from NWSA Journal Volume 16, Number 1

Excerpt from

Sustaining Gains: Reflections on Women in Science and Technology in 20th-Century United States1

SALLY GREGORY KOHLSTEDT

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Historical participation by women in science and technology has been persistent but with inconsistent patterns because of the social, economic, and intellectual obstacles that have stood in their way. This account of women’s initiatives and successes in 20th-century United States begins with early 20th-century involvement and suggests the subsequent ways in which the inroads of that period have influenced later struggles and strategies. Women of distinction like Marie Curie, Anna Botsford Comstock, and Ellen Swallow Richards established possibilities but also standards of exceptionalism. Data suggest that the number of women in most areas of science has continued to grow, in fits and starts, over the past half century. Nonetheless, quantitative surveys and individual stories indicate that the gender gap—in terms of opportunities, salaries, and career advancement—remains a challenge that needs to be addressed.

Keywords: Marie Curie / Anna Botsford Comstock / Betty Vetter / American Association of University Women / gender gap in science / employment statistics in science / National Science Foundation

Advances in science and technology played key roles in the two world wars and in a space exploration program for which the 20th century will undoubtedly be remembered. In this century, too, industrialized nations gave unprecedented support to advancing systematic inquiry and, in many cases, privileged experimental and quantitative research. We may or may not agree with the lists of outstanding discoveries of the 20th century–including radio and television, laser and fiber optics, nuclear technologies, genetic research, geological plate tectonics, and a myriad of others that made it to lists published at the end of 2000 (e.g., "Great Achievements in Engineering" 2003). But we do need to understand where women and gender fit into these 20th-century stories of scientific and technological accomplishments and to produce new, inclusive and more complex accounts that acknowledge both their achievements and the discrimination that they faced. It is critical to understand that gains may be eroded and that sustaining women’s opportunities still requires attentive activism.

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