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Women’s Careers in Science: Lessons from the Global Survey of Physicists

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College of Science Advance Talk: Dr. Rachel Ivie, Statistical Research Center, American Institute of Physics

Previous studies of women in physics mostly focused on the lack of women in the field. The Global Survey of Physics goes beyond the obvious shortage of women and shows that there are much deeper issues. For the first time, a multinational study was conducted with 15000 respondents from 130 countries, showing that problems for women in physics transcend national borders. Across all countries, women have fewer resources and opportunities and are more affected by cultural expectations concerning child care. We show that limited resources and opportunities hurt career progress, and because women have fewer opportunities and resources, their careers progress more slowly. We also show the disproportionate effects of children on women physicists' careers. Cultural expectations about home and family are difficult to change. However, for women to have successful outcomes and advance in physics, they must have equal access to resources and opportunities.

An article based on these findings can be found at: http://www.physicstoday.org/resource/1/phtoad/v65/i2/p47_s1

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  • Workflow Status:Published
  • Created By:Alison Morain
  • Created:10/08/2014
  • Modified By:Fletcher Moore
  • Modified:10/07/2016

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