Womens Role in the Field of Science - Research Paper Example

Women’s Role in the Field of Science The role of women has evolved through time from being typecast into focusing on household chores and rearing children to slowly immersing as practitioners and professionals within societal sectors amidst diverse endeavors. The transition was reportedly not easy as historical manuscripts revealed the challenges that women have to go through to regain rights to pursue personal and professional interests. In this regard, the aim of the current essay is to initially identify women's role in the field of science in the United States during the 19th century. Further, one would compare the findings of the selected time period against the conditions of recentdecade. The discourse would likewise present an analysis of the factors which have been supported or refuted in the progress of women in these areas. Role of American Women in the Field of Science: 19th Century Accordingto the online article entitled “Women in 19th century America”, the time period manifests a time of three distinct features: change, development and war. As such, the role of women during that period depended on diverse demographical profiles discussed according to the Native American women, African American women, and White American women. For White American women, further classifications were made distinguishing lower class from upper class women. For Native American women, for instance, it was explicitly indicated that their role was far different from White American women in terms of the responsibilities expected from them. As disclosed, “Indian woman did all the farming, raised the children, took care of household responsibilities, and performed other odd jobs. The men were mainly responsible for hunting and not much more” [Womnd1]. Likewise, Indian women were reportedly assuming roles that ranged from medicine women, midwives, prophets, and even warriors. As medicine women and midwives, it was apparent that Indian women during the 19th century have already explored the field of science. The fact was corroborated by Pilato who studied women’s roles as inventors during the 19th century. According to the research, “inventions by women related to war activities, such as a self-inflator forraising sunken vessels, planking for war vessels, a pyrotechnic flare and code system, and an ambulance, provide fascinating evidence that women inventors significantly expanded their technological boundaries well outside the domestic parameters” (79). Parallel to the previous article, the crucial impact of the civil war during that period instigated women’s innovativeness and creativity that resulted in patenting a reported increase in inventions from the 30 estimated patents during the period 1790 to 1850 to a significant increase to 350 patents in a matter of two decades [Pil00]. However, as compared to men’s noted accomplishments, it was apparent that during the period, “women are underrepresented in science” (Women in Science: Equity par. 1). When reviewing the role of African American women during the period, the discourse noted that their role was predominantly focused on being enslaved to do housework and fieldwork. Concurrently, the roles that White American women took the same traditional roles of being constrained within the domestic parameters. One of the most famous women in the field of Science, particularly in Astronomy, was Maria Mitchell [Kol08]. As briefly noted, women during that period had limited access to educational pursuits in the field of science [Tro02]. This could have significantly influenced the roles that women played in the field of science in America during the 19th century. Role of Women in Science: Contemporary Times One would definitely expect that women in the 21st century have assumed greater roles in the field of science. When the comparison would be made in terms of previous time frames, one could not be mistaken. However, in an online transcript of the report delivered by Silver entitled “Women And Technology In The 21st Century” the glaring finding was still the same: “women are under-represented in the science and technology workforce, with 2002 statistics from New York state showing women as 33.9% of engineering and science technicians, 26.1% of mathematical and computer scientists, and 11.2% of engineers” (Silver: Introduction par. 3). The facts likewise indicated that although there were apparent increase in the participation of women within the scientific endeavor from levels noted during the mid 1960s, the current statistics still reveal that apparent attrition levels of women in pursuit of higher education manifests a declining trend. The apparent reasons seemed to be sourced from the disparity in compensation given to women within this field of endeavor, as compared to men, within the same level. Likewise, as disclosed by Lemonick, the three possible reasons for women being continously underrepresented in the field of science are: “they are less able, they are prevented from advancing by sexism, or they are less interested” (par. 3). Some of the startling statistics that were gathered during one’s research are cited as follows: “Women have been awarded only 16 of the 540 Nobels in science”[Ben10]; “In computer science, for example, the percentage of female graduates from American universities peaked in the mid-1980s at more than 40 percent and has since dropped to half that, said Sue Rosser, a scholar who has written extensively on women in science” [Ben10]; “The number of women who are full science professors at elite universities in the United States has been stuck at 10 percent for the past half century” [Ben10]; Comparative Analysis From the review researches and information gathered on the role of women in the field of science for two different time periods: the 19th century as compared to the 21st century, the following findings are hereby indicated: A. Similarities 1. Women continue to be underrepresented in the field of science for both time periods; 2. Women have continued to assume diverse roles, in conjunction with roles to delve into more specialized scientific inquires; but the roles as homemaker, mother, wife continue to be majority of women’s priorities; 3. Rates of compensation and levels of attainable heights in organizational ladder continue to be lesser for women in the field of science as compared to men for both time periods. B. Disparities 1. There were apparent increases in the number of patents, inventions and discoveries made by women in diverse fields of science since the 19th century to contemporary times; 2. Society has eliminated restrictions and discriminations with regard to according entrance and access to higher educational pursuits within the field of science; 3. Inventions and discoveries were spurred by war activities in the 19th century as contrasted to more diverse reasons, ranging from technological advancement and rapidly changing macroenvironmental factors, in the 21st century. Conclusion The role of women in sciences have significantly transformed from limited growth and access to tap various resources and opportunities in the 19th century to more freedom to explore in the 21st century. However, though greater number of inventions, discoveries and opportunities to contribute in the field of sciences are more eminent in contemporary times, the continued disparity in compensation and abilities to achieve higher positions and responsibilities in the organizational ladder as compared to men, somehow manifested constraining abilities to maximize the full potentials for greater professional growth. Works Cited Womnd1: , (Women in 19th century America par. 4), Pil00: , (Pilato), Kol08: , (Kolm), Tro02: , (Trolley), Ben10: , (Bennhold par. 8), Read More