Women in Science Now, by Lisa M. P. Munoz (introduction)

INTRODUCTION

FIXING A BROKEN SYSTEM

I REMEMBER clearly my first days as an engineering student at Cornell University in the mid-1990s. Despite knowing I would be in the minority as a woman in most of my classes, I was not nervous; I did not feel out of place; I believed it was where I was meant to be. Then I started my first-year engineering courses, and things changed.

In an intro electrical engineering class, I remember some male peers snickering when they saw my high marks on an assignment, saying quietly but audibly that they wondered what sexual favors I had done for the teaching assistant. I also remember feeling I could not cut it in my intro physics and computer science classes— classes that were known at the time to be designed to “weed out” the weakest students. I went to office hours for help but found little support.

I persisted, but I started considering other fields. I did not feel comfortable in engineering, though at the time, I did not know why. I just knew I needed to find something different.

When Valerie Voss, an on-air meteorologist at CNN, came and gave a guest lecture for a course I was taking in a new earth systems science major, suddenly things started to click. Here was a female scientist working in my hometown, Atlanta, and she was kickass. She was not just a face on TV; she knew her science and brought significant technical and communication skills to the table. I walked right up to her after class and asked to intern at CNN that summer.

That one experience shaped my entire path to becoming a science writer. I do have an engineering degree from Cornell, which I proudly have on display on the wall of my office.

I feel lucky every day to be working in science, especially as I read stories of women being pushed out of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields. The “leaky pipeline” many of us have come to associate with the attrition of women in STEM from undergraduate school through PhDs and employment (see figure 0.1)—is not so much a set of leaks as it is a force of nature. The leaky pipeline does not just need to be fixed; it needs to be retired as a metaphor for describing the forces at play for women in STEM fields. Women are not dripping through holes in the system; they are being pushed out of a system that historically did not want them in the first place, even if it wants them now. One paper describes it as a “hostile obstacle course,” which is a more apt description for the hurdles that women in science face throughout their careers.1

The traditional life course of a scientist from early inspirations and role models to primary and secondary school, through higher education and then into the workforce, is packed with

INTRODUCTION:

FIGURE 0.1 U.S. Women in Science and Engineering, 2018. The “leaky pipeline” commonly refers to the attrition of women from STEM fields over time, as shown here by the percentage of degrees obtained by women in STEM fields. Rather than leaking out, women are pushed out of many fields because of the systemic obstacles to equity in science. (Note: “% of Employed” data is from 2019; the rest is from 2018.)

Source : National Science Foundation, National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, “Women, Minorities, and Persons with Disabilities in Science and Engineering: 2021,” data tables 5-1, 6-1, 6-2, 7-1, 8-1, 9-5, https://ncses.nsf.gov/pubs /nsf21321 /data-tables.

obstacles that too often push women out of science and onto another path, for better or worse. These stories do not stop once a scientist begins her job or makes it through the “pipeline.” Harassment, discrimination, and bias persist for women not only in academic science but also across industry and various disciplines. And as depicted in the iceberg image featured in a report on sexual harassment from

the National Academy of Sciences, these conditions range from the more visible cases of assault and harassment at the tip of the iceberg, to the daily slights and microaggressions that lie in the hostile waters below, to deep systemic issues that prevent women from advancing. 2

I have seen much of this at play in my own career as a science writer. From the magazine newsroom to the halls of academia to the start-ups of Silicon Valley, I have had my share of comments on how I dress and how I “manage working as a mom,” being mistaken for an intern or administrator when I was a senior consultant, and being undervalued and overlooked in my contributions to teams. I often joke with my family about being “invisible” in my work.

During the year before and while writing this book, I got a unique snapshot of women in the workplace during the COVID-19 pandemic— seeing how women continue to shoulder disproportionate work, at home and in the workplace, leading to even further stress in a time of crisis. I also saw the need more clearly than ever to have more voices in science represented, especially people of color, as we saw race, public health, and social justice issues converging in the wake of COVID and the killing of George Floyd. Women of color go unseen and unheard too often.

The good news is that as researchers become more aware of the problems, they are also becoming more committed to using the tools of science to find solutions. As research grows in understanding bias in STEM, so too do the tools and policies to combat bias, increase representation, and make science more equitable and inclusive.

INTRODUCTION:

I pored through hours of conversations with scientists and hundreds of pages of scientific literature to bring what is still just a snapshot in time— a snapshot of how far women in science have come and how far we still have to go to fix the broken system. Each chapter of the book is organized around a key theme that underlies continued barriers for women in science: roughly starting from young childhood, through role models and mentorship, to recruitment and workplace environments, and on through career advancement, managing work-life balance, and other challenges to women’s successes, safety, and security in STEM fields.

Leading each chapter is a woman’s story that relates to the theme; like all human stories, they do not fit neatly into thematic boxes. They are meant to highlight the varied paths into science and the varied obstacles and opportunities facing individuals on those paths. What is clear throughout the stories is how each scientist’s background has shaped their unique approach to science and the questions they ask. What is also clear is how society is slowly creating a new picture of scientists now based on not only how they look and the skills they bring but also how they act.

At a time when “diversity,” “equity,” and “inclusion” are sometimes dismissed as partisan buzzwords, I have seen that these principles offer a path forward for a new culture for science. Only when multiple backgrounds and viewpoints are broadly represented will we see the full force of humanity brought to bear in solving problems. And only then will we see large-scale reductions in the bias and discrimination that still pervade the institutions of science.

INTRODUCTION: FIXING A BROKEN SYSTEM

No single intervention, policy, or law is enough. Throughout this book are examples of studies showing the complexity of the problem, how single interventions can help some groups but not others in various situations and how even well-intentioned policies can fall short when up against systemic inequities. The research presented is a sampling, not a comprehensive account, which shows the opportunities that exist for science-based approaches to create greater gender equity in science. The research illuminates a path forward through a multilayered approach—from awareness about the problems to solutions that help create more representative, welcoming, and inclusive environments to policies that hold harassers accountable and mitigate against future bias and harassment.

The burden can no longer be on individual women to persist through the harassment and disenfranchisement they experience. The system has to change from the inside, and scientists are at the forefront of fixing it. My hope is that in sharing stories of the very people working to make that change, and the science behind their work, that more people can work to solve the problems—to remove the obstacles facing women scientists, so that they can bring their full selves to the pursuit of knowledge and innovation.

Praise for WOMEN in SCIENCE NOW

“This book is an exhilarating antitoxin to the tragic, long-term exclusion of women from science. Lisa M. P. Munoz presents the data and gives us the voices and personal stories of those who inhabit this only recently liberated realm. It makes you feel what a tragic squandering of talent these last couple of millennia have been—and joy that it finally seems to be ending.”

—Ann Druyan, cocreator, Contact, Emmy and Peabody Award–winning writer/producer/director, Cosmos

“It’s never been easy to be a woman in science. But it’s especially frustrating that so many obstacles and biases still stand in the 2020s. Women in Science Now maps the problems and roads to success. I wish Munoz’s book had been available when I was starting out.”

—Laurie Garrett, Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist, author of Betrayal of Trust: The Collapse of Global Public Health

“Women in Science Now brings the scientific method to the role of misogyny in STEM, and the results challenge common assumptions about science. Munoz makes a rousing call to arms for changing the culture of science.”

—Jay Van Bavel, coauthor of The Power of Us: Harnessing Our Shared Identities to Improve Performance, Increase Cooperation, and Promote Social Harmony

“Munoz intertwines stories of women in science with compelling research that informs the transformations needed to support equity and excellence in science. Women in Science Now is inspiring and informative, and its powerful stories will propel us forward.”

—Shirley Malcom, senior advisor and director of SEA Change, American Association for the Advancement of Science

“Women in Science Now touched my soul and deepened my toolkit. Surprisingly personal while deeply evidence based, this book belongs on the shelf of every person in the sciences.”

—Dolly Chugh, author of A More Just Future: Psychological Tools for Reckoning with Our Past and Driving Social Change, Jacob. B Melnick Term Professor, NYU Stern School of Business