Heather Deal (DEAL at cce.ubc.ca) wrote:
: I'm here, and have gotten terrific response to a
: specific question posted here. I liked one person's
: interpretation of low traffic: Gender among scientists
: is no longer enough of an issue to warrent a lot of
: discussion.
: Cheers!
: Heather
Maybe gender isn't an issue once one gets into one's chosen field; but
it certainly seems to be in actually getting there. According to "The
Woman Scientist" by Clarice M. Yentsch and Carl J.Sindermann only 15% of
working scientists are women. There is obviously a gender issue here.
I am currently writing a paper for my college writing requirement
addressing this issue. From my research so far it appears that between
approximately 1950 and 1975 there was a logarithmic (?) growth in the
percentage of female scientists whereas since the mid-1970's this has
levelled off to very little growth rate. My thesis is that the reasons
for this levelling off lie within the stereotypic male ideal that
science represents and that out cultural gender biases maintain.
Any thoughts? Does anyone here ever feel that in becoming a scientists
she has had to sacrifice part of her femininity since we do not
generally believe that 'feminine' characteristics are also scientific
ones?
Becky
(bnorum at lynx.dac.neu.edu)
