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Foreword
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v ii When Women in Science: Then and Now was published twenty-five years ago, it was the first time many women in the academy— especially those in the sciences—heard their own doubts, fears, and frustrations echoed in the voices of the 100 gifted and spirited women whose portraits Vivian Gornick painted. She revealed these pioneering women’s rigorous minds, their passion for discovery, and their sometimes overwhelming efforts to balance a productive life with professional survival. Their sacrifices and courage are a legacy that still deeply touches women in science today. As Gornick indicates in this new volume, a generation later progress for women throughout the academic world is measurably improved. I am grateful that women today don’t have to face the grossly unfair stings like one I did as a graduate student and new teacher when I was told that women in higher education are a “bad investment.” But other, more subtle, forms of inequities linger and obstacles still exist. Even when women and men are committed to equality, too many people hold implicit and unexamined biases. Prejudices and discrimination often become institutionalized and are not readily apparent unless we know to where to look. I had the honor to chair The National Academies’ Committee on Maximizing the Potential of Women in Academic Science and Engineering which produced the 2007 report Beyond Bias and Barriers: Fulfilling the Potential of Women in Academic Science and Engineering. The report reveals that, although women make up an increasing proportion of science and engineering majors at all institutions, they still face significant barriers. From the FOreWOrD viii VIVIAn GOrnIck moment they are accepted into doctoral programs to the time they are hired into their first professional positions, women have fewer opportunities to pursue their careers in science. Women faculty are paid less, promoted more slowly, and hold fewer leadership positions than men do. Let us be clear. This is not just a women’s issue. The false and forced choice between families and careers affects everyone in society—men and women alike. We need a system that—regardless of gender or race— recognizes and rewards excellence and hard work as well as one that values personal freedom and individual needs. Women should not feel like outsiders or be made to feel at a competitive disadvantage. It will require immediate and expansive action by educational leaders, in partnership with the government , professional societies and science organizations, to eliminate gender bias completely. University administrators and faculty leaders must ask themselves “What in our structure and culture creates impediments that prevent women from succeeding at the highest levels of academic science and research?” And our leaders in Congress must recognize the imperative of taking action in order to ensure that we, as a nation, do not underuse half of our human talent in this area that is critical to our survival as a world leader. Each one of us must take action to ensure that opportunities continue to expand for women so that we do not squander their talents. As we look back at Vivian Gornick’s powerful portraits of 100 uncommon women—and reflect also on the women scientists she has revisited twenty-five years later, for this volume—we find that their stories still resonate today and remain a compelling testament to the rightness and the urgency of our mission. Donna E. Shalala ...