Every year since 1987, March has been considered Women’s History Month. What started as International Women’s Day in 1911 became National Women’s History Week in 1980 and then a month designated to learning about and celebrating what women have contributed to history. Since we are approaching the end of Women’s History Month, I thought was appropriate to write a few women in science who were, or are, Christians. Officially they are a small group — according to an article published in Christianity Today, only ~7% of biologists and physicists in the US identify as Christian women. Nevertheless, there are a many remarkable women who belong to this group.
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Women in Science
Science Corner: A Rocket Race Everyone Wins
Although India’s first Mars mission was a couple of years ago, the enthusiasm for Hidden Figures likely inspired a recent profile of some of the women on the team behind the mission. Getting to Mars wasn’t the end of the story, either. Last month, the Indian space agency shattered the record for most satellites launched from a single rocket, setting a new standard for cost efficiency. When other space programs are facing budget cuts and cancellation of satellite launches, proven methods for doing more with less may be in demand.
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Science Corner: Lab Girl
I enjoy spending time in the lofty realm of scientific concepts, but it’s important to remember that science is also a very concrete, human activity that occurs in specific contexts. The particulars of those contexts can strongly shape the practices and outcomes, no matter how we might wish that science is a purely democratic, egalitarian pursuit of truth (or Truth). This interview of A. Hope Jahren, author of Lab Girl, was a striking reminder of those human elements. As the piece notes, Jahren is not typical of scientists who get book deals, but her experience is probably more typical of what a scientific career will look like than those of Nobel laureates. As such, the interview is a worthwhile read for anyone considering a science career (and the book probably is as well; I’ll have to circle back on that one).
Partly because of my chosen fields of study (biology & public health), I’ve had the privilege of being taught by and working with many scientists who were women — including my first PI during a pre-college summer job, the dean of my undergrad college, the chair of my grad department, and a number of memorable classroom instructors. So many of them were highly respected as scientists that it never occurred to me at the time to think about whether they had faced discrimination or harassment in the way that Jahren describes. Unfortunately, I’ve since read enough stories like Jahren’s to appreciate just how common such treatment is.
The other striking part of the interview is the story of Bill Hagopian, Jahren’s long-time collaborator and technician. Stories about how science gets done rarely mention folks like Bill. The standard narrative includes the faculty who get all the credit, the grad students who do all the work, and sometimes the post-docs who really do all the work and fix everything that the others mess up. Rarely do you hear about folks like Bill, career scientists with decades of experience who are just as intelligent and capable as anyone else in their field but perhaps less interested in lecturing (they likely do plenty of informal teaching in their labs) or politics. When I was a grad student, our lab had Tim Shields, an expert on geographic data. Given the opportunity to tell her own story as an underrepresented voice in popular science discussions, it’s humbling to see Jahren also make an effort to lift up other underrepresented voices.
Week in Review: Behold the Man Edition
What are you reading, watching, thinking about this week? As usual, here’s a few which have been on our mind. Let us know your thoughts on any/all of them. If you have items you’d like us to consider for the top five, add them in the comments or send them to  Tom or Mike.
1. Christine Sine posted Godspace’s Complete Lenten Series for 2010, including material for Good Friday and Easter. Thank-you to Christine for organizing this great resource for followers of Christ on their Lenten journey.
Photo: “Ecce Homo” (“Behold the Man”) by Antonio Ciseri (1821 – 1891), one of Mike’s favorite depictions of Good Friday. Click for a larger image.
2. Why So Few? (RJS, Jesus Creed, 4/1/2010):Â “There are many reasons why women are underrepresented in a variety of fields – from ministry, theology, and evangelicals and the early church,, to science and engineering. While men and women often have different goals, values and abilities, these factors alone are not enough to account for the differences, or for the hurdles perceived by women who aspire to positions in these fields.” … Join the conversation.
3. For the other gender, check out “What Men Need” (Inside Higher Ed, March 31), a conversation with the presidents of the 4 remaining men-only four-year colleges: Wabash College, Hampden-Sydney College, St. John’s University (MN), and the historically black college, Morehouse. Rev. Richard Koopman, president of St. John’s, a Catholic university, addressed the need for spiritual development among men:
Father Koopmann described two groups he has led. One was largely of “unchurched” students, whom he found all needing to find ways to talk about difficulties they had faced in the past — such as childhood injuries or parental divorce. The other was of Catholic students, and Father Koopman said that there was more ritual with this group, such as his leading mass for these students. But in both groups, he said, “there was a need to build trust” so that the students could talk about the issues that troubled them — something they had difficulty doing.
Interestingly, Patrick White, president of Wabash and former president of Saint Mary’s, a women’s college, observed that both men and women seem more likely to engage deep intellectual topics when the opposite sex is absent.
4. In the sciences? Mark your calendar for the 65th Annual Meeting of the American Scientific Affiliation, The Catholic University of America, Washington, DC, July 30 – August 2, 2010. The topic will be Science, Faith, and Public Policy. Check out the slide show here.
5. It’s Friday, But Sunday’s Coming: Need some Good Friday inspiration? Tony Campolo’s signature sermon about surrendering to Christ – and changing the world – can be streamed or downloaded from Campolo’s website. (HT: Susan Isaacs via Twitter – Isaacs is also the author of the “snarky but authentic” spiritual memoir, Angry Conversations with God)
Books:
Tom currently can’t put down Brian Godawa’s Word Pictures: Knowing God Through Story & Imagination (InterVarsity Press, 2009). What’s the main point of Word Pictures?
The Bible is not a systematic theology of abstract propositions or a treatise on doctrinal correctness. It is a collection of narratives, poetry, images and metaphors that convey God equally through rationality and imagination. If we want to know God more biblically, as well as be more persuasive to a postmodern world, we must embrace the power and mystery of imagination in our approach to and understanding of God. — Brian, Q&A Author Interview
Note:Â Posts with material from Word Pictures coming … Let Tom know if you’re interested in discussing material from the book.
Shaping the Next Generation of Higher Education
Two recent articles on the profession of education worth consideration:
- In Search of Education Leaders, by Bob Herbert, NY Times Op-Ed, December 4, 2009
- The Ph.D. Problem: On the professionalization of faculty life, doctoral training, and the academy’s self-renewal, by Louis Menand, Harvard Magazine, November-December 2009. HT: Miller.
Anyone willing to take a stab at why the educational system is so leaky and how we find/develop educational leaders which serve their department, discipline, campus, education in the United States/beyond?
Questions which come to mind with the Harvard degree program, topic of In Search of Education Leaders, “Will this program include the philosophy, purpose, and joy of education? Or are these unable to be expressed in the pragmatic, secular context of trying to keep up because we need to?” With regard to ‘residency’ models, these already exist in education, e.g., the undergraduate student teacher model. Stronger cross-grade & inter-generational mentoring with the potential for long term relationships would profit the whole educational system.
HT:Â Nick who responded to my Facebook musings by referring to Diane Rehm’s discussion of Women in Science with
- Dr. Elizabeth Blackburn, Morris Hertzein Professor of Biology and Physiology at the University of California, San Francisco. Dr. Blackburn was awarded the 2009 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine, along with Carol Greider and Jack W. Szostak.
- Dr. Carol Greider, Daniel Nathans Professor of Molecular Biology & Genetics at The Johns Hopkins University. Dr. Greider was awarded the 2009 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine, along with Elizabeth Blackburn and Jack W. Szostak.
- Melody Barnes, director of the White House Domestic Policy Council, and special assistant to President Obama
Yes, higher education is leaky pipeline for women in the sciences. Any responses by those part of the system?
According to Louis Menand in The Ph.D. Problem: On the professionalization of faculty life, doctoral training, and the academy’s self-renewal, the educational system is leaky in quite another way for the Humanities, but with a particular internal end in mind. Can/should higher education in the Humanities add practical skills and develop a specific graduation time line? What about those who went through the system? Will they allow such changes (Note: Reminds me of the reduction of hours in medical training)? Will the motivation for students in the Humanities become the pursuit and exploration of knowledge for the rich or those seeking direction later in life? Even though the article seems focused upon the Humanities, especially English, does the article apply to all (or let’s say most) of higher education?