Women in Biological Sciences

The National Science Foundation's annual survey does indeed show that the proportion of earned doctoral degrees in biological sciences going to women has steadily been increasing from about 19% in 1975 to 38% in 1995 (Random Samples, 15 Jan. p. 323). However, there is more to celebrate than these numbers convey. In that same time, the proportion of bachelor's degrees in biology awarded to women has also reached parity (49.7%) from a 1975 level of 29% (see [www.nsf.gov/sbe/srs/seind98/append/c2/at02-20.xls][1]). The difference in these proportions (Ph.D. to B.S.) has remained fairly constant, with a 12% deficit at the Ph.D. level representing a 10-year lag (see [www.nsf.gov/sbe/srs/seind98/append/c2/at02-30.xls][2]). If current trends continue, we should expect parity for doctoral degrees conferred in biology by 2005. There are also telling trends in the relative proportion of those earning a B.S. in biology who later complete a Ph.D. Assuming an average of 5 years to complete a doctoral degree, only 5% of women completing an undergraduate degree in the late 1970s and early 1980s later completed a doctoral program in biological sciences. Ten years later, the proportion continuing in academia is at 11%; a value that finally is identical to the proportion of men who continue (a proportion for men which, incidentally, is down from a high of 15% in 1990). With these numbers in mind, it is now critical that universities be proactive in retaining women faculty. Only 21% of senior faculty positions in biological sciences are occupied by women (see [www.nsf.gov/sbe/srs/seind98/append/c5/at05-24.xls][3]). The proportion of junior women faculty exceeded that level in 1981, and it generally does not take 15 years to get tenure. [1]: http://www.nsf.gov/sbe/srs/seind98/append/c2/at02-20.xls [2]: http://www.nsf.gov/sbe/srs/seind98/append/c2/at02-30.xls [3]: http://www.nsf.gov/sbe/srs/seind98/append/c5/at05-24.xls