Experiences and Viewpoints of Selected Women Geomorphologists From the Mid-20th Century

Abstract

In 1980, as a geomorphology graduate student, I wrote to five senior women geomorphologists in North America and Great Britain requesting information regarding their careers and career experiences. At that time, the number of professionally established women in geomorphology in those countries was very small. The sample consisted of three professors (Borowiecki, King, and Morisawa), one associate professor (Macpherson), and one research scholar (Mammerickx), who had received their doctoral degrees in geomorphology between 1949 and 1966. Each responded to the request for information with a letter and a curriculum vitae. The extent to which they discussed their views regarding, and their personal experiences as, women in geomorphology in the mid-20th century varied widely, as did the amount of biographical information that each provided. Nevertheless this archive reveals some commonalities in their backgrounds, experiences, and views about women in geomorphology. Three of the respondents reported experiencing discrimination early in their careers, while two made career adjustments because of family commitments. Overall the women generally credited their success as professional geomorphologists to a deep appreciation of nature or landscape and to considering themselves as geomorphologists who happened to be women.