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(U-WIRE) LONG BEACH, Calif. -- Andy Bechtol, a California State University-Long Beach engineering major, attentively awaits the raise of his classmates' hands to bring the answer to this very difficult question concerning structural physics. It strikes him that not one person raising her hand is a woman.
It's simply a fact of numbers. There are almost no women in his class.
Women in science, or the lack thereof, is a significant issue and can be witnessed in the lecture halls at CSULB, the second largest California State University.
"It is definitely noticeable here and a problem as a guy. I would love for more women to be in my classes," Bechtol said.
According to the National Science Foundation, the most current figures show women in 2001 holding only 25.6 percent of the science and engineering jobs with 74.4 percent of men in the same line of work.
"I suspect that women just think differently," Bechtol said. "Maybe they just don't share the same interests as men."
Pre-med and biochemistry student Natalie Troung said she disagrees with the notion that there are more men than women in science.
"That's simply not true," she said. "There are a lot of women in my classes. There is at least an equal amount of men and women in all my science classes."
The NSF statistics do show that women enrolled in an undergraduate science program actually exceed that of men.
"Out of all the teachers I've had, only one of them was a female," Troung said.
The Institutional Research and Assessment center at CSULB keeps records of many gender-related issues relevant to the school and its governing bodies. Data from this center shows that the science department is comprised of a 41.4 percent female faculty, which is better than the national averages.
Last year, CSULB gave 85 bachelor's degrees to men in the sciences. To women, the university gave 152 degrees. That's almost double the amount of women graduating in science than men.
"I think there is a growing trend to have women in the sciences, but only in certain fields," said Ellen Cosmin, a biology professor at CSULB. "I think there's an overwhelming trend for women to go into biology but not go into things like physics or chemistry. It has to do with female stereotypes about caring, studying fuzzy animals as opposed to looking at neutrons or electrons."
Gender issues with science were currently resurrected with the publication of a new report from the National Academies called, "Beyond Bias and Barriers: Fulfilling the Potential of Women in Academic Science and Engineering." The report postulates the idea that not only is there a domineering disproportion of men to women in science but this disproportion stems from gender bias and unconscious institutional sexism.
This differs from the traditional explanation of biological disposition and personal priorities being the catalyst causing the gender gap.
The National Academies report, chaired by University of Miami President Donna E. Shalala, a known feminist, offers answers to this surprising revelation. She and her colleagues suggest that women in science are held back primarily by sexism.
The report also touches on childrearing as a major factor in gender disparities. The report points to data showing that single women are 16 percent more likely to be in a tenured science or engineering job than single men five years after receiving their doctorate degrees. However, married with children are 45 percent more likely than married women with children to be in tenured positions.
(C) 2006 Daily Forty-Niner via U-WIRE
