Interaction between physics and a woman

1
Interaction between physics and a woman

• Helle Kaasik1), Imbi Tehver1), Anu Ülejõe2)
• 1)Institute of Physics, University of Tartu,
  Estonia
• 2)Tartu City Government, Dept. of Education,
  Estonia
• e-mail helle_at_eeter.fi.tartu.ee

2
So few women in physics?
It is a fact that most physicists are men. For
example, see the situation at the University of
Tartu the figures prove it, both at study and
at work 1
Physics students 1- bachelors 2- M.Sc. 3- Ph.D.
Physics employees 1- fellows, assistants 2-
professors
Why is this a problem?
3
Women for physics or physics for women?

• b) Do women need more physics?
• Let us assume that science is for people, not
  people for science. It is not physics that has
  the problem,
• but women, who want to deal with physics.Some of
  them find it hard, even too hard for them - and
  partly just because they are women.

• a) Does physics need more women?
• Are there possible discoveries in physics that
  only women can make? We cannot prove it, but we
  consider this unlikely. Although it has been
  found that the gender-correlated traits of a
  personality influence the results of a scientific
  work, we accept that physics can somehow be done
  even without women.

I will suffer without women, but Ill survive.
I will survive without physics, but Ill suffer...
4
Are we researchers - or a research object?

• To solve with all the power of science such
  problems as
• why is it hard for a woman to be a physicist
• why do most women avoid physics
• how to increase the participation of women in
  physics, etc.
• - we should apply the methods appropriate for the
  field of study.
• These problems are far more similar to the
  problems of sociology (e.g why teens get
  pregnant, how to make youth to learn more
  languages, etc.) than to the problems of physics.
  
• If we want to solve such problems, a close
  collaboration with sociologists is needed -
  unless female physicists wanted to start the
  re-inventing of sociology.

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Interaction between physics and a woman
However, we can at least try to study it in our
way

• There are a number of reasons why women come (or
  do not come) into physics or why they leave (or
  do not leave) it.
• These reasons can be presented as forces of
  attraction or repulsion between physics and a
  woman. As assumed in our active standpoint that
  physics is for women, we consider the forces
  influencing the woman at present.
• The direction and magnitude of these forces
  depend on both her personality and on the
  environment.

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Fundamental interactions I Natural forces

• These forces arise from natural differences
  between men and women. Hopefully, the times when
  political correctness did not allow us to
  recognize the existence of such differences, has
  remained into past.
• Examples
• variance of most indicators, including IQ (and,
  as result, also the occurrence of extra high IQ
  favorable for physics) is greater among male
  population than female 5
• having children is physically more demanding to
  mothers than to fathers, the resulting break in
  the career is hard to overcome in physics
• women have less reproductive time - not easily
  compatible with the long studies needed to become
  a physicist.
• Principally these forces can be studied with a
  quantitative methods of social science, but
• - it is hard to do it without receiving
  accusations in discrimination
• - there is not much we can change, although we
  can take these forces into account in
  organization of society.
• II Social forces
• Under this we join everything that depends on
  human attitudes, relationships, traditions and
  opinions.
• Examples
• tradition to give girls less (or lower-quality)
  education in science, even if schools and
  programs for girls and boys are the same
  correctness valued in women and creativity in
  men
• career decisions are made at a young age, that is
  especially sensitive to the opinions of
  significant others - maybe women are more
  sensitive to the public opinion and more
  concerned about conformity
• a result of the fact that women avoid physics
  good choice of high-quality male partners and few
  women competitors in physics departments
• fear to be different from other women
• stereotypes about female physicists/scientists
  (yet to be found out, if and where they really
  exist)
• tender care for the few women in physics e.g.
  always sweets saved for them.
• These forces can to some extent be influenced
  with the social manipulation, the attitude
  forming or the public awareness campaign, etc. A
  thorough sociological study is needed to do it
  effectively.

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Fundamental interactions (continued)

• III Financial forces
• Into this kind of forces we join everything that
  depends mainly (or can be strongly influenced by)
  money.
• Examples
• lower pay and more childcare/household
  obligations for women in many countries
• study loans and scholarships selection criteria
  are not gender-blind
• full-time job, full-time studies and family
  together
• high financial security and good salary in many
  countries in senior physicist positions.
• Principally these forces can be influenced with a
  well-directed funding.
• IV Inner forces
• We could also call them spiritual forces, if this
  word had not so different meanings for different
  people.
• Examples
• joy and excitation of discoveries
• freedom to follow persons own interests in
  physics
• curiosity about explaining the functioning of
  the world
• good feeling from an intensive use of the
  brain
• possibility of getting 100 involved in
  theoretical problems, which helps forgetting
  about hard everyday life etc, etc...
• To communicate openly and broadly about these
  feelings would make women to understand that such
  feelings are normal and legitimate and motivate
  girls who have not tried it before.
• It is not hard to explain, why the repulsive
  forces of this kind remain to be found from the
  questioning of non-physicists...

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Situation in Estonia

• History There is an ancient tradition in
  Estonia that women are independent - not
  subordinate to men, but equal, although different
  partners. Nevertheless, a clear distinction
  between the tasks of men and women has existed
  all the time and has been existing to some extent
  until now.
• Women in society Nowadays women in Estonia are
  well educated and mostly employed. Women and men
  get the same basic education in Estonia, and
  there are more female students at universities
  than the male ones. Only 6 of working-age women
  choose to stay home. Among professionals, the
  average salary of women is 70 of mens salary.
  The main responsibility for home and children
  belongs traditionally to women women spend 1.8
  times more time for household care and there are
  20 times more single mothers than single fathers
  2.

1 Teacher training 2 Humanities 3 Social
sciences 4 Commerce and law 5 Natural
sciences, mathematics and computer sciences 6
Medicine and public health 7 Engineering 8
Agriculture, forestry and home economics 9
Transport and communication 10 Service
trades 11 Mass communication and
documentation 12 Other 13 Total
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More about Estonia

• Women in science Women actively participate in
  science in Estonia, there are many women
  scientists. However, two clear tendencies appear
• the percent of women diminishes with academic
  level
• the bigger is the part of teaching (compared to
  research) in a position, the higher is the
  percentage of women 3.

• Women in physics However, there is generally
  only a small percent of women in physics,
  starting from the first years of university
  studies until the highest levels of the academic
  career - and the percent is decreasing with the
  level.

Physics Bachelors (first-level) degrees awarded
in Estonia in 1999-2001 as can be seen in the
figure, percent of women is small and even slowly
diminishes. Only 15 of Ph.D.-s in physics were
awarded to women at the University of Tartu in
1992-2000 3.
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The further up, the more in minority
Physics-the last science for a woman
Gender distribution of the academic staff at the
Faculty of Physics and Chemistry, University of
Tartu, 2000. The top academic council in Estonia,
Estonian Academy of Sciences, has one woman
member out of 57 3.
Physics has the smallest percentage of women
compared to other sciences 4.
So in spite of good status of women in society,
Estonia belongs to the group of countries with
the least women in physics Women Enrolling In
Physics (Harding, J.,1998) 6 England, Swiss,
Germany, Austria, USA, Canada, Japan, Taiwan,
India 2-19 France, Denmark, Finland, Poland,
Italy, Spain, Turkey, Russia, Israel 20-35
Ireland, Portugal, Czech Republic, Hungary,
Philippine 40-57
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Causes of the situation

• The natural and inner forces tend to be here of
  the same background level as in other countries.
• As in recent years there has been a variety of
  (large amplitude and frequency) economic and
  political changes in Estonia, relative stability
  of the fact few women in physics suggests that
  the main reasons for it are not in financial
  forces.
• So it is probably social forces - attitudes,
  traditions and opinions - that makes the
  resultant of all forces to keep most women in
  Estonia far from coming into/staying in physics.

What can we do?

• A full sociological study is needed to find out
  the causes of the situation - the social forces -
  and their mechanisms, mutual interference etc.
• Separate data for physics are needed, as
  official gender statistics or administrative
  structures often connect physics with
  mathematics, chemistry or other natural sciences
  and it hides the large gender differences in
  physics.
• In-depth interviews with women physicists, also
  with women ex-physicists and potential physicists
  are needed to form hypotheses - to be confirmed
  by statistical study of representative samples of
  population.
• Measures can be taken to improve the situation
  for women in physics, when laws of forces between
  women and physics become established.

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References and data sources 1 www.ut.ee lists
of students and employees of University of
Tartu. 2 Ann Ojala, Women and men in Estonia
2001. Statistical office of Estonia, 2001. 3
Ene Ergma, Women in the Science of Estonia.
InResearch and development 2000. Statistical
office of Estonia, pp. 34-41, 2000 (in
Estonian). 4 www.etf.ee list of grants
2002. 5 www.megafoundation.org/UltraHIQ/HIQNews/
Gender_Differences.html http//members1.chello.nl
/p.cooijmans/FAQ.htm 6 http//www.wgsact.net/e-l
ibrary/e-lib0004.html