Ask A Scientist© Environmental Science Archive

Author:     dragonlady
Text:       I am just wondering if there is a higher representation of women 
in environmental science than other sciences. I think there might be because 
of the more holistic type of thinking that must occur and I think that women 
tend to have a more natural interest in protecting our "home." I could be 
wrong and 1 do not mean to offend anyone with this question.

Response #: 1 of 1
Author:     Don Libby
Text:       I am not sure if by "higher representation" you mean a 
professional association of women in environmental science, an archetype of 
the "inquisitive nurturer," or what, but here are my thoughts. There is a 
minor movement among feminist theorists known as "ecofeminism theory" that 
seems to embody some of the qualities you describe. You could probably find 
out more about this by asking feminist professors at UC Berkeley. It just 
occurs to me that by "higher representation" you mean a higher proportion of 
environmental scientists are women compared to other scientific professions. I 
am not sure if anyone has done this yet, but it might be interesting to 
compare the sex ratios of students and faculty in various different sciences 
to see if there is some sort of gender selection. Sounds like a good 
dissertation topic.