Gender Disparity in Physics: A Multifaceted Challenge

In their article “What Works for Women in Undergraduate Physics?” ( Physics Today, September 2003, page 46 ), authors Barbara Whitten, Suzanne Foster, and Margaret Duncombe mention that university administrators are at a loss to explain the continuing gender discrepancy in physics and engineering.

Although many signs indicate that gender equity is by no means a reality in even the most advanced societies, past progress in that area seems almost indisputable. Women have begun to occupy positions of significant influence in corporate and government circles—and, yes, even in physics. That trend will most likely continue unabated in the near future, much to the betterment of humanity. In light of that progress, the discouraging figures observed for participation of women in the so-called hard sciences remain anomalous, even troubling to some.

When contrasted with statistics from the life sciences, law, and other professions, physicists end up looking like a rather stodgy lot, with much work remaining to bring their discipline in line with other respected career paths. Confounding the problem is a drastic need to balance undergraduate university curricula in a way that improves students’ quantitative reasoning through the use of mathematical arguments. It may well be that administrators in other disciplines tend to offer better family and all-around support to their female students than the average physics department. If that is the case, physicists would seem to be truly out of step.

Social scientist Patti Hausman wrote in a sidebar to a 2000 story in Science,

Wherever you go, you will find females far less likely than males to see what is so fascinating about ohms, carburetors, or quarks…. Reinventing the curriculum will not make me more interested in learning how my dishwasher works. ¹

Such dissenting voices on gender equity in mathematical sciences have generally been greeted with scorn. Is it wrong to think that the brains of men and women might not be identical in every respect? Educators need to demonstrate to all students, regardless of gender, that sound scientific reasoning is important to success in modern society. Promoting women’s participation in advanced study in mathematical sciences is also important. The challenge for educational policymakers is to balance the two.

How will we know when gender barriers in physics undergraduate curricula have been entirely removed? Will that only occur when participation has reached the 50% level for women? Such questions are certainly worth our careful consideration.