W O M E N IN
ANALYTICAL
CHEMISTRY—
EQUALITY AT L A S T ? 1358 A · ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY, VOL. 57, NO. 13, NOVEMBER 1985
0003-2700/85/A357-1358$01.50/0 © 1985 American Chemical Society
Report Mary D. Warner ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY
Even though ancient records show that two of the earliest chemists, perfumists in Mesopotamia around 2000 B.c., were women, it has only been in the past 20 years or so that women have been widely accepted in chemistry. Until the 1930s, American women in chemistry were almost invisible. Pioneering women, such as Ellen Richards, the first woman to receive a degree from MIT; Mary Pennington, one of the first women members of ACS; and Emma Perry Carr, first winner of the Garvan Medal in 1937, showed that women are capable of being good chemists. But until recently, most women who wanted a career in chemistry still had a very difficult time achieving that goal. Women were discouraged from obtaining formal education in science, and most who did obtain a degree in chemistry were unable to find jobs that used their training. As recently as the late sixties and early seventies, women seeking jobs in industry were told by employers that they simply didn't hire women chemists. Conditions have certainly improved for women in science since the days of outright discrimination, but there is evidence that subtle discrimination still exists. What is the current status of women in analytical chemistry? What changes have taken place in the opportunities and roles of women in our profession? ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY sought to answer these questions through a survey questionnaire sent to the 2400 women on the ACS membership rolls who indicate analytical chemistry as their major interest. Along with demographic and salary information, we asked the women how they feel work life for a woman in analytical chemistry has changed since they began their careers, whether they think their salaries and opportunities for advancement are comparable to those of their male colleagues, and whether they have at any time subordinated their careers to other priorities. We also asked for personal experiences that would help us to assess the changes that have taken place in re-
cent years. Although we specifically surveyed analytical chemists, many of the comments we received deal with the status of women in science in general and not exclusively with women in analytical chemistry. Figures 1-3 show the age, current employer, and principal job activity of the 981 women who returned our survey. Almost 25% of the women have doctorates, 29% have master's degrees, and 46% have bachelor's degrees. It's not surprising that most of the women are under 50 years old, as the number of women entering science (and the work force in general) was fairly small until the early 1950s. When asked how work life for a woman in analytical chemistry has changed since they began their careers, most of the women who have been on the job long enough to tell (a large number said that they were still too new to the job market to answer this question) indicated that the biggest change they've seen in the past several years is that more and more women are choosing a career in chemistry. Most agreed that conditions have improved in terms of both equitable salaries and opportunities but that there is still a long way to go before women receive equal treatment on the job. Only five women thought that things had gotten worse since they began their careers.
Women in academia Although an increasingly large number of women are entering chemistry, most are finding jobs in industry or basic research, and the number of female chemists in education is still low. Of the 981 women who answered our survey, 176 (18%) listed an academic institution as their current employer, but only 51 of these listed teaching as one of their principal job activities. This low proportion of women in teaching is distressing to several of our survey respondents, who feel that more role models are needed at both the high school and college levels to show young women that a career in chemistry is possible. Although high
f f For many years there has been a 'second class' academic appointment mostly filled by women, namely, that of lab coordinator or visiting assistant professor, neither of which is tenure track. JJ
school teaching is sometimes viewed as an undesirable job for a trained chemist, several women pointed out that without proper encouragement, many girls will not even consider science as a career option. In the words of one high school chemistry teacher, "We need more young people awakened to the challenge of a career in chemistry early in their education— high school teachers are important!" Some of the women wondered why there seem to be so few female analytical professors at major universities and why the women who are in academia seem to be clustered in low-rank and non-tenure-track positions. One woman, a professor herself, writes, "For many years there has been a 'second class' academic appointment mostly filled by women, namely, that of lab coordinator or visiting assistant professor, neither of which is tenure track. The institution benefits enormously, and although the women gain more experience, their advancement to true professional status is impeded." Indeed, the American Chemical Society's "Women Chemists 1980" shows that for the 1979-80 school year, women comprised only 3.1% of the chemistry faculty in Ph.D.-granting institutions; more than 50% of these institutions had no women at all on their chemistry faculties. And 20 years after receiving their B.S.'s slightly less than 40% of the female Ph.D. chemists employed by graduate-level universities
ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY, VOL. 57, NO. 13, NOVEMBER 1985 · 1359 A
Figure 1
Figure 2
Age of respondents
Current employer
40-50 yrs. 194 (20%)
held tenure, compared with more than 80% of the males. Women in academia seem to be faring slightly better at schools granting only B.S. and M.S. degrees—these schools have an average of 9.1% female faculty members— and better still at undergraduate women's colleges, which average 50% female faculty. These statistics may have improved in the past five years; we'll find out later this year when the
ACS publishes a special study on women chemists, based on the salary survey sent to all ACS members early in 1985. The average salary of our survey respondents, not including the 56 women who are graduate teaching or research assistants, is approximately $32,000. More than 60% of the women feel that their salary is comparable to that of their male colleagues in the
Figure 3
Principal job activity
same position; most attribute this equality to the recent Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) laws. But almost 30% feel that they are being paid less than a man would be in the same position. The 1985 ACS salary survey confirms that differences do exist between men's and women's salaries—a capsule survey report in the July 8 issue of Chemical and Engineering News states that even when data are adjusted for differences in experience, men's salaries on the average are 10-20% higher than those of women, depending on their employer, with the greatest differences among older chemists. Opportunities for advancement Judging by their comments, our survey respondents are very concerned with equitable employment and educational opportunities. The women as a group are about evenly divided as to whether they have the same opportunities for professional or managerial advancement as their male colleagues, although women over 50 feel they are at a disadvantage because of their age. Women holding bachelor's and master's degrees seem to be a little less optimistic about their chances for advancement than those with doctorates; in fact, several women with bachelor's degrees feel that their lack of an advanced degree is more of a career hindrance than being a woman. Many of the women related past experiences in which they were discriminated against in terms of employment and educational opportunities. For example, several women were not allowed to obtain a Ph.D. (they were forced to stop with a master's degree), and one woman was told that "we don't have a lab apron to fit you, so we
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can't hire you." Because of EEO laws, it is now illegal to discriminate on the basis of sex, but many of our respondents insist that such discrimination is still prevalent, especially in industry. They say that employers are just being a bit more subtle about it now than they were in the past. Still, only 35% of our respondents feel that their career has been adversely affected by limited opportunities due to their sex. Not many women, though, have made it to the top of the profession. There are many women in the lower and middle ranks, especially in industry, but there are few leaders in the upper echelons of analytical chemistry. There are not usually many women speakers at meetings, and there are only a few female members of journal advisory boards and grant committees. Aside from the Garvan Medal, which was established in 1936 "to honor the American woman for distinguished service in chemistry," only two women have ever won national ACS awards, neither of which was in analytical chemistry. Several women noted that analytical chemists seem to be more willing than other groups to accept women in leadership roles, however, as demonstrated by the recent election of Mary Kaiser of Du Pont as chairman-elect of the Analytical Chemistry Division of the ACS. The ACS has been criticized by some for having an award exclusively for women, but the 1985 Garvan Medal winner, Catherine Fenselau of Johns Hopkins University, thinks the Garvan is still needed, and will be for a few more years. She answered the question, "How can you accept an award for women only?" in an address at the ACS national meeting in Miami last April. Fenselau believes that the Garvan Medal is a prestigious award because the competitive pool is larger than that for most awards (there are 17,000 women in the ACS compared with only about 7000 members of the Analytical Division) and because receipt of the award has brought increased recognition of her scientific work and numerous invitations for professional activities. This recognition is important, she says, because it is still necessary to provide role models for women interested in scientific pursuits, and receipt of the medal alerts those in the chemical profession to women's presence and competence in chemistry. The ACS Awards Committee announced in September that another analytical chemist, Jeanette Grasselli of Standard Oil, will receive the 1986 Garvan Medal. Several of our survey respondents postulate that women aren't as successful in chemistry as they could be because they haven't been taught the necessary networking and political
Wlf you want to get ahead, it is necessary to put your job ahead of other things in your life, and few women are willing (or able) to do this, h
skills. They just don't know how to sell themselves as well as men do. Unfortunately, the socially approved nonassertive attitude of women is sometimes mistaken for incompetence. And although men are expected to be aggressive in business, an aggressive woman is often viewed as "difficult." One woman pointed out that some men don't even mean to discriminate—they promote men over qualified women simply because most managers prefer to promote those with whom they feel the most comfortable—those most like themselves— which in most cases means another man. Because of the small numbers of women in chemistry, professional contacts are more difficult to establish and maintain, and it's tougher for women to find a "mentor" to help them sell themselves. Working mothers Married women, especially those with young children, are often unwilling or unable to devote the necessary time and effort to career development. As one woman put it, "If you want to get ahead, it is necessary to put your job ahead of other things in your life, and few women are willing (or able) to do this." Many must subordinate their career to other priorities, either by choice or by necessity—half of the women with children said they have subordinated their career to their children's needs, while 35% of the married women were either unable to or forced to relocate because of their husbands' career requirements. Another woman wrote, "I feel that my salary is low, and I have not advanced farther because my first concern is my family and not my career. I don't think being a woman has anything to do with it— lack of salary and advancement is due to the fact that my work doesn't come first." Most of the problems confronting women chemists with families are the same as those facing all working women, such as difficulty in taking time off to care for sick children. But women doing experimental research find that scheduling can be a problem because
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it's often not possible to work a typical 9-to-5 day while doing lab work. And part-time work is virtually impossible to find in an experimental science such as chemistry. It helps tremendously to have a supportive husband, and many of the women said that their husbands have made sacrifices to help them further their careers, but it's usually hard for men to take responsibility for their children's care even when they want to. Most employers consider child care the woman's responsibility, and a man who tries to do his fair share is often accused of not being devoted enough to his job. Many of the working mothers feel it is unfair of employers to make it so difficult to be both a good chemist and a good mother. Most men are free to work long hours (and many employers have come to expect it), but women with families simply can't compete on these terms. "If I had to choose the one factor that has kept me from having the professional status that I would like to have," writes one woman, "it would be the failure of the still male-dominated labor force to strike a good balance between work and family responsibilities." Working mothers, says one woman manager, are a "competent, responsible work force, anxious to use and expand their education, but dedicated to the well-being of their families." The current trend toward greater use of flextime and comp time will make it easier for these women to have both rewarding careers and family lives. In the past, women were expected to stay home with their children, at least until they started elementary school, which meant that they had to take an extended period of time out of their careers to raise their children. These women then found it very difficult to reenter the work force. Things change quickly in science, and it can take a long time to catch up after an extended absence. We found that although 25% of our survey respondents said they had taken time off from their careers, most took less than a year, and only a few (almost all over 50) took more than five years. Several of the women who stayed out for more than five years said they found themselves starting almost from scratch when they went back to work. Not too many women are experiencing these kinds of problems today because most are now taking only a short maternity leave and are returning to work while their children are still young. Attitudes of others We received a surprisingly large number of complaints about attitudes toward women on the job, making it clear that women chemists are still working hard to overcome the tradi-
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tional attitude that a woman's place is in the home, not in the laboratory. The most common complaint of this type concerns lack of respect and pa tronizing attitudes on the part of male colleagues. Professional women are of ten assumed by visitors to be clerical staff, and when a married couple at tends a meeting together, the woman is often assumed to be "along for the ride." Several women also complained that their experimental results are not accepted as readily as a man's (one woman even wrote that she had to have a male colleague sign her reports to have them accepted without ques tion). Another women wrote that "women are invisible," and their work is often undervalued or even ignored. As a result, women must work harder than men to achieve the same career goals. More and more women are earn ing MBAs to better compete with men for management positions. Anne Walton, a British chemist, re cently published an interesting article entitled "Attitudes to Women Scien tists" (Chemistry in Britain, May 1985), based on a collection of quota tions from prominent chemists, both men and women, from the 17th cen tury to the present. Until the early 1900s, it was widely felt that women "simply had inadequate mental equip ment for the study of science and that, if they insisted on doing it, their health would be endangered and their children might be defective." Howev er, because of their patience and their attention to detail, women were con sidered good assistants. These same attributes are often cited as one rea son why women have been more read ily accepted in analytical chemistry than in other fields. Analytical chem istry is still perceived by many to be in a "service role" to other disciplines, said one woman, and male as well as female analytical chemists don't get the respect they deserve. Several of our respondents are dis turbed by what Walton calls the "ex ceptional woman" hypothesis—that there are a few exceptional women who are good at science in their own right, but otherwise, if a woman seems to be a good scientist, it is either be• cause the task was not very difficult or because she collaborated with a man. Sometimes a woman's success is viewed as a freak occurrence, and no one expects her to do as well in the fu ture. According to Walton, the "col laborating with a male colleague" ex cuse is a red herring. "In the experi mental sciences, everyone collaborates with someone, and since nearly all sci entists, at least in the physical and ap plied sciences, are men, the chances are that a woman would be working with a man rather than with another woman."
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All in all, attitudes toward women have come a long way since the days of, "Sorry, we don't hire women in the lab." There are still some people who think that women are taking jobs that should belong to men ("Women don't need the money") and others who still expect a woman to quit working once she's married and has a family, but most men, especially younger ones, are now willing to judge a scientist by ability rather than sex. It is no longer as common for women to have to work harder than men to get the same rec ognition. And it is encouraging to note, as did one woman, that there has been a dramatic decline in ads featur ing scantily clad women posing with instruments or lab equipment. What of the future? What do women chemists need to do to become true on-the-job equals of men? Fenselau believes that "we need to increase our daughters' expecta tions of themselves, as well as raise awareness of women's capabilities in science by becoming more visible." Women need to become more involved by attending more meetings and giv ing more talks. They can also help each other through networking—orga nizations like the Women Chemists Committee of the ACS and Iota Sigma Pi, the honorary society for women in chemistry, can be very useful for meeting other women chemists. And they must continue to provide visible role models for younger women. Someday, hopefully soon, the sex of the chemist will cease to be an issue in the workplace. Very few women chem ists are extremists. They don't want any special treatment; they just want to do their jobs and be treated fairly. Dealing with discrimination has been difficult for many women, especially the older ones, but most love chemis try too much to quit. They try to keep a sense of humor about the whole thing and not let it interfere with their work. One woman's answer when asked about the status of women in chemistry today is representative of how many women chemists feel: "My personal career has probably been stunted by male supervisors that were either jealous of my abilities, disliked women, and/or did not believe women should be part of the work force—es pecially in something as serious as analytical chemistry. I don't believe I'm alone in experiencing these diffi culties, but I have never let them hurt the quality of my work. However, it has been a drain on my spirits at times. I have considered changing jobs—to something other than analyt ical chemistry—but my talents and love of the challenge have kept me working as an analytical chemist."
