Breaking into the Lab Engineering Progress for Women in Science [Paperback]

Why are there so few women in science? In Breaking into the Lab, Sue Rosser uses the experiences of successful women scientists and engineers to answer the question of why elite institutions have so few women scientists and engineers tenured on their faculties. Women are highly qualified, motivated students, and yet they have drastically higher rates of attrition, and they are shying away from the fields with the greatest demand for workers and the biggest economic payoffs, such as engineering, computer sciences, and the physical sciences. Rosser shows that these continuing trends are not only disappointing, they are urgent: the U.S. can no longer afford to lose the talents of the women scientists and engineers, because it is quickly losing its lead in science and technology. Ultimately, these biases and barriers may lock women out of the new scientific frontiers of innovation and technology transfer, resulting in loss of useful inventions and products to society. Engagingly written and full of eye-widening narratives. Rosser is a noted scientist/administrator who has written widely on the subject of women and science. Therefore, her perspective and insight are important to a discussion of the topichow to compensate for the dearth of women in science, particularly in the physical sciences and engineering fields. . . . Recommended [for] graduate students, researchers/faculty, and professionals. Breaking into the Lab shows us the good, the bad, and the occasionally ugly experiences of women in science. Sue Rosser's interviews with women clarify how the difficulties they face change as they move from junior to senior positions. Her review of the gender gap in patents makes clear how easily the present repeats the past. Rosser's unparalleled knowledge of the role of gender in the workings of science, colleges and universities, and federal funding agencies informs her comprehensive prescriptions for opening the laboratory doors wider. Read and heed! Sue Rosser has forl,