a dream to travel into the stars. I might not get there, but I’ve gone further by having set my sights high.
Enjoy proving people wrong. I once walked into an all-male site and a man said, “Here’s the keys – the toilets are out the back.” He presumed
I was the cleaner.If people still don’t take you seriously, spend a week showing how clued-up you are. You can prove your competence quickly.
