WISELI BIBLIOGRAPHY
Organized by Subject
Updated June 20, 2007

The History of Women in Science and Engineering

Abir-Am, Pnina G and Dorinda Outram. Uneasy Careers and Intimate Lives: Women in Science, 1789-1979. The Douglass Series on Women's Lives and the Meaning of Gender. New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 1987.

Bix, Amy Sue. "From "Engineeresses" to "Girl Engineers" to "Good Engineers": A History of Women's U.S. Engineering Education." NWSA Journal 16, no. 1 (2004): 27-49.
Available online
Notes: History of engineering education for women in the US.
Abstract: "Throughout the first half of the 20th century and into the second, women studying or working in engineering were popularly perceived as oddities at best, outcasts at worst, defying traditional gender norms. During the last half of the 20th century, activists fought to change that situation, to win acknowledgment of women's ability to become good engineers. To gain public recognition for women engineers, advocates celebrated their successes in the field. To improve the climate for women in education and employment, activists organized to call attention to problems and demanded change. To aid women directly, female engineers created systems of social, psychological, and financial mutual support. Through such strategies, conditions for female engineers changed noticeably over just a few decades, although many challenges remain."

Braselmann, Sylvia. "Reluctant Rebels: Women Scientists Organizing." Bulletin of Science, Technology, and Society 23, no. 1 (2003): 6-9.
Available online
Notes: Discusses the history of organizations of women scientists and their roles in promoting and fostering women scientists
Abstract: "The history of U.S. Women scientists' organizations from the 19th century until the 1960s reflects both women's relative powerlessness within the science community and their reluctance to challenge discrimination against them. Since the 1960s, feminist activism, together with the increase in the number of women trained in science, have made discrimination against women in science more obvious and less tolerable. The founding of the first explicitly equity-seeking organization, the Association of Women in Science (AWIS), in 1971 is a watershed. Today, women scientists are willing to band together so long as the promises of meritocracy remain unfulfilled."

Dreifus, Claudia. "Solving a Mystery of Life, Then Tackling a Real-Life Problem: A Conversation With Christiane Nusslein-Volhard." New York Times, 4 July 2006, F, 2.
Available online
Notes: Nobel Prize Winner Christiane Nusslein-Volhard talks about her science and obstacles for women in science.
Abstract: In the 1980's, she and Eric F. Wieschaus solved one of the central mysteries of life: how the genes in a fertilized egg direct the formation of an embryo. For their discovery, Dr. [Christiane Nusslein-Volhard], Dr. Wieschaus and Edward B. Lewis received the 1995 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. Dr. Nusslein-Volhard was just the 10th woman to win a Nobel Prize in one of the sciences. In this interview, Nusslein-Volhard, talks aboutobstacles for women in science and her grant program that provides funds for childcare and household help to women scientists.

Erwin, Lorna. "Gender Equity and Science: An Annotated Bibliography, 1990-2002." Bulletin of Science, Technology & Society 23, no. 1 (Feb. 2003): 32-42.
Available online
Notes: Bibliography of English language books published since 1990, "considered relevant to the North American situation" of the unequal status of men and women in the sciences. The emphasis is on history of women in science, career issues, education, and feminist critiques.

Kanter, Rosabeth Moss. Men and Women of the Corporation. New York: Basic Books, 1977.

Kohlstedt, Sally Gregory. History of Women in the Sciences: Readings From ISIS. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1999.
Abstract: Collection of articles originally published in ISIS, the journal of the History of Science Society.

________. "Sustaining Gains: Reflections on Women in Science and Technology in 20th-Century United States." NWSA Journal 16, no. 1 (2004): 1-26.
Available online
Notes: Though we have witnessed growth and improvements in women's involvement in science over the 20th century, challenges remain to be addressed.
Abstract: "Historical participation by women in science and technology has been persistent but with inconsistent patterns because of the social, economic, and intellectual obstacles that have stood in their way. This account of women's initiatives and successes in 20th-century United States begins with early 20th-century involvement and suggests the subsequent ways in which the inroads of that period have influenced later struggles and strategies. Women of distinction like Marie Curie, Anna Botsford Cornstock, and Ellen Swallow Richards established possibilities but also standards of exceptionalism. Data suggest that the number of women in most areas of science has continued to grow, in fits and starts, over the past half century. Nonetheless, quantitative surveys and individual stories indicate that the gender gap-in terms of opportunities, salaries, and career advancement-remains a challenge that needs to be addressed."

LeBold, William K. and Dona J. LeBold. "Women Engineers: A Historical Perspective." PRISM (Mar. 1998): 30-32.
Available online
Notes: "Recognizing the contributions of engineering's 'founding mothers' and celebrating their legacy."
Abstract: Article traces the history of women in engineering in America, begining in the late 1800's. Describes the contributions of several goundbreaking woman engineers and highlights additudinal and educational shifts that have helped to support women in engineering.

McGrayne, Sharon Bertsch. Nobel Prize Women in Science. Second ed. Washington, D.C.: Joseph Henry Press, 1998.
Notes: Profiles Nobel Prize winning women scientists and women who, arguably, deserved to win a Nobel Prize.
Abstract: Well written biographical profiles of women scientists who won the Nobel Prize and women, who arguably, deserved to win a Nobel Prizes. The biographies describe these women's personal lives and their scientific discoveries and illuminate the obstacles they faced and overcame.

Rose, Hilary. "Nine Decades, Nine Women, Ten Nobel Prizes: Gender Politics at the Apex of Science." Eds., Mary et al. Wyer, 53-68. New York: Routledge, 2001.
Abstract: Details the careers of nine women receiving Nobel Prizes in the sciences, the causes of success and failure for their careers, and the politics behind their winning of recognition.

Rosser, Sue V. and Eliesh O'Neil Lane. "A History of Funding for Women's Programs at the National Science Foundation: From Individual POWRE Approaches to the ADVANCE of Institutional Approaches." Journal of Women & Minorities in Science & Engineering 8, no. 3/4 (2002): 327-46.
Abstract: Focuses on National Science Foundation initiatives to redress the underrepresentation of women, minorities and persons with disabilities. Information on NSF women's programs in the 1980s; Origins of the Professional Opportunities for Women in Research and Education (POWRE) program; POWRE problems.

Rossiter, Margaret W. Women Scientists in America Before Affirmative Action, 1940-1972. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1995.
Notes: History of women scientists in America from 1940-1972; before affirmative action
Abstract: A continuation of Rossiter's first volume which covered the history of women scientists in American from colonial times to 1940, this book continues to focus on women's education and their employment as scientists in academia, government and industry, and continues to examine both obstacles and strategies for overcoming them.

________. Women Scientists in America Struggles and Strategies to 1940. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1982.
Notes: History of women scientists in America from colonial period to 1940
Abstract: An excellent overview of the history of women scientists in American from colonial times to 1940. Covers women's education and employment in academia, government and industry. Focuses not only on obstacles to women's participation, achievement, and recognition in science, but also on strategies women employed to overcome these obstacles.

Schiebinger, Londa L. The Mind Has No Sex? Women in the Origins of Modern Science. Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press, 1989.
Notes: History of women in science in Europe from ancient to early modern period
Abstract: Provides an excellent background of women's involvement in science in Europe from ancient times through the 18th-century.

Schwartz, Robert A. "Reconceptualizing the Leadership Roles of Women in Higher Education: A Breif History on the Importance of Deans of Women." The Journal of Higher Education 68, no. 5 (Sept. 1997-Oct. 1997): 502-22.
Available online
Notes: Rethinking the roles of Deans of Women allows better insight into the historical imporance of women leaders in higher education.
Abstract: In the 1970s Annette Weiner, following Branislaw Malinowski, an earlier pioneer anthropologist and ethnographer, retraced his experiences with the Trobriand Islanders in the South Pacific. Weiner found that Malinowski had overlooked a critical aspect of Trobriand power, prestige, and leadership--the women. Similarly, women in higher education administration, and deans of women in particular, have been overlooked. By retracing the role of the deans and their work we gain new appreciation for women in higher education in the first half of this century. [from JSTOR]

Svitil, Kathy A. "The Most Important Women in Science." Discover 23, no. 11 (2002): 52-57.
Available online
Notes: Article provides brief biographical information on fifty women in science.