Gender, In(equity), and the Scientific Workforce

Gender hierarchies in the scientific workforce reflect and reinforce relations of status and power in societies. Concentrating on the United States and European Union, this chapter reveals deep and persistent gender disparities in participation by scientific field, and in performance, recognition, and rewards in scientific careers.  Explanations of these disparities lie within intersecting institutional influences including family/households, and in the culture, practices, and organizational structures of science. These are complex, multi-faceted matters.  So, too, are existing policy interventions and promising models for equity. The policies proposed in this chapter address features of the cultures, institutions, and organizations in which scientists live and work, and also reflect understandings of science as deeply intertwined with power, status, and means of social and organizational change.