College science and college sports have a lot in common: They are number games, require good chemistry and can be broken down into averages, rates and percentages.
But while more than 110,000 women compete in intercollegiate sports, some lawmakers feel women aren’t getting equal playing time in science classrooms and laboratories across the nation.
This week, University computer and information science Professor Jan Cuny met with staff members of U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., to discuss how to give women who are pursuing careers in science the same opportunities as those who play sports.
According to a letter signed by Cuny and more than 200 of the nation’s top science, math and engineering educators, women are “grossly underrepresented” in the fields of math, science and engineering. Specifically, the letter said, women make up only 23 percent of physical scientists and 10 percent of engineers.
In an effort to increase the number of women involved in math and science, Wyden is leading a push to use Title IX federal statutes as a guiding principle in hiring, tenure, scholarships and lab space. Title IX laws were enacted in 1972 to prohibit gender-based discrimination in any educational program or federally funded activity, and are typically associated with the dramatic rise of women’s athletics.
The number of women majoring in math and science at the University reflects low national trends. In fall 2002, women made up about 40 percent of chemistry students, 19 percent of physics students and only 14 percent of computer and information science students. There were 254 students studying math at the University and only 76 of them were women.
Mathematics Professor Marie Vitulli is the only tenured woman faculty member in the mathematics department. Vitulli said she doesn’t think there is any conscious discrimination against women pursuing careers in math and science, but added that she thinks the scarcity of women is still a serious problem.
“There still seems to be a glass ceiling,” Vitulli said. “What happens is that the higher up you go, the percentage of women decreases.”
Chemistry Professor Geraldine Richmond said researchers should be concerned about educating a diverse population of scientists that includes women and minorities. Richmond, who testified in a Senate sub-committee hearing last year, said that Title IX could be used as a tool to open doors for women scientists in a way that would only strengthen scientific institutions.
“Title IX has been extremely important in sports, but the sports arena is very different than the science arena,” Richmond said. “We have to be careful if we try and use it to enforce equality in science.”
To pursue a career in science, physics graduate student Sasha Tavenner Kruger said she thinks women have to be especially stubborn and tenacious. Tavenner Kruger said she thinks there are cultural biases in place that prevent women from pursuing careers in science, including pressures to raise a family.
“I think the reasons for the gender imbalance are mostly historical, certainly there is no active disparagement now,” Tavenner Kruger said. “But a generation ago, women were trained to be scared of the word ‘physics’ and the word ‘math.’”
Senior instructor and chemistry Assistant Department Head Julie Haack said she knows of situations where women have been disadvantaged. But Haack said she was never discouraged from pursuing a career in science.
“For me, as a scientist, I didn’t perceive any real barriers,” she said. “Academically there was no shying away from the hard science courses; I was encouraged to pursue science and math.”
Mentoring is one of the most important factors that can lead to productive careers in science for both women and men, Haack said. Sharing knowledge about how to apply for research grants, what courses to take and how to publish scientific papers is essential for aspiring scientists, she added.
“Not enough mentoring happens in both sexes,” Haack said. “It’s hard to know what is gender-based versus other types of factors.”