I attended the book launch for Pathways, Potholes, and the Persistence of Women in Science: Reconsidering the Pipeline. The talks and panel discussion brought up some great points. Specifically, it interesting hearing about how women are often discouraged from STEM disciplines in academia because of the expectations we place on them. It seems that the prevailing attitude in many places is still that women are not expected to succeed in these fields. Going deeper, it was also interesting to think about the intersectionality of gender and race. It is a complex problem, because these expectations are subtlety and subconsciously enforced by well-meaning people.
Amazon: Pathways, Potholes, and the Persistence of Women in Science: Reconsidering the Pipeline
From the announcement:
Dr. Enobong (Anna) Branch, associate professor of sociology, provides perspective on the problems that women commonly experience while learning, working, and pursuing a career in science by sharing and discussing the challenges that other female scholars have experienced. Branch’s book hones in on conflicts that intersect gender with race/ethnicity and nativity. Insight is provided concerning how to surmount the conflicts that so many women face while pursuing their scientific careers. Enobong (Anna) Branch (Sociology | University of Massachusetts, Amherst) is a scholar of race, gender and work, and author of Opportunity Denied: Limiting Black Women to Devalued Work (Rutgers University Press, 2011). In her new role as Faculty Advisor to Chancellor for Diversity and Excellence Dr. Branch serves as the chancellor’s representative for all campus groups, committees, and councils involved in advancing diversity at UMass.
Laurel Smith-Doerr (Sociology | University of Massachusetts, Amherst) investigates the nexus of science, gender, policy and organization, and is one of the Editors of the fourth edition of the Handbook of Science and Technology Studies (MIT Press, 2016). Dr. Smith-Doerr served as Program Director for Science, Technology and Society at the National Science Foundation, and is Director of the Institute for Social Science Research at UMass.
Laura E. Hirshfield (Medical Education & Sociology | University of Illinois at Chicago) studies gender inequality in academic and clinical settings, particularly in the natural sciences and medicine. Her work explores what she calls the “hidden labor” – necessary but undervalued labor undertaken by and expected of women, people of color, and other minorities in the workplace.
