I had to wear a lab coat again after 5-6 years. I had mix feelings about it! I who changed my major and basically my whole career because I didn’t want to wear a lab coat for the rest of my life, was there in a strange lab wearing a borrowed lab coat (four size larger) and goggles, trying to pretend I knew what I was doing with their instruments! Ahhhhh, what an experience!
I know that whole career change because of the dress code may sound shallow to you, I can add a few more reasons to it but why bother?!
Anyway, two career changes later and here I was in a lab coat again! Universe plays cruel jokes on us sometimes. This particular lab was analyzing radioactive water samples and they had to take additional safety measures, plus being scanned for radioactive residue at the end of the day.
Now my personal policy in our lab is simple: If I’m not working with toxic or corrosive chemicals I wear my regular clothes (and thank goodness none of my chemicals are toxic or corrosive!). That means open-toed sandals, jeans, short sleeve tops, my jackets, skirts and …. If I was still in chemistry department, I wouldn’t be allowed in the labs!
The dress code in a chemistry lab includes: closed shoes which covers your entire foot (and you better wear socks too!), long sleeved lab coats, pants (no shorts, skirts or even cropped pants), mostly goggles and depending on the chemicals you are working with you may have to wear latex or chemical resistance gloves and sometimes face masks. Sounds cute, no?
Oh, no way! I am not going to look for a research position in the future because I don’t want to be forced to wear lab coats again.
Believe me, I am very happy that I am not in medical field and forced to wear scrubs day in and day out.
So what do you think? Is your dress code (and no, I don’t mean suits) bothering you? Will you change your career because of the dress code? Will you wear lab coats and scrubs every single day if your job demands it?
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