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Ivey Speaks Out About Women In Science
Posted 2/24/2005
Provost Emerita Elizabeth S. Ivey, national president of the Association for Women in Science, has been speaking out about continuing barriers faced by women in the sciences in the wake of recent controversial comments by Harvard President Lawrence Summers.
Ivey, who holds a master's degree in physics from Harvard and a Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from the University of Massachusetts, served as provost of the University of Hartford from 1995 to 2000.
Summers set off a firestorm of controversy when he suggested during a recent conference that the scarcity of women in senior positions in science, math, and engineering may be attributed to innate differences between men and women.
Ivey has been interviewed about Summers' remarks by a wide range of news organizations, including Time magazine, Voice of America, and The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer.
Speaking on WTIC-AM radio in Hartford on Wednesday morning, Ivey said that Summers' remarks have had some positive consequences, in that they have gotten people talking about gender-based discrimination in the sciences and brought attention to the fact that the top positions in those fields are still heavily dominated by men.
"It's given those of us who have worked so hard on this issue over the years a chance once again to get before the public (to talk about) unintended cultural biases and discrimination," Ivey told WTIC's Diane Smith. For example, she said, when universities and other potential employers evaluate job candidates, they may see it as a negative if a woman took a few years off to have children.
"It's seen as 'Oh, maybe she's not so career oriented. Maybe she isn't as serious about her career,' " Ivey said.
In addition, women in the sciences often prefer to work in teams and generally tend to be more collaborative, she said. If an employer is looking for people who have made names for themselves, a woman who worked as part of a team can be at a distinct disadvantage over a researcher who worked alone and received sole credit for a project.
Over the years, there have been many advances in terms of encouraging girls and young women to pursue careers in the sciences, Ivey said. But in graduate schools and in the job market, women still face obstacles.
"I never thought at this point in my life I would still be needing to work so hard to help people understand what barriers exist and then work to reduce those barriers," Ivey said. "I have to say that a lot of the stuff we're working on in 2005 is very similar to what I started out working on in 1976."
Read Ivey's open letter to Harvard President Lawrence H. Summers, entitled "Perpetuating Damaging Myths About Women and Science."
Ivey, who holds a master's degree in physics from Harvard and a Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from the University of Massachusetts, served as provost of the University of Hartford from 1995 to 2000.
Summers set off a firestorm of controversy when he suggested during a recent conference that the scarcity of women in senior positions in science, math, and engineering may be attributed to innate differences between men and women.
Ivey has been interviewed about Summers' remarks by a wide range of news organizations, including Time magazine, Voice of America, and The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer.
Speaking on WTIC-AM radio in Hartford on Wednesday morning, Ivey said that Summers' remarks have had some positive consequences, in that they have gotten people talking about gender-based discrimination in the sciences and brought attention to the fact that the top positions in those fields are still heavily dominated by men.
"It's given those of us who have worked so hard on this issue over the years a chance once again to get before the public (to talk about) unintended cultural biases and discrimination," Ivey told WTIC's Diane Smith. For example, she said, when universities and other potential employers evaluate job candidates, they may see it as a negative if a woman took a few years off to have children.
"It's seen as 'Oh, maybe she's not so career oriented. Maybe she isn't as serious about her career,' " Ivey said.
In addition, women in the sciences often prefer to work in teams and generally tend to be more collaborative, she said. If an employer is looking for people who have made names for themselves, a woman who worked as part of a team can be at a distinct disadvantage over a researcher who worked alone and received sole credit for a project.
Over the years, there have been many advances in terms of encouraging girls and young women to pursue careers in the sciences, Ivey said. But in graduate schools and in the job market, women still face obstacles.
"I never thought at this point in my life I would still be needing to work so hard to help people understand what barriers exist and then work to reduce those barriers," Ivey said. "I have to say that a lot of the stuff we're working on in 2005 is very similar to what I started out working on in 1976."
Read Ivey's open letter to Harvard President Lawrence H. Summers, entitled "Perpetuating Damaging Myths About Women and Science."
