American Women of Science Since 1900 - Essay Example

The paper will compare their roles during those times with the recent times. It will also dwell the factors linked to rise or fall in the involvement of women in Mathematics. Role of American Women in Mathematics in Twentieth Century Mathematics refers to a theory of application of symbols and numbers in the calculating of measurements, shapes, patterns, and spatial relationships. Mathematics is applicable in a variety of ways and acts as the foundation for science, social science and applied sciences (Wayne 134).

However, the status of women in the field of Mathematics have been affected by a perception that math’s is difficult. American women of the ancient times viewed Mathematics as a subject that was dependent on a person’s talent and not on education (Marx & Roman 1185). This affected the female child education in America, as they did not show any interest in the subject due to the negative perception they had of it. However, the trend of women’s involvement in Mathematics began to change between 1970s and 1980s when a feminist reform movement started advocating female child involvement in math’s education.

The movement was also geared at abating gender biases in America’s classrooms so that early female child education in Mathematics could be given priority. . With intense advocacy and enlightenment, the figure of female mathematicians started improving, which saw other women also earn doctorate degrees in Mathematics. The women included Anna Johnson Weeler (1910) and Olive Hazlett (1915). However, the figure was still low as it was estimated that only 5.53% of women had earned doctorate degrees in Mathematics by late 1961.

The figure remained low for the entire twentieth century (Wayne 134). It is worth noting that despite the perception about American women in relation to Mathematics, some of the earlier women stood strong and contributed a lot to the field of Mathematics (Marx & Roman 1185). This was evident during the post World War II where American female mathematicians Grace Hopper and Margaret Butler worked passionately at the military and government digital computer development, Mina Rees dealing with at the military jet rocket propulsion applications and high speed computers (Wayne 134).

After the end of World War Two, Evelyne B. Granville was honored as one of the first black women in the United States to earn a doctorate degree in Mathematics. The contributions made by these women were so evident that it became apparent that women could as well play a role in the field of Mathematics, science, and engineering just as their male counterparts (Wayne 134). Comparison with their Role in Recent Decade Statistics from the past decade shows that women’s involvement in the field of Mathematics has improved tremendously.

For example, a survey conducted in 2006 revealed that the number of women who had earn doctorate degrees in Mathematics and statistics stood at 29%, which was an increase of about 25 %