Subtitle: The Project Access Study
Author: Gerhard Sonnert, Gerald Holton
Subject: Sociology/Gender Studies/Science/History of Science
Paper ISBN 0-8135-2220-X
Cloth ISBN 0-8135-2174-2

Foreword by Robert K. Merton

"A powerful, well-documented indictment of the deleterious treatment of women scientists."--Chemical & Engineering News

"Not only a major contribution to the sociological literature in this area, but is also clear, complete and cogent, a pleasure to read."--Physics Today

What determines successful careers in the field of science? What are the early indicators of later failures. And specifically, how do women scientists' career paths differ from men's? While it is easy to theorize about these questions, those who go to the trouble of an extensive empirical study find an increasingly complex picture.

Using the largest database of its kind (699 questionnaires and 200 face-to-face conversations), the authors investigate the career paths of recipients of prestigious postdoctoral fellowships--scientists, engineers, and mathematicians. They outline a theoretical framework for understanding the causes of gender disparities among scientists, test the hypothesis of a gender- specific "glass ceiling," and provide a wealth of pertinent statistical information.

Gender Differences in Science Careers reveals that, as institutional laws changed, patterns of discrimination and exclusion become more subtle. Despite the decline of rigid gender-role socialization, many social practices persist that lead, on average and often in counterintuitive ways, to the accumulation of disadvantages for women scientists. This book is directed to scholars in the social sciences, aspiring and practicing scientists, and administrators interested in equity issues.

Gerhard Sonnert has been Research Associate with Project Access at Harvard University. Gerald Holton is Mallinckrodt Professor of Physics and Professor of the History of Science at Harvard University. Robert K. Merton is Professor Emeritus at Columbia University and Adjunct Professor at Rockefeller University.