Advertisement

If you have an ACS member number, please enter it here so we can link this account to your membership. (optional)

ACS values your privacy. By submitting your information, you are gaining access to C&EN and subscribing to our weekly newsletter. We use the information you provide to make your reading experience better, and we will never sell your data to third party members.

ENJOY UNLIMITED ACCES TO C&EN

Careers

Making Some Progress

March 16, 2009 | A version of this story appeared in Volume 87, Issue 11

The 2008 survey of top 50 chemistry departments reveals modest signs of progress in the representation of women on chemistry faculties, but that should not inspire complacency (C&EN, Dec. 22, 2008, page 40).

The number of departments with 10 or more women remains unchanged at three, though there are now 10 departments with more than six women, which is one more than last year, and 10 departments with exactly six women, four more than last year. Thus, although the "w-index" (w = No. of departments with ≥w women) is stuck at six, there is the potential for it to move upward in the near future.

Query for readers

C&EN is researching a story about the challenges of returning to the workforce after taking off an extended period of time to care for family members, including children or parents. If you are attempting to make this change or have recently done so, C&EN would like to hear about your experiences. Please contact Susan Ainsworth at s_ainsworth@acs.org.

Discounting the University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, which is not a chemistry department, there are now four departments with 25% or more women, compared with only one last year. There are also fewer departments in which women are poorly represented: There are only three with less than 10% women, compared with five last year. And the number of departments with two or fewer women has diminished 40%, to only six.

Nearly 16% of professors in top 50 chemistry departments are women. This is an all-time-high but remains significantly less than the percent of chemistry doctorates earned by women, 38.4% in 2006. It is notable that in 1975 only 2.2% of all chemistry faculty were women, whereas women earned 10.4% of the doctorates. So although women are much better represented on chemistry faculties today than they were three decades ago, the gap between their representation and availability is actually widening.

Robin Garrell
Los Angeles

Advertisement

Article:

This article has been sent to the following recipient:

0 /1 FREE ARTICLES LEFT THIS MONTH Remaining
Chemistry matters. Join us to get the news you need.