Women In Science

1. Women In Science

2. Job Roles If you type the following job roles into Google images, and looked at the numbers of men and women in the pictures on the first page, you would come up with these numbers. • Is it fair that stereotypes exist that say women cannot be footballers and men cannot be receptionists? • What about scientist? Would you say male scientists are more likely to be shown or female scientists? • What do you think of the result?

3. Women Sacrifice Women have sacrificed a lot for science just as men have done. Often women have been seen in the past as not belonging in Science as they were thought to have a more home-maker role in society. Unfortunately for a lot of women, they were just never quite seen as being equal or up to the challenge of being as good at science as men. Not many people think of being a Scientist as a dangerous job, but many people should be thought of as heroes for dying whilst trying to investigate the world we live in and beyond. The following slides show examples of women in science and examples of their contributions to making our lives better and more informed.

4. Elizabeth Anderson Elizabeth Anderson was born in 1836 in London. In 1860 after being taught at home and private school, she decided she wanted to become a doctor. This was unheard of for a woman to do at the time and something many people would have thought of as offensive. She was refused as a student by all medical schools and had to receive private tuition by practicing doctors in secret. Once she felt confident enough to take the examinations to qualify as a doctor, she was refused entry to any examinations. In 1865 she was finally allowed to have her name on the medical register as a practising physician.

5. Dian Fossey Dian Fossey was an American Zoologist born in 1932.She undertook extensive study of gorilla groups over a period of 18 years . She campaigned fiercely to protect gorillas in the wild and worked hard for conservaton. In her career Fossey had many of her study gorillas killed by poachers, one of which was killed whilst protecting its group , and was decapitated and his hands cut off for an ash tray for the price of $20. Fossey began to fight heavily against the poachers, removing traps soon after they were lain, holding their cattle as ransom and capturing and humiliating poachers. Fossey was found murdered in the bedroom of her cabin in 1985. She had been killed by a machete that she had confiscated from a poacher years earlier and hung as a decoration on her wall.

6. Marie Curie Marie Cure was born in Poland in 1867. She was invited to Paris to study with her sister at the University of Paris but refused as she was hoping to marry a man in Poland. When her relationship broke, she finally accepted her sister’s invitation and moved to Paris to study Chemistry Physics and maths. While there she fell in love with Pierre Curie, but never thought their relationship would go anywhere as she planned on returning to Poland. In 1894 she applied to Krakow University in Poland and was rejected solely on the grounds that she was a woman. She married Pierre and began work on discovering the element Uranium. She died because of this work as the damaging effects of Radiation were not understood.

7. KalpanaChawla Kalpana Chawla was born in 1961 in India. She studied Engineering and later specialised in Aeronautical engineering. Kalpana became an astronaut in 1995 and in her career travelled the equivalent of 252 orbits of the earth. Kalpana died in the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster which occurred on February 1 2003, when the space shuttle disintegrated over Texas during re-entry into the earth’s atmosphere, with the loss of all seven crew members. Since then she was awarded the Congressional Space Medal of Honour, the NASA Space Flight Medal and the NASA Distinguished Service Medal.

8. Caroline Herschel (1750 – 1848) Moved to England from Hanover Built Telescopes Discovered 8 previously unknown comets Help her brother, William, discover the planet Uranus Even employed by the King George III Died at 97 years old

9. Lise Meitner (1878 – 1968) Born in Germany Studied Maths and Science and even earned a doctorate Was forced to leave Germany by the Nazis Eventually worked on Nuclear Fission which was used to make the Atomic Bomb that ended WW2

10. Dorothy Hodgkin (1910 – 1994) Born in Cairo but sent to England for schooling (Her parents were archaeologists in Egypt) She was only one of two girls allowed to study Chemistry with the boys She went to Oxford University She worked heavily with the development of X-Ray She discovered the molecular structure of penicillin, Vitamin B12 and insulin.

11. Rosalind Franklin (1920 – 1958) Born in London, England Loved science and eventually received a doctorate in Physics from Cambridge She also worked with X-Rays in Paris She made huge strides in the discovery of DNA

12. Marie Curie (1867 – 1934) Born in Warsaw, Poland She earned two degrees: maths and physics Worked with radioactive elements, including Uranium Her work on radioactive elements is a huge contributor to cancer treatment today. She twice won the Nobel peace prize! She even has a hospital named after her!

17. Encouraging Scientists • Create a poster, leaflet or mind map with details of • why people, especially women should become • scientists. • Think of all the everyday technology, medicines, • and knowledge of nature you have because of • studying science. How does studying science help • you if you’re interested in: • Football • Keeping ourselves and others healthy • Nature and wildlife • Make Up • Cooking • Alcohol • Having or Looking after Children • Looking after Pets • In some of these areas, it might help to be a woman or a man. For instance a woman doctor might be more empathetic to woman suffering from diseases that are specific to women only.