Do women need their own resources?

In the last couple of decades, the number of women receiving PhDs in science and engineering fields has increased dramatically. (In engineering, physics, and math, the proportion of women PhDs has nearly doubled.) That's good news. 

But the "pipeline" is still leaking: At each step that women in science advance through their careers--from high school to undergraduate to PhD to tenure-track positions--more of them drop out, and at much higher rates than men do.

The object of this web guide is not to determine why this happens (though you'll find reasons on many of the pages linked to); it is to offer resources to women to help them continue.

Who this site is for

The guide is primarily for undergraduate or graduate-level women who plan to make their careers in science or engineering fields. But it could be used by anyone interested in increasing women's numbers in academic science.

Many of the resources listed are general, i.e., for women in any field. Field-specific resources are included, but for the most part these are for the physical sciences, engineering, computer science, and mathematics. There are a couple of related reasons for this: Women are particularly underrepresented in these fields as they advance through their careers. As a result, organizations in physics, computer science, etc., have put a lot of effort into creating resources for women.

Contact me

The Women in Science Web Guide was created by Katharine Dunn, a library and information science student at Simmons College in Boston, MA.

Please email any suggestions for sites to add, questions, or concerns to katharine dot dunn at simmons dot edu.