A tale of two 19th-century researchers reveals how professionalization led to women's exclusion from science

[redqueen]

The lost scientists

SARAH BOON
SCIENCE
26 Oct 2023
Vol 382, Issue 6669
https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adk4874

Unfortunately this is paid access only, however in the opening paragraphs she mentions this book

Mischievous creatures: the forgotten sisters who transformed early American science
https://discovery.arcadialibrary.org/GroupedWork/f5a765ab-35b2-6831-e10c-e47401e015b9-eng/Home

And both of these reminded me of the women in computer science who were shoved aside once it changed from a women's job to a men's job.

I hope science classes are teaching about these women today. It's enraging that many if not most science classrooms are still tainted by a sexist / misogynistic culture.

[hlthe2b]

1. I suspect the only place their names come up is in college-level courses

on feminist history or related. Perhaps, as you say, this book might change things.

Hopefully someone "prominent" will review this book and MSM might actually report on it.

[moniss]

2. I recall taking a class in college titled

"Men and Machines in American Technology". It was one of these team taught "side" courses that people took to fulfill a humanities requirement for engineering students. The two profs were men with one from the school of engineering and one from the school of history. During the first class when they were basically introducing what we would cover the one guy from the history department volunteered to the class of about 20 of us (there were multiple class periods offered per week) that the reason the course was titled that way was that the course had been developed by the two of them along with all of the course materials. The man followed this by saying that it didn't say Men and Women because there had been no advancements in technology where women were responsible. This was at a time when the University was supposedly doing a big push and outreach for women in STEM degree programs.

It goes to show several things. One is that an a**hole with an education is still just an a**hole and that just because some people read tons of books in their chosen field and have multiple Phd designations it doesn't mean they know the truth.

[NCIndie]

4. It took years for women to break into certain disciplines, and yet...

... today, many disciplines have become dominated by women.

I attended college at a small institution with no female faculty members. (I had a female Calc IV instructor, but she was on loan from another university). There were 12 female students in the entire school. Yes, I never heard it said that "there had been no advancements in technology where women were responsible." Your instructor was truly a high-level a-hole.

[Blappy]

3. I generally agree but there are caveats

I don't think science is any more or less misogynistic than other fields, such as engineering, politics, or business. It is the people (men) in these fields (often Department Chairs or Deans) that were or are misogynistic. I agree that the contributions of women to science have been under-emphasized in much of general course work, but of course the pioneering work of giants such as Rosalind Franklin and Barbara McClintock have been taught in the biomedical research courses since the 90's.

While getting my Ph.D. at University of Chicago, the department I was in had several female faculty that outshined the male faculty members. Much of the recognition of gender bias that alarmed academics and allies in the 90's led to a backlash, and I saw females with fewer credentials than I being hired for faculty positions, in a form of affirmative action. This was 'bad timing' for my career, but I am absolutely convinced that women are the equal of men in any scientific endeavor.

At least in my experience, academic science requires far too many hours of work at low pay. Wish I had gone into nursing like all my sisters, the hours and pay are better.

[Lonestarblue]

5. And it was men who got abortion laws passed in the 1800s.

Not because of religious beliefs but because of money. The AMA had been formed in the mid 1800s and doctors, all men, wanted to shut down the services of midwives because women went to them for reproductive healthcare instead of the male doctors. They started the campaigns to outlaw abortion since that was a service midwives provided. And even back then, some were concerned that white women who already had as many children as they wanted were having abortions. They were successful in getting most states to outlaw the practice.

As a side note, Elizabeth Blackwell was the first woman to graduate from a US medical school, though she was not able to practice in this country for many years. The prejudice against women may be leas today, but the evangelical right keeps trying to reinstate it. The article at this link about Blackwell is quite interesting.

https://amazingwomeninhistory.com/elizabeth-blackwell-first-female-doctor/