Jill S. Tietjen Re-Visioning Women's Scientific Achievements And

Women in Engineering and Science Jill S. Tietjen Scientific Women Re-visioning Women’s Scientific Achievements and Impacts Women in Engineering and Science Series Editor Jill S. Tietjen Greenwood Village, CO, USA The Springer Women in Engineering and Science series highlights women’s accomplishments in these critical fields. The foundational volume in the series provides a broad overview of women’s multi-faceted contributions to engineering over the last century. Each subsequent volume is dedicated to illuminating women’s research and achievements in key, targeted areas of contemporary engineering and science endeavors.The goal for the series is to raise awareness of the pivotal work women are undertaking in areas of keen importance to our global community. More information about this series at http://www.springer.com/series/15424 Jill S. Tietjen Scientific Women Re-visioning Women’s Scientific Achievements and Impacts Jill S. Tietjen Technically Speaking, Inc. Greenwood Village, CO, USA ISSN 2509-6427 ISSN 2509-6435 (electronic) Women in Engineering and Science ISBN 978-3-030-51444-0 ISBN 978-3-030-51445-7 (eBook) https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-51445-7 © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The publisher, the authors, and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, expressed or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. The publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. This Springer imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature Switzerland AG The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland To my sister, Laura S. Privalle, PhD, who has demonstrated throughout her life that women can do science. Foreword Today’s young women have grown up in an era when their mothers have been traveling into space, tending to our medical needs as physicians, or watching over our legal rights in the Supreme Court. But this was not always the case. Throughout most of its history, science in the USA has been the domain of white males. A few hardy women (as noted in subsequent chapters in this book) made their way into science early in the twentieth century, but the Great Depression of the 1930s, World War II and its ensuing G.I. Bill of the 1940s, and the general tenor of the culture in the 1950s all erected barriers to women that relatively few were able to hurdle. During the second half of the twentieth century, however, many doors to higher education were left ajar and women began to make their way through them in sig- nificant numbers to prepare for full-time careers outside the home. They now earn more than half of all bachelor’s and master’s degrees and are approaching parity at the doctorate level (44% in 2000). And their progress in preparing to join the science and engineering community is remarkable. In the decades of the 1950s, women earned only 15% of the bachelor’s degrees, 10% of the master’s, and 6% of the doctorates in science and engineering. Some 45 years later in 2000, women had increased their share of degrees earned to 50% at the bachelor’s level, 43% at the master’s level, and 36% of the doctorates. Despite this success in preparing themselves for careers in science, women’s ability to crack through the glass ceiling in the corporate and academic arenas has been limited. Although the salary gap is narrowing, women continue to earn less Author’s Note: When this manuscript was originally drafted almost 20 years ago (yes, some books take a long time to find their way into print), Eleanor Babco was exceedingly helpful and support- ive. She also wrote this wonderful foreword. Even though the information is a little dated, it is still relevant today. I am fortunate to also have a second foreword for this book, written by my friend and fellow inductee into the Colorado Women’s Hall of Fame – JoAnn Cram Joselyn. vii viii Foreword than their male colleagues. It is only within the last couple of years that a woman reached the top of a technology company when Carly Fiorina became CEO of Hewlett-Packard in 1999. Also, 1999 marked the year that a woman PhD chemist, Cynthia Trudell, became President of Saturn Motors and Shirley Ann Jackson, a PhD theoretical physicist, became President of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. And, of the 1,907 active members of the National Academy of Sciences, only 187 are women. So to the young women of today who aspire to a career as a scientist, read on. The stories of the women who followed their dreams and did science will inspire you to do likewise. Science is exciting, science is nurturing, science is fun, and science is rewarding. As we continue in the new millennium, the doors into the science community are not blocked for women as they were for many in the early part of the twentieth century. We should all work toward making science so inviting for young women that it will not be unusual for them to head large research groups or companies, or win prestigious awards in greater numbers. No nation can afford to abandon any of its talent – particularly the majority half who are women. All young people should grow up knowing that they, too, can have the fun of solving problems and making discoveries, i.e., do science. As young women read this book, which poignantly tells the story of how their foremothers were truly in love with science, they, too, will start to realize that they can become scientists. For they can. Eleanor Babco (1942–2013) Former Executive Director Commission on Professionals for Science and Technology Washington, DC, USA Eleanor Babco Foreword In this volume, Jill Tietjen has effectively and succinctly told the story of women who have achieved major scientific breakthroughs, despite overwhelming cultural bias. We see that women can do science (and makes one wonder what might have been achieved had not the barriers been in place). I can add to the story as one who achieved despite recognizable barriers and almost in spite of herself. How? – pri- marily through the power of the “network” – women and men who provided a push when the time was right, almost like pumping a swing. My parents were the first to help me out. My Mother, much to her regret, did not get a college education because in the depression-era 1930s, her family could send only one child to college – their son. Fortunately for me, even though I was other- wise raised “pink,” mom was determined that I would be properly educated. My civil engineer father recognized and encouraged my natural curiosity and gave me a telescope at age 8. As a teenager, I was especially inspired by Sputnik – that launch, on my 14th birthday, was pivotal. Dad had a short-wave radio and we could hear the beep-beep-beep of the signal when Sputnik passed overhead. The next push came from my high school math teacher, Mrs. Price. She provided the needed female mentorship to assure me that math and science were OK for girls, and I decided to pursue engineering as a career. I graduated in Applied Math but then went to graduate school in AstroGeophysics because a professor, Dr. Don Billings, had offered me a summer job at Mt. Wilson Observatory doing solar obser- vations. That lucky break led to a Ph.D. (the first woman to earn one in that disci- pline from the University of Colorado) and a career in space weather science and forecasting. But academic achievement did not provide me with the self-confidence and management skills that eventually made a difference. Those skills first came from non-professional groups – beginning with the Girl Scouts and including women’s societies like the Society of Women Engineers, American Association of University Women, the P.E.O. Sisterhood, and many church committees including mission circles. This foundation led to volunteering with professional societies (e.g., the American Geophysical Union, the International Association of Geomagnetism and Aeronomy) that provided the “big push” and led to my election as the first woman (and first American) to become the Secretary General of the ix x Foreword International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics, a non-governmental organization that brings together the scientists of the world in 8 specific disciplines: geodesy (gravity field of the earth), geomagnetism and aeronomy, meteorology, fresh water hydrology, oceanography, seismology, volcanology, and cryospheric science – the study of glaciers and global ice fields. How did I break the stereotypical bond that stymied (still today) so many young women? My parents were key – they said I could and after that, I could dismiss the negative messages that came my way.

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