Athena Unbound

 "The advancement of women in science and technology"
A book by H. Etzkowitz, C. Kemelgor and . Uzzi.
Some quotes:
While some of their male contemporaries view female scientists as 'honorary men', others see them as 'flawed women' for attempting to particiapte in a traditional male realm. (page 2)

Earned Doctorates, USA, 1990s: % of female students.
Mathematics: 19              Physics: 12%              All engineering: 11%   (page 11)

Graduate female students encounter an opaque competitive system that depletes their self-confidence....  (page 15) Women are often excluded from information and informal channels in graduate school, they have less access to 'social capital.' (page 16) They develop a tendency for self-blame and fear of risk taking and role confusion at the highest faculty level (page 16).

Just a century ago women were barred from seeking degrees and advanced training in the sciences in most universities in  Europe (page 17).

Academic practices, presumed to be meritocratic and gender-free, often work against women's professional success. These effects are sometimes hidden behind a neutralor even positive facade erected on the publicized achievements of a few exceptional women, some of whom deny the existence of obstacles in their path. Other women are unaware that they have been singled out for negative treatment while still others are al too cognisant but are also wary of challenging unfair practices for fear of reprisal. (page 22)

When they enter U.S. universities young women are disproportionately removed from science and engineering majors by a harsh "weed-out" system designed to test the mettle of young males, well socialized in the norms of competition. (page 26) Challenge is a central theme in many rites of passage into manhood (page 54). Some women adopt the competitive imperative, and learn how to compete in male terms. Men oare often not comfortable with this. (page 55)

It would be illogical to say that being male or female would, in itself, make someone a good or a bad scientist. Yet this kind of statement is often made.Negative stereotypes persist. (page 31)


In Western culture, science, like the Church, has been viewed as a 'world without women' (Noble, 1992) (page 32)

Young women, who worked hard in high school and used their teacher's praise and encouragement as the basis for their self-esteem, become disoriented in college. (page 53)

Many aspects of science and engineering majors force women into conflict with their gender socialization .. Adjustments tend to be psychologically uncomfortable, and some coping strategies provoke disapproval from other women, male peers, or both.(page 56).Women are concerned that male acceptance of their academic worth would detract from their sense of who they were as women (page 58)

Women are forced to make a cultural choice between being attractive and being smart (page 58)

Women can be set up to fail, unless they are helped to see how existing male-dominant power structure can play upon their anxieties about their self-image. (page 59)