NOR'EASTER FALL 1990 27

Women in Marine Science...Good Girls Don’t?It Was a Man’s World

As the tiny submersible de-scends into the undersea gloom,an experienced pilot intentlywatches the actions of a pilot-in-training. Deep in concentra-tion, eyes riveted to the instru-ment panel, the trainee care-fully maneuvers Alvin in itsslow trip to the bottom of theAtlantic. A scientist, the thirdmember of the team, peersthrough the small porthole,unaware of the drama unfold-ing within the titanium sphereitself. What makes this divedifferent from the more than2,000 others in Alvin's history?The pilot-in-training is CindyLee Van Dover, the sub’s firstfemale pilot.

Van Dover has a goal. “I wantto be the best deep-sea biologistI can be,” she states, “and thebest way to do that is to see asmuch of the ocean floor aspossible.” Van Dover has neverbeen one to let gender stand inher way. She enrolled at RutgersUniversity the first year thecollege became coeducational,and she was the first femaleundergraduate to work at oneof the university’s field sta-tions. Now, after many years ofexperience and earning a Ph.D.in oceanography and oceano-graphic engineering, she hasrecently completed a rigorousone-year training course toqualify as an Alvin pilot. Heraccomplishment follows manyyears after Ruth Turner, Har-vard biologist and adjunct sci-entist at Woods Hole Oceano-graphic Institution, became the

Opposite page: Photo courtesyof Peter Wieke, Woods HoleOceanographic Institution.

tendance figures have lev-eled out at about 30 per-cent. Ten years ago, womenmade up only 20 percent ofthe student body at the JOIschools. And women stillconstitute only a small frac-tion of the faculty: of 487 JOIfaculty positions, just 46 areheld by women.

first woman scientist to dive inAlvin for deep-sea research.

But women like Van Doverand Turner are rare. Thoughwomen have succeeded inbreaking into many previouslymale-dominated fields in recentyears, it is still unusual to findthem in science and technol-ogy careers. Betty M. Vetter,executive director of the Com-mission on Professionals inScience and Technology inWashington, D.C., wrote in1987 that “women now earnhalf of all bachelor’s and mas-ter’s degrees awarded in theUnited States and more thanone-third of the doctorates. Inscience they earn 45 percent ofthe bachelor’s, 39 percent ofthe master’s, and 27 percent of

the doctoral degrees.” Vetternotes that most women whoearn advanced degrees in sci-ence do so in the social and lifesciences such as biology, health,psychology, and sociology.Moreover, a National ScienceFoundation [NSF) study foundthat female interest in scienceand engineering seems to haveplateaued since the early 198Os,and that women now earn only16 percent of the doctorates inphysical sciences, 10 percent incomputer science, and 7 per-cent in engineering.

A 1990 report by the 10 JointOceanographic Institutions inthe U.S. shows an increase inthe number of women applyingto JOI schools between 1987and 1990, although actual at-

Why should we be concernedwith the success rates of womenin the sciences? One reason isthe impending shortage of sci-entists this country faces. TheNSF expects a shortfall of abouthalf a million scientists andengineers by the end of the cen-tury. This is partly due tochanging demographics: retire-ments among the present poolof scientists are increasingsimultaneously with a dip inthe college-age population inthe 1990s. The NSF reports that,while white males now makeup 47 percent of the total workforce and 80 percent of the sci-ence and engineering pool, theywill represent only 15 percentof the net number of peopleentering the work force at theend of this century. Most sci-ence administrators agree thata greater push for women andminority students to enter sci-ence and technology fields maybe the only way to fill the gapand maintain our country’sglobal competitiveness.

Adding to the challenge isthe realization that scienceeducation in the United Statesis in trouble. American studentsare rated low in science andtechnology compared to stu-

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dents in other major industrialcountries. U.S. students arelosing interest in math and sci-ence as early as elementaryschool. Because they are oftennot required nor encouraged totake advanced math and sci-ence, students may drop thesesubjects at a very young age,then find it much harder tocatch up if they later decide topursue scientific careers.

Many federal programs arein place to improve the statusof science education in the U.S.and to further encourage younggirls as well as graduate-leveland professional-level womenin the sciences. As time passesand the shift toward women inthe work force continues, nodoubt more and more womenwill successfully seek careersin marine science and technol-ogy. Some of the old stereo-types have been successfullyshattered, and there are morerole models now for youngwomen to emulate. Women,once barred from research ves-sels, now go to sea on equalterms with men. The NationalOceanic and Atmospheric Ad-ministration - the National SeaGrant College Program’s par-ent organization - has severalwomen in upper managementand has recently appointed well-known marine biologist SylviaEarle to the position of chiefscientist.

The Formative YearsShortages of women in sci-

ence and technology can betraced back to early childhood.Pressure to conform to tradi-tional gender roles infiltratesour educational system, andsubconscious societal attitudesmay blur the thinking of eventhe best teachers. Unlike boys,girls may not be encouraged tothink independently and solveproblems; rather, they are oftenguided toward the concrete andfactual subjects. This may ex-plain why more of the womenwho do go forward in sciencepursue the more factual biolog-ical and life sciences instead ofengineering, math, and the

physical sciences. Uninformedschool guidance counselorsmay reinforce the attitude thatgirls are unable to compete withboys in math and science bydiscouraging female studentsfrom pursuing a particularcourse of study. “I wanted to bea pediatrician,” explains Shel-ley Lauzon, publications andinformation manager at WHOI,“but my high school guidancecounselor convinced me that,as a woman, I would never beaccepted into medical school.”

Young women’s general lackof confidence concerning mathand science stems from atti-tudes and biases presented byteachers, administrators, andparents, according to BethSchwarzman, a geologistwith the U.S. GeologicalSurvey in Woods Hole. Inher work as an outreache d u c a t o r w i t h U S G S ,Schwarzman focuses on at-tracting women and minoritiesinto the sciences. During a re-cent workshop for science edu-cators she matter-of-factly in-structed all the participants to“take out your pocket knives.”Noting the absence of pocketknives among the women com-pared to the men, she explainedthat girls are not usually en-couraged or taught to use tools.“This,” she observed, “can be ahandicap in both science class-es and technical careers.”

Next, Schwarzman handedeach participant a stack of 3-by-5-inch cards and asked every-one to “build the tallest struc-ture you can with these cards.”Few of the women educatorsbent the cards to make betteruse of them for building. Duringthe ensuing discussion, most ofthe women said they had as-sumed that altering the cardswas “breaking the rules,” eventhough no rules were given.

Elizabeth S. Ivey, chairmanof the physics department atSmith College, has studied thesuccess rates of women whoattended women’s colleges andthose whose background wascoeducational. She claims thatmore of the women who earn

science degrees from women’suniversities go on to earn aPh.D. than those who attendcoed institutions. The generallylarger proportion of female fac-ulty members and the absenceof competition between womenand men at the women’s schoolsare among the possible reasonswhy.

Do parents tend to give moreencouragement to boys thangirls to excel at math and sci-ence and to enroll in computeror science camps and classes?Do teachers unconsciously en-courage boys to call out answersin class while expecting girls toraise their hands and wait theirturns? Are there ways ofteaching that provide positivereinforcement for both boys andgirls equally? Schwarzman andeducation researchers answer“yes,” but it will take work tochange the negative patterns.

Graduate School DazeMore than half of the cur-

rent University of New Hamp-shire graduate students in envi-ronmental engineering arewomen, though there are fewfaculty women in that subject,

according to Nancy Kinner.Kinner, a civil engineer, teach-es and pursues research onwater and waste treatment sys-tems at UNH. Although sheremembers no real obstaclesduring her training in this field,there were no women rolemodels. Like other women inscience today, Kinner has helpedpave the way for new genera-tions of young women and, byher very presence on the UNHfaculty, proves to them that itcan be done.

What are some of the prob-lems Kinner’s female studentsface? While there are manypoints along the science pathfrom elementary school throughthe advanced degree where girlstend to “fall out of the educa-tional pipeline,” graduateschool may be one of the mostcritical times for women.

Adequate funding for grad-uate school is a problem formale and female science stu-dents alike. But, according to a1983 NSF study, women Ph.D.candidates are less likely to re-ceive federal and institutional

NOR'EASTER FALL 1990 29

support than men and morelikely to be self-supporting.They are often expected to workwith foreign (as well as Ameri-

can) students and faculty whosecultural biases concerningwomen in science careers maypose difficulties. Women mustdeal with the feeling, valid ornot, of being a “token” repre-sentative of their institution’scompliance with affirmativeaction and equal opportunitylaws. All of these factors com-bined tend to create the often-cited “chilly climate” forwomen on campus.

At the 1988 annual meetingof the American Associationfor the Advancement of Sci-ence, Sheila E. Widnall, thenpresident of the AAAS, ad-dressed the problem of womenin science. She cited studiesindicating that women entergraduate school at the samerate as men relative to theirpresence in the B.S. pool, buttheir participation in sciencedrops off significantly after at-tainment of the M.S. degree. Inaddition to the factors men-tioned above, Widnall noteddifferences in modes of com-munication between men andwomen and examples of inap-propriate treatment of women(any treatment that emphasizesthe student as a woman firstand a student second) as furthercontributing to a cool atmos-phere. The resulting loss of self-esteem, she suggested, may leaddirectly to the decline of womenin doctoral programs along theeducational continuum.

Working 9 to 5Attracting women is one

important step; keeping themin the sciences is another. In a1989 article in Science, Con-stance Holden claims womenscientists still suffer from high-er unemployment, lower pay,and fewer opportunities forpromotion at every degree level.Once in the work force, womenin science may be isolated andmay feel that they have more toprove than their male counter-parts. “If your science is goodenough, you can make yourgender work for you, sincepeople tend to remember you,”says Susan Humphris, dean ofthe Sea Education Association(SEA) in Woods Hole. “But itcan also work against you. Amale scientist can give a poortalk at a scientific meeting andcolleagues will just think it wasa bad talk; but if a female scien-tist gives a poor talk, it may beperceived as a result of poorscience.”

Humphris is responsible forSEA’s academic programs forcollege undergraduates andsecondary teachers. The schooloffers semester-long coursescombining oceanography,marine affairs, and seamanshipin both shore-based and ship-board classrooms. An adjunctscientist in the chemistry de-partment at WHOI as well,Humphris has studied hydro-

thermal vents in the deep seaand is a veteran of many ocean-ographic cruises. She is awareof the superstition maintainedby some older male crew mem-bers that bad luck befalls shipsthat carry women to sea, al-though she feels she has suf-fered no ill effects from it. She’squick to point out that SEAemploys a woman captain onone of its two sailing researchvessels. Humphris’ advice toyoung women interested inmarine research is, “Go for it;the problems can be overcome.”

For men and women alike,given the nature of funding andthe pressures of grant-writing,science careers require a morethan full-time commitment.Kinner points out that issuessurrounding doctorate-leveloccupations are not unique towomen. “People who pursue aPh.D. must make some deci-sions about the life they willlead; they’ll never have a 9-to-5job.”

“I love my job,” says JenniferSpecker, an associate professorof zoology at the University ofRhode Island. While pursuingresearch in the physiologicaland chemical basis of animalbehavior, Specker teachesphysiology to URI undergradu-ates and endocrinology to grad-uate students. Despite the longhours and the competitivenature of her work, she is happywith her career choice. Perhapsthat, above all else, is what has

most helped her move aheadin a diff icult andhighly competitivefield. “I did what Iwanted to do - what Ienjoyed doing the

most,” said Specker.K i n n e r e c h o e s t h i s

view, encouraging herstudents to “Do what

you like to do, since you’llbe spending a great deal oftime at it.”

What about thosewomen who want to havea family as well as a sciencecareer? Is it possible to be a

wife, mother, and researchscientist? Cindy Schramm, a

Ph.D. candidate in geologicaloceanography at the Universityof Rhode Island and mother of ayoung child, notes that it ispossible to juggle a career inscience and a family, but it re-quires tight organization andan extensive support system.Traditionally, male graduatestudents and scientists are ableto start families and still meettheir time commitment to sci-ence. But women students orscientists who choose to havefamilies often find less timeavailable for their research. “Asa result,” Schramm states,“most of the premier femalescientists that I know do nothave children.”

While this career vs. familyissue affects women more thanmen in any given profession,the demands of marine sci-ence-going to sea, keepingunusual hours during labora-tory experiments, traveling toscientific meetings, and stricttime frames for attaining ten-ure-make this an especiallytough issue. Many of thewomen who have succeededdepend on live-in nannys orstay-at-home husbands. Thedilemma is especially difficultfor couples with dual careers inscience.

Ellen Druffel, a tenuredassociate scientist in the chem-istry department at WHOI, hasrecently returned to work afterhaving her second child. “Youlearn to become more efficientat time management,” she says.Now she must think about childcare and family schedules con-currently with her work usingradiocarbon isotopes as tracersof carbon in the atmosphereand ocean. Druffel dispels theold notion that women whohave families are not as seriousabout their science careers bystating emphatically, “I becamemore creative and did better-quality work after my first childwas born.” Her advice to otherwomen is, “Be true to what youwant to do; don’t settle for whatother people say you can have.The rules are changing slowly-but they are changing.”

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The Importance of MentoringSpecker, Van Dover, Kinner,

Druffel, and Humphris all haveat least one thing in common:each sought out and receivedthe help and encouragement ofa mentor who took the time toteach her science, take herseriously, and encourage her togo on. Because women in ma-rine science have been sparse,most of these advisors weremen. But the value of mentors-whether male or female - inproviding these women withself-confidence and persever-ance, cannot be overempha-sized. In large high schools oruniversities where dedicatedstudents often find themselvesfeeling alone in the crowd, afew encouraging words from asupportive teacher can meanthe difference between forgingahead or falling behind.

More women are needed toact as marine scientist rolemodels. Ivey writes that “careeroptions appear more viable tosomeone who sees a person likeherself as a science or engineer-ing professor.” Perhaps evenmore crucial, young womenneed the reassurance that atechnical career can be mixedwith family responsibilities,but, as yet, few such role modelsexist.

Since mentors do not usuallygo out looking for students,young women (and men) mustactively seek their own oppor-tunities. Specker, who often hashigh school studentsworking in her URI labo-ratory, would appreciatethe efforts of TammyJackson, a junior at Fal-mouth High School inFalmouth, Mass. Jack-son’s interest in marinescience led her to thelaboratory of ScottGallager, a researchassociate at WHOI,whose aquacultureresearch is partiallysupported by WHOISea Grant. UnderGallager’s supervi-sion, and using his

lab space and equipment, Jack-son has developed a project en-titled “An Analysis of ParticleRetention in the Sea SquirtCiona intestinalis.” Her workhas earned accolades in a re-gional school science fair, theMassachusetts State ScienceFair, and the International Sci-ence and Engineering Fair heldin Tulsa this past spring. Herprizes included a trip to Japanlast summer and a cruise aboarda research vessel this comingwinter. Jackson says of arrang-ing to work with a researcher inhis laboratory, “I guess youhave to be a little outgoing toapproach a scientist and ask forhelp, since they usually don’thave much extra time.”

Jackson does not see her ac-complishments nor her scien-tific pursuits as unusual. Thereare more girls than boys in herhonors science class, and shewas one of three girls and oneboy chosen to represent Massa-

chusetts at the InternationalScience Fair. She is a well-rounded, down-to-earth youngwoman, who is active in vari-ous sports and clubs at school,maintains a part-time job, andlikes to have fun with herfriends. Yet she has done whatSpecker recommends to anyyoung woman looking to enterthe marine science field: “Havethe courage to go out and findpeople who are working on whatyou would like to study, andthen participate.”

Hands-on ScienceParticipation, especially at

an early age, is a key to successin the marine sciences. M.Tundi Agardy, a postdoctoralinvestigator in the MarinePolicy Center at WHOI, creditsthe field course she took in theninth grade with putting her onthe right career track. The three-week marine science course,held in the Virgin Islands, wassponsored by the AmericanMuseum of Natural History inNew York City. Agardy re-turned in later summers as astaff member and based hercareer choice on the field workthat the experience provided.

Today Agardy is a biologistworking with resource man-agers, economists, lawyers, andpolicy-makers to find practi-cal solutions to environmentalproblems. She sees her work as“providing the science that isneeded to formulate good poli-cy.” Her research on endangeredsea turtles takes her through-out Central America and the

Caribbean. Agardy en-- courages high

I school and col-lege students toaccompany heron research in-ternships there inorder to “try out”this line of work.

IParticipation

in extracurricular,hands-on programsmay lead to a com-

plete change of focusfor some youngwomen. Kinner knows

this well. She was an under-graduate ecology major at Cor-nell University when she firstwent to the Shoals Marine Lab-oratory (SML). Located on theIsles of Shoals, 10 miles out tosea off the Maine-New Hamp-shire border, SML is an educa-tional center operated jointlyby Cornell and UNH. After herfirst summer there, Kinnerwanted to return to study am-phipods - small shrimplikecreatures of the rocky tide-pools-but it seemed thatfinancial limitations wouldprevent further island study.

The SML director at thattime, John Kingsbury, offeredKinner free room and board inexchange for her help with theisland’s sewage treatmentproblem. “I realized that wastetreatment involves the biolog-ical techniques I had studied incollege, and I liked the practi-cal application of the knowl-edge,” she says. The experienceled her to backtrack briefly forsome additional courses inmath, physics, and engineer-ing, and then to pursue hermaster’s and Ph.D. degrees inenvironmental engineering atUNH.

Recognizing the need formore hands-on opportunities inscience education, the SeaGrant Program at the Univer-sity of New Hampshire has de-veloped a successful summercourse for high school studentscalled the UNH Mathematicsand Marine Science Program.It is an intensive three-weekprogram attended by about 25post-ninth grade students whohave demonstrated academicachievement, but are not nec-essarily oriented toward mathand science.

Sharon Meeker, UNH SeaGrant marine educator, ex-plains, “The program is de-signed to give kids an integratedexperience that teaches themthe importance of all areas ofscience and math, includingcomputers, and how they areinterconnected. The way sci-ences are taught tends to be toocompartmentalized, and it is

NOR'EASTER FALL 1990 31

not until the graduate level thatstudents have an opportunity tomake connections betweenthem.” Meeker notes that moregirls than boys attended theprogram this past summer. Sheobserves no real difference be-tween them in abilities and suc-cess rates, saying ”the girls waderight in.”

Jamie Anderson, an enthu-siastic young woman justbeginning her second year inrobotic engineering with theMIT/WHOI Joint Program inOceanography and Oceano-graphic Engineering, recalls theday, as an undergraduate at theUniversity of California at SanDiego, when she first reportedfor her job at the nearby NavalOceans System Center. Becauseshe had been hired without apersonal interview, but basedon her resume qualifications(which included years of life-guarding), her new supervisorwas quite shocked to discoverthat she was a woman. “He said,‘Oh! I was expecting a tall, blondguy with a tan,’ ” Anderson sayswith a chuckle. It didn’t takelong for her to demonstrate hercompetence in computer-aidedengineering design and to de-velop a good working relation-ship with her boss.

Since then, Anderson saysshe has been continually en-couraged by her teachers, par-ents, advisors, and both maleand female colleagues in hergraduate program. She sums itup this way: “This is the 1990s.These days there are very fewobstacles to prevent academi-cally qualified women fromachieving their potential in sci-ence.”

The Long RoadIt would seem that the future

looks brighter for women inmarine science. Some univer-sities, research institutions, andprivate companies are improv-ing benefits for professionalwomen, offering both mater-nity and paternity leave, help-ing families obtain affordablechild care, providing flextimeor work-at-home options, and

altering old rules that prohi-bited the hiring of dual-science-career couples. Some institu-tions that require that tenurebe attained by a certain pointnow have “stop-the-clock”programs for women who re-quest maternity leaves. Stillrelatively uncommon, theseprogressive attitudes need to beencouraged and made morewidely available in the work-place.

But, despite the progress,there are still difficulties. Now,more than ever, women scien-tists face the added responsibil-ity of being role models whilealso trying to maintain theirlaboratories, their funding, andtheir personal and family lives.Judith McDowell Capuzzo, atenured senior scientist atWHOI, successfully jugglesfamily, laboratory and field re-search, teaching, writing, travel,and advising students. In addi-tion, she finds herself continu-ally pursued by national, re-gional, and local groups askingher to serve as an advisor,committee or board member,consultant, public speaker,teacher trainer, or high schoolcareer counselor. Like otherwomen in her field who realizethe importance of this type ofguidance, she tries to accom-modate as many of these re-quests as possible but admitsthat it can become overwhelm-ing at times.

“There is no doubt that thewomen who have paved the wayin marine science have not hadan easy road,” according to JohnFarrington, recently appointedassociate director for educationat WHOI. “During the last 20 orso years, as society has become

more sensitive to women’sissues, WHO1 and other institu-tions of higher learning haveseen tremendous changes. Butthe danger is in allowing com-placency to slow the momen-tum. We need to keep at it; wecannot relax the standards thathave been set, and we must re-main sensitive to the addedpressure placed on the womenwho have made it in the sci-ences.”

The personal stories pre-sented here illustrate the widevariety of marine science careersthat exist and the uniqueness ofthe women who pursue them.These women all stress theimportance of getting a broad-based background encompass-ing math, computers, engi-neering, all the sciences, and aforeign language. And they en-courage young students to learnto read, write, and think criti-cally, thereby keeping all pos-sible career options open. Afterall, if Anderson had not taken(on a whim) that one undergrad-uate engineering course thatprompted her to change hermajor from biology to mechan-ical engineering, she mightnever have known the excite-ment of deep-sea robotics!

Moreover, the women inter-viewed agree that it is not nec-essary to attend a college thatoffers undergraduate majors inmarine science; in fact, theydiscourage it. It simply does notpay to specialize too early; grad-uate school is time enough. Inkeeping with the idea of being

true to herself and happy in herpursuits , a young womanshould be encouraged to attendthe college where she expectsto be happy and successful. Ifshe has an opportunity to at-tend a hands-on marine scienceprogram, so much the better.Later, if she decides that theresearch career she’d beendreaming of is no longer herfirst choice, she is well quali-fied to pursue one of the count-less other marine-relatedcareers available today.

A positive attitude is all-important. These successfulwomen all agree that a youngwoman must decide what shewants and go after it. The roadto a marine science researchcareer is long and demands per-severance. A woman travelingthat road must believe in her-self and in her abilities. Shemust find the courage to seekout mentors, male or female,who can provide her withsupport and encouragement.Whenever possible, she shouldtake advantage of opportunitiesfor hands-on experience. “Shemust be a little stubborn,” ad-mits Druffel. But the rewards,they all say, are worth the ef-fort.

Marine science: womencan, they should, and they do!

n Lee Anne Campbell isCommunicator for Woods HoleOceanographic Institution SeaGrant.