Baggy lab coats make female scientists feel like ‘imposters’

FEW things are more synonymous with science than the humble white lab coat, but scientists now want the traditional design to be revamped to better suit different body shapes.

Curvy women, for example, have said they struggle to find a coat that fits their lower half while petite women feel drowned in fabric.

Most lab coats are labelled as unisex but are based on the physique of an average man, which means women struggle to find a comfortable fit.

A survey of more than 1,000 laboratory workers by Genius Lab Gear found that 96 per cent of women had a problem with the fit of their lab coat.

“Men’s and women’s cuts do exist, but they are harder to find and the sizing is often still poor,” Dr Derek Miller, founder of Genius Lab Gear, said.

“The large majority of lab coats people wear are unisex – due to cost, availability, and the existing contracts institutions have with suppliers.

“These unisex lab coats have cylinder cuts and by default are designed for a very standard male body type. Most women think the terms “unisex” and “men’s” are synonymous.”

Female respondents said that to get a coat that fits over their bottom or that is comfortable on the lower body, the cylindrical design leads to excess material around the shoulders and back that gets in the way and knocks things over.

Women also said they “look like a hot air balloon” in the PPE, with the clothing making them feel that science “isn’t meant for fat people”.

Women who self-identified as “petite”, shorter than 5ft 4in and under 140lbs, were the most likely to have an ill-fitting coat, according to the survey.

One woman said: “Being swallowed by a giant lab coat makes you feel like you are dressing up in a costume. It creates a strange imposter syndrome that [says] ‘you’re not a real scientist’.”