https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Fri, 08 May 2026 15:47:26 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/why-are-there-still-so-few-women-in-science#post-1130389 Thu, 03 Oct 2013 20:22:53 +0000 MrsSCB 1130389@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I went to a science and tech high school so I was plenty encouraged. Computer science was a requirement and we all were in different "tech labs" in which we had to do a senior project (robotics, marine biology, biotech, astronomy, neuroscience, etc.) I just don't like science, and prefer the humanities haha. But in my experience the ratio is getting better! I have a lot of female friends who are engineers, doctors, researchers, etc. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/why-are-there-still-so-few-women-in-science#post-1130364 Thu, 03 Oct 2013 20:17:12 +0000 mrbee 1130364@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Bookish: Omg, you had a robot-building club in HS?!</p> <p>Man I went to the wrong school!! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/why-are-there-still-so-few-women-in-science#post-1129528 Thu, 03 Oct 2013 15:32:10 +0000 Bookish 1129528@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I was not encouraged to do STEM fields, and was discouraged at times. I was a smart girl, but I was also flirty, and most people assumed I was an idiot. I remember really wanting to join the robot-building club in HS and being told I wasn't smart enough. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/why-are-there-still-so-few-women-in-science#post-1129523 Thu, 03 Oct 2013 15:30:20 +0000 brownie 1129523@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I have one women in my programming class this semester (and each semester I've taught it). They aren't interested because they don't really know what it is. Also I think the math is scary for them (it was for me). I try to explain that it is much more about problem solving and learning a new language than it is about something scary. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/why-are-there-still-so-few-women-in-science#post-1129513 Thu, 03 Oct 2013 15:27:09 +0000 MamaBehr 1129513@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I'm actually the only woman in my immediate family who didn't have anything to do with science! My mom is a retired research scientist and my sister is a vet (my brother is a MD/PhD and my dad is an aerodynamic engineer)! My family, was very encouraging, but I hate science. I always joke that I'm the entertainment at Thanksgiving.... :) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/why-are-there-still-so-few-women-in-science#post-1129506 Thu, 03 Oct 2013 15:25:26 +0000 Adira 1129506@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I'm a software engineer and I definitely see this.</p> <p>I remember in middle school, girl friends of mine told me that boys didn't like smart girls and encouraged me to dumb myself down like they were doing. Although certainly smart enough, they chose not to take the harder math and science classes, for fear of boys not being interested in them. I honestly don't know why I chose to continue my path - probably because boys didn't seem interested in me anyway, so what was the difference?</p> <p>I think I also was lucky as I had very smart women mentors. In high school, my computer science teacher WAS a woman, so I never thought that I couldn't do computer science myself. Though I WAS the only girl in the class. And in high school, I was often one of maybe two girls in a computer science class.</p> <p>And even now, I sometimes catch men talking down to me, assuming I don't know things, and then they'll talk to male counterparts with the assumption that they do. I notice sometimes men are surprised when they find out that I'm smart, that I'm an engineer, like it's baffling that I could be.</p> <p>I'm lucky - I was always encouraged by my parents that I was smart enough and could do whatever I wanted. I had female scientist mentors in school to look up to and to encourage me. Also, I watched Star Trek: Voyager around that time and it had a female captain and a female chief engineer - these role models encouraged me and led me to believe that women could be engineers or scientists or leaders!</p> <p>But even now, I know that I'm not paid or respected as well as men in my field. It's really unfortunate. :( </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/why-are-there-still-so-few-women-in-science#post-1129497 Thu, 03 Oct 2013 15:22:16 +0000 BSB 1129497@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I do have to say that my two former bosses (one was female but the one that was my boss the longest was a guy.) were amazing! They pushed me and they stood up for me. They wanted me to succeed. </p> <p>In HS, I felt like I wasn't smart enough because I didn't take AP classes and had verbal abuse from my parents that I was dumb. I think I graduated from high school and said I wanted to get away from my patents and show them they were wrong. I picked science because that's the class I enjoyed the most. Even though I only got B's. I wanted to try to become a dr so that's what my goal was. I aimed for the moon and if I didn't make it, ill still be one of the stars. My BF's mom said that to me once. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/why-are-there-still-so-few-women-in-science#post-1129488 Thu, 03 Oct 2013 15:18:05 +0000 pui 1129488@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>There are also so many less women in computer science and programming fields. Even working in a tech industry, I know of only a handful of female developers among far more male ones. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/why-are-there-still-so-few-women-in-science#post-1129470 Thu, 03 Oct 2013 15:09:47 +0000 blackbird 1129470@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Wow this is disturbing because this is coming from the college level. I know there is a lot of stereotype that boys are better in math/science than girls at the lower levels. </p> <p>I'm thankful i went to a college that was SO heavily science based that it encouraged everyone. I can't imagine NOT having had the push and encouragement that I have had in my career. And I still do. My last manager pushed me to get my Masters. I didn't know any female scientists or engineers growing up. It was foreign territory (especially when my dad discouraged me from engineering). </p> <p>I also think that many people (women, men, included) think you have to be REALLY SMART or incredibly brainy to go into this field. I'm the first to admit I almost didn't pass a few math classes. Okay and an organic chemistry class. So they're not my strong point, you know? But just because you're bad at a class (or a couple) doesn't mean that you should take it as a sign to quit and go do something less challenging. But MANY DO. And I think that's something that we need to work on, too...that you don't have to be an A+ student to be interested in science or even have a great career founded in science. I think there's a misconception that only the super intelligent should go into these fields. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/why-are-there-still-so-few-women-in-science#post-1129466 Thu, 03 Oct 2013 15:09:12 +0000 Mrs. Jacks 1129466@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I did feel encouraged, but I also went to all girls education... And I'm kind of stubborn... So when my career counselor told me I should consider becoming a nurse, I thought 'I'll show her'. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/why-are-there-still-so-few-women-in-science#post-1129437 Thu, 03 Oct 2013 15:00:55 +0000 MapleMoose 1129437@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>That part resonated with me as well. I was encouraged to get my doctorate in a scientific field, but I have to admit I wouldn't have if it weren't for that encouragement. I would have stopped after my Master's degree. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/why-are-there-still-so-few-women-in-science#post-1129434 Thu, 03 Oct 2013 15:00:45 +0000 lindseykaye 1129434@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I am a woman in the sciences and I was definitely encouraged as a young person, and throughout my academic and professional career. Something I am very grateful for and something I now see is not as common as I assumed. There's a whole lot of "imposter syndrom" among us though, and I know I still suffer from that occasionally even with my own successes.<br /> Every place I have worked has had a pretty even distribution of men/women - though generally more males in supervisor roles. My first lab had a female PI and a lot of female grad students, which might have encouraged me without me even realizing it. Now at the commercial environmental lab where I work - every supervisor at this branch (including me!) is a woman. We have a lot of young men who are analysts, but there are women there too (and it's where I got my start with this company before my promotion - which I advocated for on my behalf).<br /> I will say I have never had the gall to write my own letter of recommendation. Honestly I think it's unprofessional and assuming, no matter your gender. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/why-are-there-still-so-few-women-in-science#post-1129410 Thu, 03 Oct 2013 14:53:30 +0000 BSB 1129410@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I only briefly glanced at the article but I don't feel like I was discouraged from entering the scientific field. I'm in a biotech company and my research department consists of equal distribution of males and females. I don't know what their degrees are and how the correlate. I have heard people who have Ph.Ds recommend not to get it because the job expectations for positions can be high in drug discovery fields.</p> <p>ETA- I also have to add that neither one of my parents are in the scientific industry. Actually they both only have their HS diploma and that's it. It's actually pretty amazing that 3 out of 4 of my siblings (including myself) have careers in science. </p> <p>I think it had to do with the economic hardships we saw my parents in and we wanted to get out of that.</p> <p>It was hard going to college knowing that I would have to pay for it on my own and that I would have to take out a lot of loans. I also knew that I had to choose a degree/career that would almost promise me a job when I graduated. Or at least, I signed up for undergrad research and lots of internships to get the job I got when I graduated.</p> <p>ETAA- I only have a BS. I have taken classes towards an MS.<br /> My sister has a BS/MS and my brother as an AS. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/why-are-there-still-so-few-women-in-science#post-1129359 Thu, 03 Oct 2013 14:36:49 +0000 mrbee 1129359@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I thought this was a really great article:<br /> <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/06/magazine/why-are-there-still-so-few-women-in-science.html?pagewanted=all" rel="nofollow">http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/06/magazine/why-are-there-still-so-few-women-in-science.html?pagewanted=all</a></p> <p>This quote ran very true to me: </p> <p>&lt;&lt; [Meg Urry, professor of physics and astronomy at Yale] gives many alumni talks, “and there’s always a woman who comes up to me and says the same thing you said, I wanted to become a physicist, but no one encouraged me. If even one person had said, ‘You can do this.’ ” She laughed. “Women need more positive reinforcement, and men need more negative reinforcement. Men wildly overestimate their learning abilities, their earning abilities. Women say, ‘Oh, I’m not good, I won’t earn much, whatever you want to give me is O.K.’ ”</p> <p>One student told Urry she doubted that she was good enough for grad school, and Urry asked why — the student had earned nearly all A’s at Yale, which has one of the most rigorous physics programs in the country. “A woman like that didn’t think she was qualified, whereas I’ve written lots of letters for men with B averages.” &gt;&gt;</p> <p>I've noticed in my career that men have often asked for a raise, or drafted their own letters of recommendation and then have asked me to sign it (!!). I don't think I've ever been asked for a raise or a promotion from a woman, and definitely never been given a pre-written letter of recommendation to sign! That said, things have changed over the past decade on that front, which I think is a positive sign.</p> <p>Did you feel encouraged to pursue your passions/interests growing up? </p>