Women in Mathematics, Science & Engineering - Essay Example

? Women in Mathematics, Science &Engineering Table of Contents Women in Mathematics, Science &Engineering 1.0 Background 3 2.0 Challenges, issues and opportunities 4 3.0 Strategies to improve women's prospects 6 4.0 Recent imporovements 8 5.0 Conclusion 8 1.0 Background Generally, the field of Mathematics, science and Physics was closed to women for a very long time. However there has been treamendous improvement in terms of participation and contributions of women to the field in the twentieth century. Lewis (2011) documents 10 women who have made contributions to the field of mathematics for as early as 355 AD. These women include Hypatia of Alexandria (370 – 415 AD), a Greek philosopher, astronomer, mathematician, Elena Cornaro Piscopia (1646-1684) an Italian mathematician, theologian and Composer, Maria Agnesi (1718-1799) an Italian claimed to be the first woman university of mathematics. Others include,Sophie Germain (1776-1830) a French mathematician, Mary Fairfax Somerville (1780-1872) a Scottish and British mathematician also known as "Queen of Nineteenth Century Science," Ada Lovelace (1815-1852) a whose the Ada computer language after, Charlotte Angas Scott(1848-1931) an English, American mathematician and educator, Sofia Kovalevskaya (1850-1891) a Russian mathematician, Alicia Stott (1860-1940) an English mathematician and Amalie Emmy Noether (1882-1935) a German, Jewish, American mathematician (Etzkowitz, Kemelgor and Uzzi 45-100). Notably there are a number of women who have participated and made considerable contridutions in the field of sciences as early as the medieval age. Trotula di Ruggiero was the chair at the Medical School of Salerno in the 11th century. She has been credited in influential texts in obstetrics and gynecology (Leigh 65-80). Dorotea Bucca was also the chair of philosophy and medicine at the University of Bologna from 1390. Other women physicians from Italy included Abella, Jacobina Felicie, Alessandra Giliani, Rebecca de Guarna, Margarita, Mercuriade, Constance Calenda, and Calrice di Durisio among others. The participation and contribution of these Italian women physician was attributed to the liberal approach of the Italian Universities. Other notable achievements by women in science and physics in the nineteenth century include Florence Nightingale credited in pioneering nursing as a discipline; she was also a pioneer in public health and a statistician. Elizabeth Garrett Anderson was the first British woman with medical 1865. In America it was Elizabeth Blackwell. Astronomical photography was also pioneered by Annie Scott Dill Maunder. In the 20th century women notables in science include Marie Curie a Nobel price winner in Physics in 1903 (physics), and chemistry in 1911. In 1939, Lise Meitner credited for pioneering nuclear fission. Margaret Fountaine has made significant contributions in botany and entomology (Leigh 65-80). An analysis of female Nobel Prize laureates’ shows out of the fourty one women who have won the prestigious award between 1901 and 2010, sixteen of them have been in the field physics, chemistry, physiology or medicine (Ruth 100-150). Despite the above success stories there are several challenges that have inhibited women from pursuing Sciences and Mathematics. They include stereotypes, cultural practices, social prejudices, preferences and tastes, family orientation, the church etc. For instance St Thomas Aquinas was of the view that women were incapable of holding positions of authority, some cultures discourage women from participation in fields and activities regarded to as manly, some prejudices that a female is a weaker sex thus cannot comprehend technical aspects of science, there are workplace discrimination based on gender etc. (Ruth 100-150). 2.0 Challenges, issues and opportunities The issues of underrepresentation by women in sciences start early. In the US, girls account for athird of the students opting for physics at the high-school level. Those who secure placement in computer science represent a small fraction. The situation is worse at the post secondary education level where majority of students pursuing bachelor’s degree in computer science, engineering, and physical sciences are male. At the same time there are a few female professors in these fields (GAO). Therefore there seem to be a systemic problem for women representation in sciences. Many reasons can be attributed to this phenomenon. It could be that there are a few female role models for the girls to follow, there fore girls are not oriented and nurtured into these fields from the early age. At the same time there could be issue of steritypes sorrounding female participation in sciences. For a long time these fields have been regarded as field for boys and men, thus dicouraging the females to venture into it. In this case the lack of mentors for females and negative attitude towards the physical sciences are a contributing factor for female underrepsesentation. Having women mentors and role models should be encouraged in the education system. (GAO) Recent studies have shown that there are great discrepancies in terms of salary and rank between men and women in the science field. This is so because most of these fields are male oriented, and remuneration is based on experience. Due to orientation, the females usually find themselves in the lower echelons of ranking in science oriented organisations eg universities. These work patterns may affect their career and work choices (NCES). Other studies have shown that women will consider a flexible job that will enable them juggle family life and responsibility as opposed to their male counter parts who would prefer career advancement and higher earnings. Due to their social and biological orientation, females tend to be disadvantaged when they pursue the physical sciences which are more demanding than the liberal arts and the social sciences. This phenomenon explains why there are more men in physical sciences than women (MIT). The male female variability in mathematics and pphysical sciences can also be attributed to discrimination at the workplace. A study conducted by the MIT on studying women science faculty issues at MIT revealed that most senior women felt marginalised. It also reported that the situation is slowly improving in some departments owing to the retirement of old male guards. This suggests that there are also generational and personal prejudises which marginalise the participation of women in these fields (MIT). Lack of political will from goverment has also been attributed to the dwindling participation of wome in the physical sciences and research fields. The lack of gender empowerment strategies by the political class this is due to the fewer number of female legislators in parliament (Ruth 160-170). It is also said that in as much as women have been given the opportunities to choose carrers, the society does not push them to pursue the hard sciences as compared to men. It is true that men are pushed into the hard sciences because the command respect and recognition in the society owing to their toughness. Women generally tend to shy away from such ego shoving tendencies, therefore if the society regards something as tough it will naturally be a dormain of boys and men, if it regarded as soft then it is left to the women. It is such steriotypes that have developed the sexist mentality in the physical science discipline (Ruth 160-170). 3.0 Strategies to improve women's prospects Several strategies have been proposed to improve women participation in sciences and mathematics. It has been observed that several grant-making institutions have developed policies to foster the participation of women in sciences. Some universities have adopted policies like the adjusted tenure clock. This is a form of waiver extended to young females who have delivered in their tenure of attaining professorship. This policy tends to rationalize the biological and tenure clock of the female counterparts in academic institutions. These policies relieve some pressure on the female staff thus providing a flexible environment for carreer advancement. Allowing for more days of paid maternity leave reinforces this policy (Bellas). Some universities also reduce the teaching duties of the female staff that have newborns. The rationale is to create more time for them to conduct reaearch and attand to family responsibilities that comes with having a small baby. Research laboratories and universities have developed on-site child care programmes within their institutions. Such programs require funding and institutional goodwill as these are not the primary functions of these institutions (Nelson and Rogers). To improve the recruitment of female staff in the physical sciences and research areas, institutions are now employing inclusive hiring processes for new faculty. These initiatives involve extensive advertising, gender and minority group criteria and preference etc. All these initiatives are aimed at ensuring that women participate in the recruitment processes. Some Universities have started incorporated the aspect of measuring status of women faculty. This is due to the fact that female faculty represents peculiar needs in the University environment. Such reviews show the gender imbalances that exist in these institutions and developing of mechanisms to address the identified gaps. These surveys also help in addressing climate issues. They are good forum for eliminating sexist attitudes. Greater awareness of such issues helps to avoid marginalization of women (NCES). The science institutions should also formed policies that subsidized learning expenses for prospective women scientists. Women employees should also be given waivers and reservations for training and further education opportunities (Ruth 100-160). Owing to social and biological imbalances between the male and female emploiyees, some universities have started to implement flexible work schedules aimed at retaining female employees. Other initiatives in line with this principle include part-time or flexi-time schedules and task sharing amongst employees. These initiatives allow women to balance their personal lives and work (GAO). Gender mainstreaming activities have been successfull in improving the representation of women in science and research fields in the developing world than in the developed world. The contrast is that there are more education opportunities for women in the developed world than in the developing world. The goverment therefore must invest their time and effort to encourage female participation in sciences (Leigh 45-70). There is need for more awareness on the importance of female participation in technology and science. Such awareness strategies should start at the lowest level of education to the tertary education level. These strategis help dispell steriotypes on women participation in sciences (MIT). Instituting laws that encourage and enfroce equality in the workplace will help the participation of women in sciences and maths. If the legal framework speaks against gender discrimination tendencies then the institutions of the society will forced to change their old ways of gender discrimination, the universities included (GAO). 4.0 Recent imporovements In recent times there have been different forum and organizations that have been set up to specifically address the issue of women underrepresentation in the sciences and maths field. Such institutions encourage girls to venture into sciences by providing scholarships, mentorship and financial support to needy female students pursuing the sciences. These institutions are collaborating with the government, academia and the industry to improve girls’ participation (Ruth 200-220). 5.0 Conclusion Factors such as societal steriotypes, cultural practices, lack of government support, workplace discimination, tax and benefit systems, and access to childcare affects the participation of woment in theworkforce. The same factors are also inhibitants to women participation in science and technology. Fields, as studies show that issues such as career paths, workplace practices and performance measures (Etzkowitz, Kemelgor and Uzzi). It is true that currently strides are being made to help improve women representations in these fields. Strtegies used to alleviate this situation include adjusted tenure clock; reduction of teaching duties for nursing female staff; on-site child care programmes; inclusive hiring processes; measuring status of women satisfaction in workplaces; subsidise learning expenses for female scientist; flexible work schedules for women in the workplace; awareness programmes on the importance of female participation in sciences; enforcing laws on discrimination; Instituting laws that encourage female participation in sciences etc. It is encouraging to see institutions coming up to improve the participation of women in sciences.The future of women representation is likely to improve in the next decade (Leigh 150-170) Works Cited Bellas, Marcia L. "Disciplinary Differences in Faculty Salaries: Does Gender Bias Play a Role?" The Journal of Higher (1997): 68(3), 299-321. Etzkowitz, Henry, Carol Kemelgor and Brian Uzzi. Athena The advancement of women in science and technology. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2000. GAO. Gender Issues:Women’s Participation in the Sciences Has Increased. 2004. 27 November 2011 . Leigh, Ann Whaley. Women's History as Scientists. Carlifonia: ABE books, 2003. MIT. A study on the status of Women Faculty in Science at MIT. 1999. 27 November 2011 . NCES. Gender and Racial/Ethnic Differencesin Salary and Other Characteristics of Postsecondary Faculty: Fall 1998. 1998. 27 November 2011 . Nelson, Donna J. and Diana C. Rogers. "A National Analysis of Diversity in Science and Engineering Faculties at Research Universities." 2007. 27 November 2011 . Ruth, Watts. Women in Science: A Social and Cultural History. London: Routledge Publishers, 2007. Read More