Talking Leaders

Neil Reavey knows what it is like to have to hide the real Neil from colleagues in order to fit in with “the norm”. As a young gay man going into a career in science, he experienced discrimination in various forms. That led to him feeling pressured into “covering” in order to be accepted, like when he would mug up on the latest football (soccer) news in order to be able to join in with the blokey banter at work. So when the chance came to take an active role in helping change the work environment so that other people from the LGBTQ+ community taking up careers in science do not have to put up with the same iniquities he had suffered, Neil was ready to step up to the challenge. Even though taking up a key position in the Proud Science Alliance took him into leadership situations and to levels very different from those presented by his scientific job. In this episode Neil talks with Paul about his early experiences, and his desire to bring about permanent change in the workplace, and how what the Proud Scienc