The Plight Of Women In Science Continues

The plight of America's women in science has been considered by some to be one of the most pressing issues of our times. Even though it may be true that textbooks no longer categorically depict only boys as doctors and professors while depicting girls as nurses and technicians, many hurdles remain for a woman with aspirations for a career, in scientific research. Through the years, I have heard many speak in favor of women's rights. However, I have witnessed few, if any, significant allocations of resources in support of women in science. Although a number of government and private programs currently do exist, many of these are limited or restricted in nature. I recall an article written some years ago (C. Djerassi, "My mom, the professor," Science, 239:10, 1988) that created a flurry of letters to the editor. The writer asked why the phrase "My mom, the professor" isn't heard more often and thereby identified the problem. Seven years from that time, the intolerable state of women in science remains. Women still suffer from long hours, low pay, and inadequate funding, along with other problems that center on everyday necessities, such as child care. But there are also intellectual necessities, such as peer support, as well as the need for mentoring and recognition, that are not being addressed. From my perspective, the problem has actually intensified because of the current situation with research funding. Although inadequate research funding affects men and women alike, it affects women disproportionately because more of them are in the junior ranks, a stage in which research grants are most difficult to obtain. In 1995, average salaries for male professors are $48,697 and $54,623 in public and private institutions, respectively. For female professors, the corresponding figures are $44,657 and $49,007 (L. Povich, ed., "Sixteenth Annual Salary Survey," Working Woman, January 1995, pages 25-38). As a female scientist, I am also painfully aware of the many conflicts experienced by women in science. Aside from the hardship imposed by shortage of physical resources, there is the problem of a finite supply of the valuable commodity called time. Foremost is the conflict in priorities between family and career. This issue was highlighted in an exhibit entitled "My daughter, the scientist" at Chicago's Museum of Science and Industry in 1985. As Joanne Simpson, a meteorologist at the University of Chicago, insightfully stated in the exhibit notes: "A scientist's most productive period is between the age of 20 and 45. This hard fact of life makes it tough on women because the age of childbearing and rearing coincides with the years of greatest productivity in science. Clearly, major sacrifices must be made regarding the conventional idea of a mother's role." From my experience, it seems that some sort of intervention is needed soon to protect the recruitment and retention of women in the different fields of science. For example, postdoctoral fellowships for part-time work can be made available to enable fulfillment of family obligations during the most formative years of a woman's career. Special grants with sufficient flexibility in requirements to help the reestablishment of scientists who experienced career interruptions can be offered. The dollar amount of such a "Women in Scientific Research Initiative" would be trivial compared with the budget for traditional research grants and should not negatively impact the national research budget. To encourage women to go into or reenter scientific research, a change in the attitude toward women who interrupt their careers for family-raising purposes is needed, especially on the part of university administrators and funding agencies. Many of these women chose a hiatus in science at the expense of career advancement so as to devote 100 percent effort to raising a family. This pursuit of excellence in child rearing should not be interpreted as a lack of seriousness in one's career in science and penalized. The meaning of career interruption needs to be better interpreted, understood, and recognized, so that the unexplored potential of these women can have a chance to become fulfilled. Hon Fong Louie Mark is director of cytogenetics at Rhode Island Hospital and Brown University School of Medicine. She is chairperson of the Brown University Committee on the Status of Women and an AAUW Educational Foundation International Fellowships Panelist, and serves on the Rhode Island Commission on Women. She took a nine-year leave of absence from science from 1977 to 1986. (The Scientist, Vol:9, #18, pg.12 , September 18, 1995) (Copyright © The Scientist, Inc.)

The Plight Of Women In Science Continues

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