An Unconscious Bias Holds Women Back in Science

Dr. Steitz held a discussion forum on women in science with the students of Lake Forest College in October, 2007. She recollected that as she was growing up it was very uncommon for women to hold positions in the sciences: while the presence of women in science was tolerated, it was certainly not encouraged. As the years went on, it became much more acceptable for women to become scientists; however, there are still major biases holding women back today. Dr. Steitz shared information from her 2006 National Academy of Sciences report with us entitled, “Beyond Bias and Barriers: Fulfilling the Potential of Women in Academic Science and Engineering.” This data supported the fact that women do indeed have the drive to be high-level scientists, but are being held back by numerous social and cultural biases that prevent them from attaining high positions in the scientific world