In this post, I want to focus on women working in the sciences. In the past, women working in any of the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) fields have been few and far between. Nowadays, many more women are entering the sciences; however, they are still the minority in these situations.
The National Academy of Sciences posted a study concerning women and the sciences. The study found that women were the minority in fields like math; however, they deemed that this was not caused by discrimination. It was suggested that although discrimination may no longer be prevalent, implicit stereotypes may still exist (Baker, 2011). It was found that 70% of people asked grouped science with men and humanities with women, from 1998 (Baker, 2011). This goes to show that implicit sexism may be taking over the role of discrimination. Implicit attitudes are based in the unconscious, so sexism still exists, but it is not as obvious. Some may not even realize they are discriminating (Brannon, 2011).
The article goes on, interestingly enough, to state that although more and more women are entering the field of science, the field itself is more geared towards men. Biochemistry professor Phoebe Leboy states that the field of science is a hard career, especially for women in the academic aspect of science. The hours are long and demanding, plus there is the added strain of research expectations. In order to succeed in research, one must have lots of experience to back them up. This is a career that involves a lot of hours and hard work. However, these hours and hard work are usually occurring during women’s prime childbearing years, forcing some women to choose between a career and a family (Baker, 2011).
The image I chose this week portrays the number of male and female teachers at a medical school. While women outweigh the men in three of the categories, men still dominate in the “full professor” and “associate professor” categories (Baker, 2011).
In conclusion, more and more women are entering the sciences, but it is a hard career. Women may be forced to choose between having a family and having a career because the workplace is geared towards men.
References:
Baker, B. (2011). Having a Life in Science. BioScience, 61(6), 429-433. doi:10.1525/bio.2011.61.6.4
Brannon, Linda. (2011). Gender: Psychological Perspectives. Boston, MA: Pearson Education Inc.
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I like how you compared choosing a career in science and math fields and choosing to raise a family because a lot of the times, women can't have both. As you stated, science fields are very demanding and require a lot of experience. While women work to get their careers, children would need to be placed in daycare, which can cost thousands of dollars. Women are in a bind: Choose the career path or the family path. Unfortunately, it is a challenge to choose both. Good research!
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