NSF Policy

I wish to amplify on issues and information contained in the article "Toughest Federal Science Jobs Elude Women" [The Scientist, Oct. 15, 1990, page 8] that your readers have raised to us. The article correctly points out that one barrier to women is their lack of participation in discussions of science policy, high-level science planning, and so forth. A major reason for this is the low visibility of women at the national level. To remedy this situation, women must become visible as the significant contributors to science that they are. In some areas of science, women now represent a substantial percentage of the Ph.D.'s awarded. For example, in the life sciences, the proportion of Ph.D. degrees awarded to women rose from 19.3 percent in 1975 to 33 percent in 1988. Psychology and the social sciences showed an even larger increase. Thus, for these fields it would be only under the...