- Full Text
- Scholarly Journal
Gender equity in science: Still an elusive goal
Full text preview
Women in science have gained a lot of ground in recent years. Once reserved primarily for men, tenured faculty positions, corporate research jobs, and government posts are being filled by more and more women. But there is still a tough row to hoe. Although stiff social and legal pressures now make blatant discrimination less likely than in the past, subtle barriers and biases are far from removed. These small, incremental obstacles are compounded over time, resulting in significant disparities in the career advancement of women and men.
A study undertaken in the late 1980s and early 1990s by myself and Gerald Holton at Harvard University lays plain these obstacles. Results from the study also indicate how the barriers might be overcome, as well as the strong need for better local policies--at the university, corporate, and government agency levels--before women have a truly equal chance for advancement in scientific fields. Expanded efforts by key national organizations such as the National Science Foundation (NSF), the American Association for the Advancement for Science (AAAS), and others are needed as well. Although outright discrimination must still be met with swift action, it is time to focus on the web of hidden processes that significantly thwart the careers of many women.
Most national studies and programs addressing inequality have focused on high school and college education and on early career opportunities; relatively little attention has been paid to gender disparities in the later stages of science careers. This neglect is a major reason why our study, called Project Access, examined the career progress of an elite group of men and women who had received prestigious postdoctoral fellowships in the sciences. The study was based on 699 questionnaires and 200 face-to-face interviews. The participating men and women worked mainly in academic and nonacademic research settings; a small...