Introduction to the Symposium: Women in Science

Abstract

Women in science is a subject that has gained attention among both academics and policy makers. The rise in the visibility of the topic is due to several factors. The most important was Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, which barred gender discrimination in universities receiving federal funds. Although today most focus is on athletic programs, Title IX is also what led to the surge in enrollment of women in science and engineering at all levels of the university. It also made it illegal to discriminate against female scientists in hiring and promotion decisions. The National Research Council has focused empirical attention on the issue since the late 1970’s, issuing periodic reports on the representation of women in science and engineering fields. Women’s representation in science and engineering professions has not met their gains in earning science and engineering degrees, and they continue to lag behind men in tenure, promotion, and productivity. Improved longitudinal data has translated into better explanatory models at the individual level, fostering academic attention to theoretical and empirical problems. During the 1990’s, new federal policy initiatives were implemented to affect the institutional contexts that create and recreate gender disparities. For example, the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 created a federal right to family leave when a person works for an organization employing more than 50 people. Later in the decade, the electrifying, ‘‘A Study on the Status of Women Faculty in Science at Massachusetts Institute of Technology,’’ documented pervasive gender inequalities in access to resources at the Institute. This prompted other universities to complete climate assessments on the status of women at their institutions. The National Science Foundation launched the ADVANCE initiative in 2001; instead of targeting individual investigators for funding, the ADVANCE initiative funds universities to address context-specific factors leading to gender inequalities in the advancement of female faculty. This crucial decade, like the 1970s, shifted the focus from an emphasis on individual-focused interventions to more systemic ones that recognize the role that institutions play in the creation and maintenance of gender disparities. This general shift in research and policy thinking may be part of the reason that Harvard President Lawrence Summers’ comments in January 2005 seemed absurd and offensive to so many: his individualist focus was at odds with three decades of research and policy indicating that institutions and their practices have discriminatory effects on women scientists and engineers. This is the first of two special issues related to women in science. The papers presented in this issue cover a variety of facets of women scientists in scientific institutions and careers using innovative sampling, data, and analysis. Each paper takes as its unit of analysis the individual scientist. Quite important, however, is that individual scientific careers, as conceptualized by these authors, occur in contexts that affect the operation of gender on various outcomes. The institutions represented include university, industry, and government settings. Three papers address scientific activity of university-based faculty only (Thursby and Thursby, Corley and Gaughan, and Beoku-Betts). Whittington and Smith-Doerr examine patenting across the sectors, as do Stephan and Levin, who also conceptualize the scientific domain as the information technology profession. Only BeokuBetts’ paper studies scientists working in a science system outside the United States, in anglophone Africa; this paper is also the only one that uses qualitative methodology. School of Public Policy, Georgia Institute of Technology 685 Cherry Street NW, Atlanta, GA, 30332, USA E-mail: monica.gaughan@pubpolicy.gatech.edu