Women in Physics

Despite the fact that women have made substantial contributions to physics, they remain underrepresented in the field. As Meg Urry says in an APS News article: “It’s 2002 and there are still physics departments with no women faculty, and many more with no minorities. The trends are generally in the right direction, but change is painfully slow”. A 1997 study (Nature 387, 341-343) found that “reviewers over-estimated male achievements and/or under-estimated female performance”, such that that women applying to the Swedish Medical Research Council for post-doctoral fellowships needed, on objective criteria, to be 2.2 times better than men. A recent internal study of gender discrimination in the faculty of science at MIT found that women were, in many subtle ways, marginalized over the course of their research careers at MIT. “They found that discrimination consists of a pattern of powerful but unrecognized assumptions and attitudes that work systematically against women faculty even in the light of obvious good will.” The MIT study also contains many recommendations, which include the installation of mechanisms to prevent discrimination against women and other under-represented minorities. Affirmative action jumps out as a key strategy. Debra Rolison has convincingly argued for strong action against universities that show an inability to diversify their faculty. One of my favourite quotes on affirmative action in physics comes from Meg Urry, quoted in a Physics Today article:

“My male colleagues don’t want to hear about anything affirmative action-like,” Urry says. “The most infuriating thing is when you say, ‘Can we think about hiring women?’ and they say, ‘Sure, but our first priority is excellence’—as if there were an inherent conflict between the two. I think if they thought hard about how physics works, they’d get it: You put in 13% and you get out 6% [the proportions, respectively, of US physics PhDs going to women and of women physics faculty at the top 20 US universities]. It’s the top universities that are falling down on the job. If you assume no innate difference in ability, then you have assume that the men you are hiring are less good than the women you are not hiring.”

Happily, there are many organizations that work to encourage the full participation of women and under-represented minorities in physics. I won’t try to provide a full list of them here, but will note that the Canadian Association of Physicists’ has a Committee to Encourage Women in Physics (CEWIP). Amanda Peet’s excellent Women in Physics web page contains many links to articles, organizations and resources on women in science. If you are wondering what you can do, you can start by reading the resources mentioned above. Think about how you can support your fellow students and/or fellow researchers. Confront sexism, and encourage your department/organization to be proactive in tackling discrimination. If you are interested in doing some thinking about privilege in North American society, Paul Kivel has written some very good books and articles from a ‘white male’ perspective on power and diversity, including one on “The Culture of Power”.