Abstract
During the last quarter of the twentieth century and into the twenty-first century, many efforts have been undertaken to level the playing field for women in science. Significant legislation was enacted in 1972 that put teeth into affirmative action and allowed women to sue when they were denied tenure and equal pay. Scientific women came together, formed organizations, flexed their political muscles and found they were not unique in the conditions that they experienced. Problems were found across academia, government, corporate America, and the non-profit world in terms of promotional opportunities (including the awarding of tenure) and pay equity. The increasing numbers of women pursuing scientific education unintentionally led to pressure for more female faculty and women leaders. Many steps have been taken since the early 1970s although the playing field is not level yet for women or minorities. More work still needs to be done in the twenty-first century in order for the U.S. to utilize all the scientific talent available to its highest potential and address the challenges that humanity faces.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Similar content being viewed by others
Notes
- 1.
Talladega College, in Talladega, Alabama, is a private historically black college founded in 1867.
- 2.
Jean Sammet played a pivotal role in the nomination of Admiral Grace Murray Hopper for the National Medal of Technology. The author submitted that nomination. Jean Sammet told me that she would help me on one condition: that I did everything that she told me to do and that I wrote everything that she told me to write. I complied with her request.
- 3.
The others Nobel Prize recipients were William C. Campbell and Satoshi Omura.
- 4.
She shared the Nobel Prize with Oliver E. Williamson.
- 5.
Spelman College is a private black liberal arts college for women in Atlanta, Georgia. Fisk University is an historically black university in Nashville, Tennessee.
- 6.
Transgenic means genetically modified – DNA from an unrelated organism has been artificially introduced into the original organism.
- 7.
The Nobel Prize was shared with Venkatraman Ramakrishnan and Thomas A. Steitz.
- 8.
The Nobel Prize was shared with Edward B. Lewis and Eric F. Wieschaus.
- 9.
The Nobel Prize was shared with Richard Axel.
- 10.
The Nobel Prize was shared with Harald zur Hausen and Luc Montagnier.
- 11.
The Nobel Prize was shared with Carol Greider and Jack W. Szostak.
- 12.
The Nobel Prize was shared with George P. Smith and Sir Gregory P. Winter.
- 13.
The Nobel Prize was shared with Arthur Ashkin and Gérard Mourou.
- 14.
The Nobel Prize was shared with Elizabeth Blackburn and Jack W. Szostak.
- 15.
The Nobel Prize was shared with John O’Keefe and Edvard I. Moser.
References
M. Rossiter, Women Scientists in America: Forging a New World since 1972, vol 3 (The Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, 2012)
M.W. Rossiter, Women Scientists in America: Before Affirmative Action 1940–1972 (The Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, 1995)
Association for Women in Computing – Home. https://www.awc-hq.org/home.html. Accessed 17 Apr 2020
S. Tobias, Faces of Feminism: An Activist’s Reflections on the Women’s Movement (Westview Press, Boulder, 1997)
Milestones: 1972. https://www.eeoc.gov/eeoc/history/35th/milestones/1972.html. Accessed 12 Apr 2020
Milestones: 1970, EEOC. https://www.eeoc.gov/eeoc/history/35th/milestones/1970.html. Accessed 17 Apr 2020
Milestones: 1973, EEOC. https://www.eeoc.gov/eeoc/history/35th/milestones/1973.html. Accessed 17 Apr 2020
B. J. Love (ed.), Feminists Who Changed America 1963–1975 (University of Illinois Press, Urbana and Chicago, 2006)
R.B. Marimont, NIH Mathematician, https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/2004/03/31/obituaries/799f6b0d-6a78-4b5d-92b2-ea52fd7eaf31/. Accessed 17 Apr 2020
First woman named head of U.S. Forest Service. http://www.nbcnews.com/id/16598898/ns/us_news-environment/t/first-woman-named-head-us-forest-service/#.XpoiVMhKjIU. Accessed 17 Apr 2020
E. Babco, Professional Women & Minorities: A Total Human Resources Data Compendium, Commission on Professionals in Science & Technology, 13th edn. Apr 2000, ISSN: 0190-1796
J.C. Lucena, “‘Women in Engineering’” a history and politics of a struggle in the making of a statistical category, in Proceedings of the 1999 International Symposium on Technology and Society – Women and technology: Historical, Societal, and Professional Perspectives, pp. 185–194, New Brunswick, 29–31 July 1999
S. 568 (96th): National Science Foundation Authorization and Science and Technology Equal Opportunities Act. https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/96/s568. Accessed 17 Apr 2020
National Science Foundation, Women, Minorities, and Person With Disabilities in Science and Engineering: 1996, Arlington, 1996, (NSF 96–311)
Science and Engineering Equal Opportunity Act, Section 32(b), Part B of P.L. 96–516, 94 Stat. 3010, as amended by P.L. 99–159
A Nation at Risk. https://www2.ed.gov/pubs/NatAtRisk/risk.html. Accessed 17 Apr 2020
National Science Board, NSB 86-100. https://www.nsf.gov/nsb/publications/1986/nsb0386.pdf. Accessed 17 Apr 2020
Clare Boothe Luce Program – Program Aims. https://www.hluce.org/programs/clare-boothe-luce-program/. Accessed 17 Apr 2020
NSPE Women in Engineering Task Force, The Glass Ceiling & Women in Engineering (NSPE Publication, Alexandria 1992)
Congressional Commission on the Advancement of Women and Minorities in Science, Engineering and Technology Development, Land of Plenty, Sept 2000
The MIT Faculty Newsletter, vol. XI, no. 4, Mar 1999, Special Edition, “A Study on the Status of Women Faculty in Science at MIT,” http://web.mit.edu/fnl/women/women.html. Accessed 25 Dec 2001
R. Wilson, An MIT Professor’s suspicion of Bias leads to a new movement for academic women, The Chronicle of Higher Education, 3 Dec 1999
ADVANCE: Organizational Change for Gender Equity in STEM Academic Professions. https://www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id=5383. Accessed 18 Apr 2020
ADVANCE Brochure, https://www.nsf.gov/ehr/Materials/ADVANCEBrochure.pdf. Accessed 18 Apr 2020
Evans, Clay, “Science needs women,” Daily Camera, Boulder, 13 Feb 2005
L.H. Summers, Remarks at NBER Conference on Diversifying the Science & Engineering Workforce, 14 Jan 2005. www.president.harvard.edu/speeches/2005/nber.html
Why women are poor at science, by Harvard president. https://www.theguardian.com/science/2005/jan/18/educationsgendergap.genderissues. Accessed 18 Apr 2020
D.J. Nelson, Jan 2004 (revised 2005 and 2007), A National Analysis of Diversity in Science and Engineering Faculties at Research Universities. http://drdonnajnelson.oucreate.com/diversity/briefings/Diversity%20Report%20Final.pdf. Accessed 18 Apr 2020
https://www.nap.edu/catalog/11741/beyond-bias-and-barriers-fulfilling-the-potential-of-women-in. Accessed 18 Apr 2020
President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology Release Report Outlining Undergraduate Education Initiative, American Institute of Physics, 14 Feb 2012. https://www.aip.org/fyi/2012/presidents-council-advisors-science-and-technology-release-report-outlining-undergraduate. Accessed 23 Apr 2020
Science faculty’s subtle gender biases favor male students, C.A. Moss-Racusin, J.F. Dovidio, V.L. Brescoll, M.J. Graham, J. Handelsman, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 9 Oct 2012. https://www.pnas.org/content/109/41/16474. Accessed 23 Apr 2020
E. Pollack, The Only Woman in the Room: Why Science Is Still a Boys’ Club (Beacon Press, Boston, 2015)
The State of U.S. Science and Engineering 2020. https://ncses.nsf.gov/pubs/nsb20201. Accessed 18 Apr 2020
P. Proffitt (ed.), Notable Women Scientists (The Gale Group, Detroit, 1999)
S.A. Ambrose, K.L. Dunkle, B.B. Lazarus, I. Nair, D.A. Harkus, Journeys of Women in Science and Engineering: No Universal Constants (Temple University Press, Philadelphia, 1997)
B. F. Shearer, B. S. Shearer (eds.), Notable Women in the Life Sciences (Greenwood Press, Westport, 1996)
N. Roman (1925–2018) – Astronomer/“Mother of Hubble. https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/people/225/nancy-roman-1925-2018/. Accessed 12 May 2020
N.G. Roman, Happy 90th Birthday Nancy! https://women.nasa.gov/nancy-grace-roman-2/. Accessed 13 May 2020
N. Roman. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nancy_Roman. Accessed 13 May 2020
B. F. Shearer, B. S. Shearer (eds.), Notable Women in the Physical Sciences (Greenwood Press, Westport, 1997)
V. Rubin, The Astronomer Who Brought Dark Matter to Light Tim Childers, 11 June 2019. https://www.space.com/vera-rubin.html
J. Sammet, 2001 Fellow, Computer History Museum. https://computerhistory.org/profile/jean-sammet/. Accessed 19 Apr 2020
J.E. Sammet. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_E._Sammet. Accessed 19 Apr 2020
T. Youyou. https://www.nobelprize.org/womenwhochangedscience/stories/tu-youyou. Accessed 19 Apr 2020
F. Allen, IBM Fellow, to give UCSD Regents’ Lecture 16 Jan 1997. www.sdsc.edu/SDSCwire/v2.25/fran_allen_news.html. Accessed 24 Apr 2002
Kimberley A. McGrath, Who’s Who in Technology, 7th edn (Gale Research, Inc., New York, 1995)
D. Gürer, Grace hopper conference banquet speech on pioneering women in computing, 19 Sept 1997. www.acm.org/women/speech.html. Accessed 24 Apr 2002
K. Colborn, C. Willard, Fran Allen of IBM: pushing the limits of computing, Diversity/Careers in Engineering & Information Technology, 23 Apr 2001
F. Allen (1932–2000) Fellow Award Recipient. www.computerhistory.org/exhibits/hall_of_fellows/allen/. Accessed 24 Apr 2002
F.E. Allen. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frances_E._Allen. Accessed 19 Apr 2020
Frances (“Fran”) Elizabeth Allen. https://amturing.acm.org/award_winners/allen_1012327.cfm. Accessed 19 Apr 2020
E. Ostrom: Facts https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/economic-sciences/2009/ostrom/facts/. Accessed 13 May 2020
E. Ostrom. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elinor_Ostrom. Accessed 13 May 2020
National Geographic, Explorers: Bio – Sylvia Earle. http://www.nationalgeographic.com/explorers/bios/sylvia-earle/
TED: Ideas worth spreading, Sylvia Earle – Oceanographer. https://www.ted.com/speakers/sylvia_earle
C. Chin, Review of Mission blue documentary about Dr. Sylvia Earle, Aug 26 2014. http://protecttheoceans.org/wordpress/?p=1459
About Johnnetta B. Cole, Ph.D. https://www.spelman.edu/about-us/office-of-the-president/past-presidents/johnnetta-cole. Accessed 19 Apr 2020
J.B. Cole. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnnetta_Cole. Accessed 19 Apr 2020
V. Lacapra, Interview: Mary-Dell Chilton on her pioneering work on GMO crops, Genetic Literary Project, 27 May 2015, St. Louis Public Radio. http://www.geneticliteracyproject.org/2015/05/27/interview-mary-dell-chilton-on-her-pioneering-work-on-gmo-crops/. Accessed 6 June 2015
National Inventors Hall of Fame, Inductees: Mary-Dell Chilton. http://invent.org/inductees/chilton-mary-dell/. Accessed 6 June 2015
The World Food Prize, Syngenta Scientist Dr. Mary-Dell Chilton Named 2015 National Inventors Hall of fame inductee, 5 May 2015. http://www.worldfoodprize.org/index.cfm/24667/35489/syngenta_scientist_dr_marydell_chilton_named_2015_national_inventors_hall_of_fame_inductee. Accessed 6 June 2015
Ada E. Yonath Facts. https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/chemistry/2009/yonath/biographical/. Accessed 20 Apr 2020
Christiane Nüsslein-Volhard Biographical. https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/medicine/1995/nusslein-volhard/biographical/. Accessed 20 Apr 2020
C. Nüsslein-Volhard. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christiane_N%C3%BCsslein-Volhard. Accessed 20 Apr 2020
J.A.C. Joselyn, Ph.D. https://www.cogreatwomen.org/project/jo-ann-cram-joselyn-phd/. Accessed 20 Apr 2020
J.A. Joselyn. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jo_Ann_Joselyn. Accessed 20 Apr 2020
S.B. McGrayne, Nobel Prize Women in Science: Their Lives, Struggles, and Momentous Discoveries (Carol Publishing Group, New York, 1993)
J.B. Burnell. https://starchild.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/StarChild/whos_who_level2/bell.html. Accessed 20 Apr 2020
Science: Women of Impact, by Nadia Drake, Meet the Woman Who Found the Most Useful Stars in the Universe, 6 Sept 2018. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/2018/09/news-jocelyn-bell-burnell-breakthrough-prize-pulsars-astronomy/#close. Accessed 20 Apr 2020
J.B. Burnell. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jo. Accessed 20 Apr 2020
First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton to Speak at Inaugural Gala for Rensselaer’s 18th President, The Honorable Dr. Shirley Ann Jackson, Press Release, 17 Sept 1999. www.rpi.edu/dept/NewsComm/New_president/presshillary.htm. Accessed 23 Nov 1999
A.M. Perusek, Saluting African Americans in the National Academy of Engineering Class of 2001, SWE: Magazine of the Society of Women Engineers, Feb/Mar 2002
C. Pert. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Candace_Pert. Accessed 21 Apr 2020
C. Pert, Ph.D. http://candacepert.com/. Accessed 21 Apr 2020
S. Malcom, Ph.D. https://usnewsstemsolutions.com/speakers/shirley-malcom/. Accessed 21 Apr 2020
S.M. Malcom. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shirley_M._Malcom. Accessed 21 Apr 2020
L.B. Buck – Biographical, Nobel Prize. https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/medicine/2004/buck/biographical/. Accessed 21 Apr 2020
T. Grandin. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temple_Grandin. Accessed 21 Apr 2020
T. Grandin, Ph.D. https://www.templegrandin.com/. Accessed 21 Apr 2020
F. Barré-Sinoussi. https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/medicine/2008/barre-sinoussi/facts/. Accessed 21 Apr 2020
F. Barré-Sinoussi. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fran%C3%A7oise_Barr%C3%A9-Sinoussi. Accessed 21 Apr 2020
F. Wong-Staal, Ph.D. https://history.nih.gov/nihinownwords/docs/transcripts/wongstaal.html. Accessed 21 Apr 2020
Biography of Flossie Wong-Staal. https://www.thewonderwomenproject.org/pages/biography-of-flossie-wong-staal. Accessed 21 Apr 2020
Biography of Lydia Villa-Komaroff. https://www.thewonderwomenproject.org/pages/biography-of-lydia-villa-komaroff. Accessed 21 Apr 2020
CEOSE – Member Biography. https://www.nsf.gov/od/oia/activities/ceose/Biographies/villa-komaroff.jsp. Accessed 21 Apr 2020
Women Scientist Profiles – Lydia Villa-Komaroff, Ph.D. https://womeninscience.nih.gov/women_scientists/villa-komaroff.asp. Accessed 21 Apr 2020
E.H. Blackburn, Facts, Nobel Prize. https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/medicine/2009/blackburn/facts/. Accessed 21 Apr 2020
E. Blackburn. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_Blackburn. Accessed 21 Apr 2020
About Anita Borg. https://anitab.org/about-us/about-anita-borg/. Accessed 21 Apr 2020
K. Mieszkowski, “Sisterhood is Digital,” Fast Company, Sept 1999
President Clinton Names Anita Borg to the Commission on the Advancement of Women and Minorities in Science, Engineering, and Technology, White House Press Release, 29 June 1999. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/WCPD-1999-07-05/pdf/WCPD-1999-07-05.pdf
T. O’Brien, Women on the verge of a high-tech breakthrough, San Jose Mercury News, 9 May 1999
S. Eng, Women’s group honors pioneers in technology, San Jose Mercury News, June 26, 1998
A. Borg, Women in Technology International Hall of Fame. https://www.witi.com/halloffame/102852/Dr.-Anita-Borg-Member-of-Research-Staff,-Xerox-PARC,-Founding-Director-Institute-for-Women-and-Technology/. Accessed 17 Aug 1999
Top 25 Women on the Web – Dr. Anita Borg. wysiwyg://5http://www.top25.org/ab.shtml. Accessed 17 Aug 1999
C.T. Corcoran, Anita Borg wants more scientists to start listening to women, Red Herring, Mar 1999
Method for quickly acquiring and using very long traces of mixed system and user memory references, Patent 5,274,811 granted 12/28/93. Patent 4,590, “Backup fault tolerant computer system, granted 20 May 1986
K. Hafner, Anita Borg, 54, creator of Systers list, Rocky Mountain News, 11 Apr 2003
Biography of Maria Klawe. https://www.hmc.edu/about-hmc/president-klawe/biography-of-president-maria-klawe/. Accessed 21 Apr 2020
M. Klawe. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_Klawe. Accessed 21 Apr 2020
About Harvey Mudd College. https://www.hmc.edu/about-hmc/. Accessed 21 Apr 2020
I. Daubechies. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ingrid_Daubechies. Accessed 21 Apr 2020
Duke Mathematician Awarded more than $400,000 for Her Contributions to Wavelet Theory. https://today.duke.edu/2018/07/duke-mathematician-awarded-more-400000-her-contributions-wavelet-theory. Accessed 21 Apr 2020
Nomination of Susan Solomon https://www.nsf.gov/od/nms/recip_details.jsp?recip_id=332. Accessed 24 Apr 2002
Meet Susan Solomon. www.chemheritage.org/EducationalServices/faces/env/readings/Solomon.htm. Accessed 24 Apr 2002
S. Solomon: 1992 Common Wealth Award for Science and Invention. www.sigmaxi.org/prizes&awards/ssolomon.htm. Accessed 24 Apr 2002
S. Solomon. http://spot.colorado.edu/~gamow/george/1994bio.html. Accessed 24 Apr 2002
Susan Solomon explains Scott’s fatal expedition to Antarctica, University of Leeds Press Release, 26 Sept 2001. www.leeds.ac.uk/media/current/Solomon.htm. Accessed 24 Aug 2002
NOAA Scientist Receives Nation’s Highest Scientific Honor, NOAA News Online. www.noaanews.noaa.gov/stories/s368.htm. Accessed 24 Apr 2002
S. Solomon. https://eapsweb.mit.edu/people/solos/bio. Accessed 23 Apr 2020
F.H. Arnold. https://www.nobelprize.org/womenwhochangedscience/stories/frances-arnold. Accessed 21 Apr 2020
F. Arnold. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frances_Arnold. Accessed 21 Apr 2020
D. Strickland: Facts. https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/physics/2018/strickland/facts/. Accessed 21 Apr 2020
D. Strickland. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donna_Strickland. Accessed 21 Apr 2020
C. Greider. https://www.nobelprize.org/womenwhochangedscience/stories/carol-greider. Accessed 21 Apr 2020
C.W. Greider. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carol_W._Greider. Accessed 21 Apr 2020
M-B. Moser, Facts, Nobel Prize. https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/medicine/2014/may-britt-moser/facts/. Accessed 21 Apr 2020
M-B. Moser. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/May-Britt_Moser. Accessed 21 Apr 2020
M-B. Moser. https://www.ntnu.edu/employees/may-britt.moser. Accessed 22 Apr 2020
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2020 The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Tietjen, J.S. (2020). Science in the New Millenium. In: Scientific Women. Women in Engineering and Science. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-51445-7_6
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-51445-7_6
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-51444-0
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-51445-7
eBook Packages: HistoryHistory (R0)