The Making of a Female Physicist By D. Elizabeth Pugel Being a physicist is not simply an occupation, but a manner of living that carries with it a distinctive mind set.
Physicists question, investigate and scrutinize all systems.
This same scrutiny should be applied also to interactions between members of our field, addressing any problems and determining their nature. In attacking problems, physicists look for the statistical anomalies and demand explanation for a state. The disproportionate number of men over women in physics is just such an anomaly, worthy of investigation. Historically, the number of women in physics in the U.S. has been small. Several articles in Physics Today and other prominent physics journals have attempted to address this issue through statistics, but have not been able to elucidate the distinct sociological deterrents for women.