2003 Nicholson Medal Citation:“For....initiatives on behalf of female physicists ....”
Problem: WHAT initiatives?
Today: First step…try to discover something interesting.
“why” questions always interesting to physicists. Hence“WHY ARE THERE SO FEW WOMEN IN PHYSICS?”
Attack plan --- Three Questions:
1. What is the question?
2. Why care about this question?
3. What can we do?
We = much help from many of both sexes, especially: Barbosa,Carbone,Dyer,RachelStanley, & 14 female Ph.D. students: Herzfeld, Bansil, Djordjevic, Amitrano, Selinger,Araujo, Glotzer, Prakash, Johow, Prakash, La Nave, Yamada, Skibinsky, Xu . And 6
Research Associates:Ditzian-Kadanoff, Shore, Ossadnik, Kitaoka, Urbanc, BraunsteinQUESTION 1: What is the question?
“Why are there so few women in physics?”
Why ask this question?
Probability to solve a problem increases if we understand causes
Example: why do so many have high blood pressure?
Answers: cholesterol, exercise, weight, smoking, .....
ANSWER LEADS TO SOLUTION !!
Solution methods: collaborations among many, including those
without high blood pressure
Similarly, solution to why so few women requires collaboration
among many, including those who are not women!

QUESTION 2: Why care about this question?
1) “Non-practical reason”: right vs wrong (civil rights)
How society got this way?
What prevents ability from being utilized? (law/med/..)2) “Practical reasons”:
Progress at half speed, if half the available talent excluded
More efficient society if each human uses his/her talents(woman excluded from physics might do XX for which she isless talented)
Money taxpayer paid for woman’s education
3) “Selfish” reasons: we all care about AIDS because we allknow someone afflicted with AIDS. Similarly we should careto ask “Why so few women” because we all know a female
who might choose physics (niece, daughter, neighbor, …)

QUESTION 3: WHAT TO DO (to understand why so few women)?
To answer a science question, encourage anyone who wishes tohypothesize, then discuss/test/refute viable hypotheses
Can we do same for the question why so few women?
WHERE TO START?
Answer 1: GOOGLE “Women in Physics” Æ2M hits
“Women in Physics Canada” Æ200K hitsFirst impression: Universality (all countries, ….)
Second impression: Treat Symptoms (not understand causes)
Answer 2: Discuss with colleagues:
First reaction: Why is a man interested in why so few women?
Second reaction: Problem is being solved already…
Third reaction: There cannot be an answer to a “WHY” question

POSSIBLE HYPOTHESES (not mutually exclusive)...
But FIRST some “constraints” (clues,...)
1. Countries differ in fraction of Ph.D., but similar 20 years later
2. “Women who quit performed as well as men who did not quit”
3. Hypothesis must explain why fewer women in physics than inother fields (medicine, law, bio, chem, even math)
4. Civil rights analogy is too glib (but “way of life” threatened)
5. Not brain related, hard work related (women work harder), …
6. Not solely due to lack of role models (role models partially
backfire: because there exist some successful women, some men
say “problem solved”)

HYPOTHESIS 1:“Women Physicists Speak” ww.aip.org/statistics
Support of parents/partners/advisors/teachers/colleagues/.....
Probability of all 5 supports:

p1p2p3p4p5 << 1

For each of the 5 supports:pj(physics) < pj (X),

where X = medicine, law, bio, chemistry, oceanography, ……
Why? Support givers assume that physics requires some “magictalent”(cf. opera, basketball, composing, painting, ….)

HYPOTHESIS 2:

Physics Today March 04: B.L.Whitten

WHY a chilly climate in physics more than other fields?
Are physics departments less tolerant of:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.

People who make really “stupid” mistakes
People who have really “trivial” ideas
People who seem too “broad/unfocused” (too many interests)
People with other dedications (ex: babies)
People who do not stay overtime at work (ex: child care)
People who are not sufficiently cocky (who lack self-esteem)
People who dress well and/or smell good (Einstein image)HYPOTHESIS 3: Extra challenge of partners and kids
1. PARTNERS. Do women worry that ….
a. will be more difficult to find partner if they choose physics?
68% female physicists marry scientists (but 17% of males)b. will be expected to assume home management responsibilities?
c. partner can tolerate physicist’s “special needs” (sharp focus,long hours, depression on repeated rejections, …)
2. KIDS….the BIGGER challengea. Unclear exactly how much allowance is made for time off,absence days, and lack of clear defn of time renormalization(productivity = papers/renormalized time, tenure clock time =renormalized time, etc…but how to define renormalized time?)b. Who has the principal responsibility for kids? Sharing is only
an ideal gas limit….rarely realized in practice.
c. Partner is often “one more kid” to have responsibility for…

Last Question: WHAT CAN CHANGE PRESENT SITUATION?
0. Admit the fact: Physicists are supposed to be so intelligent, yetfinish last among the big professions in fraction of women
1. Involve both sexes in making progress (cf. civil rights battle)
2. Action will be more clear if we understand reasons better
3. Learn from countries with more assistance for women with kids
4. Proofread all written documents by someone who has a deletekey (and is sensitive to words that hurt)
5. Be very sensitive to what you say, as well as what you write (youcannot use a delete key on what you say, and “bad words hurtforever”)