Breaking Into the Lab: Engineering Progress for Women in Science

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.

Table of Contents:
Acknowledgments 1 Introduction: Why Women in Science Are Still Controversial after Thirty Years 2 Starting Careers: Plus Ca Change, Plus C'est la Meme Chose 3 Positive Interventions from Mentors and Mentoring Networks 4 New Filters for Senior Women Scientists 5 Advancing Women Scientists to Senior Leadership Positions 6 The Gender Gap in Patents 7 The Impact that Women Have Made on Science and Technology 8 Conclusion: Women in Science Are Critical for Society Appendix A: Grants to Support Women Scientists Cited in This Book References Index About the Author

About the Author :
Sue V. Rosser is the Provost Vice President for Academic Affairs and Professor of Women and Gender Studies and Sociology at San Francisco State University. She holds a PhD in Zoology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She is the author or editor of many books, including Diversity in Women's Health and Women, Gender, and Technology.

Review :
"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 topic--how 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."- CHOICE "The book is accessible to a wide readership and is especially important reading for students and scholars of science and gender studies, higher education leaders, and individuals involved in scientific funding or policymaking."- Sex Roles "Rosser has no doubt that women are disadvantaged at every stage along the career path in small but subtle ways - what she terms 'micro-inequities' - and that this process plays a central role in the way women drop out and burn up. In this book she discusses how these micro-inequities manifest themselves at different career stages, building on the experiences and reflections of her interviewees. She also touches upon what might be done to improve the climate."- Times Higher Education "The book provides helpful guidance not only for potential mentors, but for women scientists and their institutions as well."- On Campus with Women "Engagingly written and full of eye-widening narratives."- Society