WOMEN AND MINORITIES IN THE SCIENCES: A HISTORY OF THE PAST AND STRATEGIES FOR THE FUTURE

CATHERINE DIDION, Association for Women in Science and John Stith

Dates: June 10-12 , 2004 in Washington, D.C. Apply: SUSB

After examining from an historical perspective the contributions of women and persons of color to scientific fields, this course will offer and discuss strategies for encouraging and retaining women and minorities in science. Not only will we study the lives and work of women and minority scientists (i.e. Rachel Carson, Donna Shirley and Benjamin Carson), but we will also explore why the research of these women and minority scientists has gone unnoticed, and why there exists so few women and minority scientists. Our focus will be on evaluating current methods and devising new programs to increase the numbers of women and minorities in the sciences. Readings will include accounts by women and minority scientists. The course will include feminist and minority critiques of some scientific research. Other readings will include resources for science educators on encouraging underrepresented populations to participate in the sciences. We will explore the fields of science, engineering, and medicine, and discuss to what extent the climate of these fields allows women and persons of color to participate. In addition, we will analyze issues of science education and representation of women and persons of color in scientific academia.

Possible readings include: Journey of Women in Science and Engineering: No Universal Constants, 1997. A Hand Up: Women Mentoring Women in Science,1995. Love, Power, and Knowledge: Towards a Feminist Transformation of Sciences,1986. Women Scientists from Antiquity to the Present: An Index, 1986. Minorities '93: Trying to Change the Face of Science, 1993. Sage: A Scholarly Journal on Black Women,1989.

For college teachers of: all disciplines. Prerequisites: None

Catherine Didion has been Executive Director of the Association for Women in Science. She is a frequent speaker on issues important to women in science and writes the bimonthly column Women in Science for the Journal of College Science Teaching. Currently she is chair of the Environment and Science Task Forces for the Coalition for Women's Appointments. As one of the official representatives for AWIS to the U.N., she headed the delegation to the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing, and she co-chaired the first science and technology caucus at a U.N. women's conference