Women in Science

The Practice of Science

Generally, the practice of science occurs in three different venues—basic/research, teacher-scholar, and applied—with each having similar credentialing requirements and differing by level of credentialing needed but with strikingly similar challenges for women. The basic/research scientist focuses on studying essential disciplinary problems and issues with the goal of developing a theoretical understanding of a selected phenomenon (whether physical, social, or metaphysical). The physical scientists who work solely on research are also known as “bench” scientists, whereas others in the social sciences are known as research scientists. These practitioners focus solely on research, and their work takes place in a laboratory or field setting where their main interactions are with other research colleagues. For example, crystallographer Rosalind Franklin studied the structure of DNA while working in the laboratory and interacting with the now-famous James Watson, and biologist Barbara McClintock studied corn, grown in the fields she planted next to her house, to better understand its genetic properties.

The second venue in which scientists practice is as the teacher-scholar working in a school setting (usually college- or university-based) where their goals are twofold: to engage in research and publishing that contributes to how one understands the social, physical, and metaphysical worlds (similar to the research scientist) as well as to disseminate their knowledge to students in the classroom setting. The research conducted by the teacher-scholar ranges from the field and laboratory setting to other ways of collecting information through the use of surveys or using information collected by others. The teacher-scholar's social environment includes research colleagues, students, and school administrators. Biophysicist and acclaimed feminist scholar Evelyn Fox Keller, professor emeritus of the history and philosophy of science at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, worked with other scholars from across the world in studying the intersection of gender and science while mentoring students and teaching classes.

Finally, the applied scientist's goal is to use established knowledge, developed by the basic scientist and the teacher-scholar, to create solutions to real-world problems. Engineers and physicians represent the traditionally accepted examples of applied scientists, using knowledge from a variety of the physical sciences such as chemistry, physics, and biology. From the bridges over which we drive to the computers on which we access the Internet to the pacemakers that stabilize heart rhythms, the [Page 897]physical sciences allow us to literally control all aspects of our environment as well as to improve our physiological condition. For example, in the late 1800s Mary Walton invented one of the first devices to minimize pollution from the smoke being emitted by factories, and Dr. S. Josephine Baker was the first director of the New York City Bureau of Child Hygiene, the first such bureau in the country as well as the first woman to earn a doctorate in public health from the New York University and Bellevue Hospital Medical College. Additionally, the social sciences engage in applied science—in the areas of sociology, economics, psychology, political science, and anthropology—by using their accumulated disciplinary knowledge to address social, legal, and psychological problems. Most social policy is based on social science research and knowledge.

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