Women Physicists Speak: The 2001 International Study of Women in Physics

by Rachel Ivie, Roman Czujko, and Katie Stowe

Highlights

The report contains country-level data and anecdotal information about the representation of women in physics from 34 countries (Table 1).
Most of the women physicists who responded to this survey reported that they developed an interest in physics during or before they were in secondary school (Table 3). This emphasizes the importance of the opportunity to study physics and the encouragement to pursue science early in the academic system.
Respondents felt they had generally positive experiences as undergraduates and as graduate students.
About one-third of the women who responded felt that they had progressed more slowly in their careers than their colleagues had (Table 10).
The demands of a career in physics seemed to preclude several of the women in our study from marrying or having children. Of those who are married, a significant number reported that marriage affected their work. When comparing themselves to their colleagues, women with children were more likely than women who do not have children to say their careers had progressed slowly (Table 15).
The factor most frequently cited by women physicists as contributing to their success was the support of their families, including their parents and husbands. Many also mentioned the support of advisors, professors, and teachers, and some cited the support of colleagues. Also frequently mentioned were the women's own determination, will power, and hard work.
Barriers that the women mentioned included the problems of balancing the demands of child care with the demands of a scientific career. Another barrier was discriminatory attitudes, usually expressed in the form of assumptions that women cannot do physics.
Three out of four women who responded said that they would choose physics again