MIT isn’t the only institution with a dearth of female scientists. According to an article in The Scientist, none of the 23 tenure-track faculty members in neighboring Harvard University’s cell-biology and biochemistry/ molecular-pharmacology departments in 2006 were female (though two women have been hired since then).
In fact, nearly “half of the top 10 National Institutes of Health-funded academic health centers had no women among their junior tenure-track faculty in their biochemistry and cell-biology departments,” while a paltry 20 percent of the senior scientists at NIH are female, the article’s author, Phoebe Leboy, notes. Ms. Leboy, who is a professor of biochemistry emerita at the University of Pennsylvania and president of the Association for Women in Science, goes on to explain why that is — hint: it’s not because they’re all opting out to have children — and what can be done to reverse that trend. Read the whole article.
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22 Responses to The Dearth of Female Academic Scientists
bfrank1 - November 30, 2011 at 11:12 am
The wheel of work-life keeps turning. Sometimes you are pushing, sometimes riding, sometimes, getting crushed underneath. Over-investing in the organization is dangerous, but so is under-investing. Is it possible to take the work seriously without taking yourself too seriously? Over the decades, your perspective on this shifts, and not always in a good way. One of the silly awakenings you have is when it first hits you that you are a year older every year, but the general campus population is always the same age. We all want success, approval and respect at work, never more so than in our later years, but much of what happens in the larger organizational life is beyond our control or influence. Accepting where you are on that work-life trajectory helps, but only if you follow through with appropriate actions. It has been my observation that I need work more than work needs me, which I hope helps keep me on the right track.
mbelvadi - November 30, 2011 at 1:43 pm
It’s inevitable that employees who are in a place for decades will arrange it to suit their needs rather than the transient users/patrons/customers who are only there for a few minutes/hours. If you don’t think this is true in the for-profit customer driven sector, let me ask you: why aren’t women’s clothing stores arranged by size, with the size 8s in one area of the store, 10s in another etc.? It’s a total waste of a customer’s time to have to keep flipping through racks of clothing that is the wrong size for them in order to find the one of that rack’s style in their size. But it suits the inventory control needs of the employees to arrange things that way.
mbelvadi - November 30, 2011 at 1:44 pm
As to librarians thinking customers making poor choices, I support PDA (I’ve initiated our own library’s first PDA program) but also want to give you a cautionary tale. We needed to cancel some serials (the usual budget problems), and when we went to a certain professor to ask if there was any research/classwork connected to a certain title in his area, he responded that he didn’t want us to cancel it because some other researchers (at another institution and not connected to his work) were finding that title useful so we should have it just in case someone at our institution decided to do that kind of research too (no specific plans in sight). You simply can’t manage a limited budget with that kind of reasoning. Library patrons aren’t capable of making the hard choices – they just want everything (each of them wants everything in their own area, that is). For instance, we could spend every penny of our book and serials budget combined on nothing but chemistry journals and we still wouldn’t have every chemistry journal that exists. Try multiplying that across every discipline the library has to support.
mbelvadi - November 30, 2011 at 1:50 pm
It’s a very tough psychological line between “I’m responsible for and authorized for making this set of resources/services as good as it can be, for decades of my life” and “it’s mine”. With authority comes a sense of “ownership” and to the extent that that leads to better quality work, it’s actually a trait that is highly prized and deliberately cultivated in the for-profit sector. You used the example of Wal-Mart – as it happens, Wal-Mart is notorious for deliberately using management techniques that encourage low level employees to feel such ownership to tie it into a sense of responsibility – they do it to such an extent that they’ve been charged in court with using such methods to illegally coerce employees to work unpaid overtime, and many such employees report that it was very successful on them – they felt very guilty if “their” area wasn’t perfectly clean when they clocked out and since they weren’t allowed overtime, they would be guilted into clocking out and then doing more hours of work. I knew two people at two different Wal-Marts who described exactly this scenario as happening to them.
physioprof - March 31, 2012 at 3:53 pm
The thing that makes the white supremacy angle so obvious here is that all of the discussion is about whether the dead victim was or wasn’t a “thug”, while the shooter has *proven* to be a thug: previously arrested for violent behavior and with an order of protection against him.
woodstock - April 2, 2012 at 7:50 am
Good points, thanks.
In other words:Evidence: 1- A dead body with a gun shot on the ground; 2- Next to it a man with a hot gun stating he did the shooting (“in self-defense”.) 3- The dead body belong to BLACK MAN. 4- The shooter is a white man with an impressive last name.Verdict: The shooter is innocent.
cjones599 - April 2, 2012 at 12:33 pm
Your evidence list is a good one. The sad part to me is that the list could have been written in 1866, 1902, 1950, or 2012 in America. Will we ever be able to right this ship?
cjones599 - April 2, 2012 at 12:50 pm
Not sure if that is Gov. Granholm in the picture or you/author, since her quote shows up next to the picture in my browser. Which is it?
calgrad - April 2, 2012 at 12:52 pm
One phrase to consider while the Academy goes through it’s usual rush to judgement: Duke rape case.
rick1952 - April 2, 2012 at 2:06 pm
Point taken. The greater tragedy is that Zimmerman didn’t refrain from rushing to judgment the night he shot and killed an unarmed, innocent 17-year old young man.
crunchycon - April 2, 2012 at 4:37 pm
I don’t know what the entire story is in this trajedy (as do none of you), but there are some things that bug me about the way it is being handled.
Could a *current* photo of Trayvon be used? He was 17 and 6′ 2-3″ tall and somewhat muscular – not the scrawny 13 year old depicted in the photo above or the other photos released by his family.
Also, he quit his dad’s football team, he was suspended from school (which is why he was staying with his dad at that time — mom sent him there while he was suspended), and who know what other behavioral problems were emerging? We’re not being told because the mainstream media has already taken sides and aren’t trying to find out the truth, and the family is not being forthcoming.
Last I heard there was an eye witness who saw a black man on top of a “white” man, beating him.
barnpolycarp - April 2, 2012 at 9:13 pm
I have been following the coverage quite a bit and haven’t noticed the same trend as you. I’ve heard much more about George Zimmerman’s racism and whiteness (even though he’s noticeably non-white). I agree that it’s crude for people to blame the victim. But it is equally crude to cry racism before all the facts are in, or to reject George Zimmerman’s story based on very limited and very contestable information.
calgrad - April 2, 2012 at 10:27 pm
“Innocent”? Apparently you didn’t take the point after all. You can’t possibly know that now.
Remember the outrage that demanded “these rapists” be excluded from Duke’s campus because their actions “clearly allow no other interpretation”? Turns out that the entire story wasn’t being told, and when the judicial system finally worked it out, they really were innocent of rape.
Yes, it’s important that this tragedy (and it was a tragedy) be fully investigated. But any commentator who claims to already know what really happened that day is either lying or a fool, because it’s not yet possible for people on the outside to know. There are conflicting sets of facts about both parties, inconsistent information about witnesses, medical exams, etc. Worse, there’s an entire industry developing around telling biased stories to support one position or another. If commentators have made their mind up at this point, that says more about them than it does about the case.
frayedcat - April 3, 2012 at 11:03 am
” He was 17 and 6′ 2-3″ tall and somewhat muscular – ” Please explain why this is important??? He is being listing at 140-150 pounds, thats 40 pounds less then my 6’2″ 180 pound Cross Country running son.
joejoe1 - April 3, 2012 at 4:14 pm
You all understand that the “pursuit” of Trayvon Martin was exactly 25 SECONDS long, right?
After which, Trayvon outran Zimmerman and disappeared.
And that Zimmerman’s phone call to police continued for over a minute and a half AFTER that.
No?
…….
Before I go into this, a disclaimer: I think the Stand Your Ground law is absolutely insane and and invitation to murder. Sold as “self defense” to victims of domestic violence, SYG laws are almost always protecting males: men who get into petty arguments, shoot, and then claim self-defense. The law has got to go.
But the media coverage of this case has been woefully deficient. If you listen to the media, you’ll believe that a huge 240 pound George Zimmerman hunted down a little tiny boy for at least a half hour and then shot him dead in cold blood. That’s not actually what happened.
Now one more disclaimer: I do not believe that Martin was a “thug” any more than I believe that Zimmerman was a crazy “self-appointed” neighborhood watch vigilante. (Zimmerman was appointed by his HOA and there is talk of a lawsuit against the HOA for that reason.) I don’t believe in the innate criminality of either young man.
What I do believe is that fear plus testosterone on BOTH sides, aided and abetted by a really bad piece of legislation, led to disaster that night.
Some facts:
George Zimmerman was 5’9” and 240–overweight medically.
Trayvon Martin was 6’3” and 140-160 (depending on the source) and 17 years old.
What actually happened comes from the analysis of Zimmerman’s own call to non-emergency police dispatch. Remember that the 911 calls from neighbors started coming in about a minute after Zimmerman’s call to the police ended.
Here is a timeline based on the following uncut, 4 minute 11 second call from Zimmerman to non-emergency police dispatch:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o9A-gp8mrdw
0.00: Zimmerman’s call to non-emergency dispatch begins. He is in his vehicle
0.48: Zimmerman notices Trayvon staring at him from a distance.
0.58-2:06: Trayvon approaches Zimmerman’s vehicle. Zimmerman registers fear. (“Now he’s coming towards me”; ”He’s comin’ to check me out. He’s got somethin’ in his hands.”)
2.06: Trayvon changes his mind and starts to run. Zimmerman still in his SUV.
2.10: Zimmerman gets out of his car. (2.10-2.14) You can hear the car door slam shut at 2:14.
2.14-2.39: Zimmerman pursues Trayvon on foot. He is winded. Huffing and puffing. (Windedness: 2.20-2.45 on the tape)
2.23: Dispatch asks if Zimmerman is in pursuit. (The tip-off is Zimmerman’s windedness)
2.26: “We don’t need you to do this.”
2.39: Trayvon completely disappears. Zimmerman no longer sees him. (“He ran”)
2.39-2.45: Zimmerman’s breathing is calming down.
2.45-3.47: Zimmerman and dispatch discuss where to meet the police officer;
Zimmerman gives his name and address, but registers fear that Trayvon
might still be around somewhere. Clearly he doesn’t see him or know where he is.
3.48-4.11: Zimmerman changes his mind about meeting police “by the mailboxes” (where his SUV is parked) and asks ”Could you have him call me and I’ll tell him where I’m at?” (3.48) This indicates that Zimmerman wanted to leave the scene. He still does not know where Trayvon is.
4.11: Call ends.
4.11-5.11 or so (approx): Unclear. Zimmerman claims he walked back to van and Trayvon came out of hiding and attacked him. Of course, Zimmerman could have gone back to search for Trayvon, despite the dark and his fearful desire to leave the scene.
All we really know about this minute or so is that some kind of altercation began. We also know that both young men can be aggressive (Trayvon’s approach to the vehicle; Zimmerman’s short pursuit) and can be afraid (Trayvon’s running; Zimmerman’s expressed fears throughout the call). We know that George has a weight advantage, but Trayvon has a height advantage and, additionally, the advantage of being hidden. In my mind, it’s a toss-up.
5.11 or so (approx): First 911 calls from neighbors start.
Now, Zimmerman could still be guilty of a crime between 4.11 and 5.11 (or so). I believe that is it far more likely that Trayvon came out of hiding and approached Zimmerman, but what Trayvon actually did may have been no more than a verbal confrontation. We simply don’t know. We don’t know if it was Trayvon Martin or George Zimmerman who threw the first punch. There have been no witnesses to this.
That’s why activists and media are focusing on a 25-second pursuit that ended a minute and a half before the call itself ended in order to assess blame. But this makes no sense in the context of the fight. At 4.11, Trayvon was in hiding and Zimmerman was alone in the dark. The “hunter-hunted” relation the media loves to talk about seems to have been turned on its head at 2.40.
The problem with this case is that there is not enough information about the actual beginning of the physical altercation between 4.11 and the first 911 calls from neighbors.
And it is this lack of information that underlies the problem with the Stand Your Ground legislation. In the absence of the victim and third party witnesses, there is no way to challenge the shooter’s story. The law revolves around the feeling of the shooter that his life was in danger. And that’s why Zimmerman many not be criminally charged.
I understand the outrage of the family. But, distorting facts and images (none of those photos on TV shows Trayvon at 17) only clouds the issue and creates a cyclone of hate directed at one man (Zimmerman) instead of a strong analysis of a very faulty law.
joejoe1 - April 5, 2012 at 9:13 pm
Zimmerman was arrested once at 21 for pushing a cop at a bar. The charges were later dropped and he took a class. Also, at 21, Zimmerman and his girlfriend filed his and hers domestic violence complaints. Both were dropped.
Zimmerman is now 28 with nothing on his record other than an occasional traffic ticket. Admittedly, 21 was not his best year, but he had nothing equivalent to those charges before or since on his record.
“Thug” is incorrect here. Especially for the time period of this incident.
joejoe1 - April 5, 2012 at 9:23 pm
It’s important because, without that information, all people see is the photograph that Lesboprof posted at the top of her article: a preteen kid who could never have been seen as a threat by anyone. The photos are an implicit argument that Zimmerman was a racist because, after all, there’s nothing threatening about that little boy (other than his color to some people).
It’s only when you realize that Trayvon was 6’3”, at least 140 lbs, and more adult looking than any of the photos shown, that the implicit argument goes away. One doesn’t have to be a racist to fear someone who is taller than you are (Zimmerman was 5’9”). faster than you are (Trayvon outran Zimmerman and hid before the end of Zimmerman’s call to the police), and in better shape than you are.
lesboprof - April 8, 2012 at 3:13 pm
It is the Governor in the picture.
ronj1955 - April 11, 2012 at 2:04 pm
I have to admit I will be surprised if any charges are brought against Zimmerman.It seems obvious that Zimmerman’s shooting of Martin may not have been racist, the reasons he followed him in the first place were. What does seem quite clearly racist is the fact that the police and prosecuting agencies did not think what Zimmerman did was criminal in any way, despite the recommendation by the lead detective in the original investigation to charge him. Given the somewhat obvious racism of the law enforcement agencies over a month ago and the fact that they still haven’t agreed on a story meakes charges against Zimmerman remoter by the day.
joejoe1 - April 12, 2012 at 12:21 am
Well, you got your arrest, Sugar.
Let’s see what comes of it. I can only say that there’d better be something more than what we’ve seen in the media, which has been forced into distortion and hyperbole to get an arrest.
One more note about the Special Prosecutor from the New York Times comments tonight:
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AnnWNH
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Angela Corey, the Special Prosecutor, is the same woman who is trying twelve year old Cristian Fernandez for first degree murder (as an ADULT) in the death of his two-year old brother, David. The mandatory sentence for Cristian if he is convicted is life without parole. No one knows exactly how David died. Cristian may have pushed him into a bookcase (Ms. Corey’s hypothesis) causing him to sustain head injuries. The boys’ mother, who is very young downloaded music, did online banking and Googled “head injury” for about 5 hours while David lay injured. By the time he was brought to the hospital it was too late. He dies the next day. Why Ms. Corey is insisting on trying young Cristian as an adult is beyond my understanding. He needs support, education and assistance. Not incarceration and institutional sexual and physical abuse. I don’t trust Angela Corey to do the right thing for Trevon Martin either.
ronj1955 - April 12, 2012 at 11:03 am
NIce to be wrong….Now, we’ll see what happens. Meanwhile, neighborhood watchers in uniform continue to kill unarmed (usually non-white) people without reprecussions
lgrier - April 12, 2012 at 12:04 pm
There were other 911 calls such as the one where someone was clearly yelling for help. That person does NOT sound like Zimmerman. Then a gun shot is heard.