Is there a gender imbalance on PF?

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the perceived gender imbalance within the Physics Forums community, particularly in relation to the representation of female participants in physics and related fields. Participants explore personal experiences, societal perceptions, and the broader implications of gender dynamics in STEM disciplines.

Discussion Character

  • Debate/contested
  • Exploratory
  • Meta-discussion

Main Points Raised

  • Some participants express uncertainty about the visibility of female physicists on the forum, suggesting that there may be women present who are not actively participating.
  • One participant notes their own experience as a female student in physics and reflects on the lack of female peers in the field.
  • Another participant mentions their wife, who holds advanced degrees in physics and engineering, highlighting the presence of women in these fields outside of the forum.
  • There is a discussion about the classification of various scientific fields, with some participants questioning whether engineering and technology should be included under the umbrella of science.
  • Several participants share personal anecdotes about gender perceptions in the forum, including experiences of being misled by avatars and usernames.
  • A participant references a New York Times commentary discussing the historical and cultural biases against women in science, emphasizing the slow progress towards gender equality in these fields.
  • Some participants express frustration over the ongoing discrimination faced by women in STEM, citing both overt and covert biases that persist in academic and professional environments.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

The discussion reflects a lack of consensus on the visibility and representation of women in physics and related fields. While some participants share personal experiences that highlight the gender imbalance, others question the relevance of gender in the context of participation in the forum.

Contextual Notes

Participants express various assumptions about gender representation and visibility, and there are unresolved questions regarding the classification of scientific disciplines. The discussion also touches on broader societal attitudes towards women in STEM, which may influence participation and perception.

Who are you?

  • Total voters
    71
  • Poll closed .
Rach3
A casual comment in the "Gender Specific Fears" thread made me think:

zoobyshoe said:
OK. Assuming NoTime is a guy (the odds favor that assumption at PF)
It suddenly occurred to me that I can't think of any physics girls on PF (I don't know any in real life, either.) Are there really none here, or are there some who are not very visible?

I mean the gender imbalance in physics is well known, it frequently comes up in Physics Today letters and such.

The poll attached asks (for those in college or beyond) - what your college major/postgraduate field/real world occupation is, and to which gender you belong. I'm not distinguishing among the other sciences/occupations because I don't think there are enough of us for those kind of subgroups.

:frown:
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Physics news on Phys.org
hint: i'll be famous when I'm dead.
 
I'm still in school, but I want to be a physicist. So I'll just put physics down.
 
Female in Other Science/Math

I'm in general science right now doing preprofessional requirements for Medical Laboratory Science, but if that doesn't work I will be majoring in Biochemistry.
 
Male, non-science. I've never taken any kind of proper science course. In high school I had to take one course that was a catch-all introduction to physics, chemistry, and biology.
 
Male, Math.
 
Male, shmuck.

PS. better keep away from Marlon on this issue :smile:
 
My wife doesn't participate in PF, but she does have a B.Sc and an M.Sc in Physics, and an M.A.Sc in Material Science Engineering.
 
cyrusabdollahi said:
PS. better keep away from Marlon on this issue :smile:
I will just keep quiet.

marlon
 
  • #10
I work in physics at the moment, but I choose other science and math.
 
  • #11
Does science include medicine, engineering and technology, each of which may be considered applied science with varying degrees of applied mathematics? Otherwise, doctors, engineers and technologists, get thrown in the mix with non-scientists and lawyers (a class unto themselves :smile: ).
 
  • #12
Yeah, what's an engineer? I'd never admit to being a scientist (less so a mathematician).

Astro, I think we're special.
 
  • #13
I'm a female in technology. And using my technical powers, I added a technical category. :biggrin:
 
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  • #14
brewnog said:
Yeah, what's an engineer? I'd never admit to being a scientist (less so a mathematician).

Astro, I think we're special.
And modest too! :smile:

I am waiting for clarification before classification. :biggrin:

I would have put engineering and technology parenthetically with other science, as opposed to non-science meaning humanities, e.g. arts, literature, etc.
 
  • #15
Astronuc said:
I am waiting for clarification before classification. :biggrin:

I too will be waiting before I vote myself in... :cool:
 
  • #16
I don't think the female physicists of PF will weigh in here. I don't think I have ever seen them in GD.
 
  • #17
Math Is Hard said:
I don't think the female physicists of PF will weigh in here. I don't think I have ever seen them in GD.
I haven't either.
 
  • #18
lunarmansion said:
Well, I am back in college full time for a degree in Math and Physics after obtaining a degree in Philosophy and Classics. I have still a year and a half to finish my Math degree and three years ahead of me to finish my Physics degree, which makes three more years of full time college so I would not classify myself as in the Math or Physics cateogry until I finish my degree. Having finished all general requirements from my previous studies, I need to just finish the degree requirements for a second degree. As a female, I do think it is sad that not a lot of women like Mathematics and Physics. I only have one female friend that studies Physics and is about to begin her doctorate, and like me she finished a classics degree first.

Lots of school left.

Good luck with everything and hold on to that friend! :smile:
 
  • #19
Mech_Engineer said:
I too will be waiting before I vote myself in... :cool:

And what might your profession be, Mech Engineer?
 
  • #20
lunarmansion said:
Why should it matter if the people who post are male or female?
It makes a difference in the matter of cubercrushes. For example, there used to be a poster who always had a hot female avatar of one sort or another. Whe I found out it was a guy I felt I'd been distinctly mislead.
 
  • #21
zoobyshoe said:
It makes a difference in the matter of cubercrushes. For example, there used to be a poster who always had a hot female avatar of one sort or another. Whe I found out it was a guy I felt I'd been distinctly mislead.
Was that MacTech? Didn't he state in his signature that he was male, but no one ever read it. I think Danger also thought he was a girl. :biggrin:

WHO KEEPS MOVING THE SMILIES?
 
  • #22
Evo said:
WHO KEEPS MOVING THE SMILIES?


Whinge whinge whinge. It's always about the "who keeps moving the smilies" with you female technologists. :-p
 
  • #23
Evo said:
Was that MacTech? Didn't he state in his signature that he was male, but no one ever read it. I think Danger also thought he was a girl. :biggrin:
Yeah, it was MacTech. Signature aside, it's really a form of transvestitism. Made me suspicious of all the apparent women for a while.

In other cases, not knowing means you have to resort to the awkward s/he. I also recall Mr. Robin Parsons having some sort of crisis when he decided to wonder if I was male or female.
 
  • #24
Well I am male. :biggrin:

I put myself in other science, since I do a lot of applied math and physics in my work - which primarily involves simulations of nuclear fuel and systems (predictive analysis), thermo-mechanical analysis, failure and root cause analysis, and modeling the impact of radiation on the mechanical and thermophysical properties of materials, and how materials perform in their intended environment under normal and abnormal transient conditions.


Anyway, as for women in science and technology, the NY Times published a commentary on this very subject.

Numbers Are Male, Said Pythagoras, and the Idea Persists
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/03/science/03comm.html

By MARGARET WERTHEIM
Published: October 3, 2006
When I was a physics major in the late 1970’s, my very few fellow female students and I had high hopes that women would soon stand equal with men in science. But progress has proved slower than many of us imagined. A report last month by the National Academy of Sciences documents widespread bias against women in science and engineering and recommends a sweeping overhaul of our institutions.
While there may indeed be subtle biological differences contributing to the scarcity of women in the top ranks of science, interviews make clear that many female scientists continue to experience both overt and covert discrimination. [This really pisses me off! ]

The academy’s report is welcome, yet there is reason to believe that when it comes to the mathematically intensive sciences like physics and astronomy, it is not just bureaucracies that stand in the way.

Female physicists, astronomers and mathematicians are up against more than 2,000 years of convention that has long portrayed these fields as inherently male. Though women are no longer barred from university laboratories and scientific societies, the idea that they are innately less suited to mathematical science is deeply ingrained in our cultural genes.

Gail G. Hanson, who discovered quark jets, says that when women are awarded prizes, they’re “often treated even worse.”

It's time to change those negative attitudes.
 
  • #25
zoobyshoe said:
It makes a difference in the matter of cubercrushes. For example, there used to be a poster who always had a hot female avatar of one sort or another. Whe I found out it was a guy I felt I'd been distinctly mislead.
You mean Saint?
 
  • #26
BobG said:
You mean Saint?
:smile: :smile:
 
  • #27
BobG said:
You mean Saint?
Not Saint. Despite his avatar, Saint always found an excuse to post pictures of himself, his wife, and his kids in every thread he started.
 
  • #28
I am female. I am pursuing my Master's degree in Physics.
 

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