Science and math lack women professionals

By: Laureen Antall
Posted In: National News

She slides into home plate and is… Safe!

After years of careful research, she discovers a cure for cancer.

In 2004, she becomes President of the United States.

All this done by women?

Wishful thinking, perhaps. Women have made remarkable gains in the last few decades and gone places some would never have dreamed of, becoming senators, doctors, lawyers, judges, film makers, soldiers, police officers, and professional athletes. However, there are still areas dominated by men.

As a recent study supported by the Ford and Guggenheim Foundations, women make up only a small percentage of the world’s scientists and mathematicians.

According to The Chronicle of Higher Education, male faculty members outnumber female faculty members in most colleges and universities. In most fields, there is a higher percentage of women earning their bachelor’s or doctoral degrees than there is beginning to teach in the discipline.

The study found that 44.7 percent of Ph.D’s awarded in the biological sciences were given to women from 1993 to 2002. The study showed that only 30 percent of assistant professors were women. And an even smaller percentage of women were the actual professors.

Possible reasons for the numbers, according to the report, include a woman’s lacks of confidence, and the influence parents may have in her career decision process. Girls as young as middle school age already show signs of steering away from the subjects of math and science. Studies show that puberty may play a role in this. Girls watch what the majority of women professionals are in the real world. A surge of colleges, universities, and high schools have developed math and science workshops for middle school girls in the hope of creating more interest.

Success stories are not unheard of. Dr. Carol Gibbons, a professor of mathematics at Salve Regina University, was always encouraged to pursue her goal as a math major. She enjoyed problem solving puzzles in high school math. As a student, Gibbons was always helping other classmates, so it was obvious that she would pursue a teaching career.

According to Gibbons, society in the 1960’s stressed that women should be stay-at-home mothers and raise their children. So, that is what Gibbons did, after teaching only one year of math at the high school level. It was only after her youngest child entered elementary school that Gibbons decided to return to her career. She recently obtained her doctorate from the University of Rhode Island.

Currently, Gibbons has nine women and 11 men enrolled in mathematics as a major. Colleen Thompson, a sophomore at Salve Regina, began her college career as a biology, pre-med major.

“My grandfather and mother had cancer. I wanted to find a cure,” Thompson said. Although she was not really influenced by any one teacher, Thompson set this goal in high school. Upon entering Salve, she entered the biology program, but became frustrated. At the beginning of her sophomore year, Thompson switched her major to English Communications, deciding that English was definitely a hidden love.

Erin Obillo, a sophomore biology major with a minor in chemistry, realized that science was the career path she wanted to take while in middle school.

“I’ve never seen myself doing anything else,” said Obillo. Her teachers throughout middle school made anatomy and physiology interesting. “They gave me and my family advice for schools to look at, what to major in, and what kind of courses to take.”

After obtaining her bachelor’s degree, Obillo plans to attend graduate school where she wants to become a pre-physician assistant. This major allows her to gain experience in all aspects of the medical field in a hospital setting.

The race continues for women to match men. And the watch will remain on the areas of mathematics and science. But in the end?

“Women are more persistent and willing to come forward with questions,” said Gibbons. And for her that means success.