Women in the Chemical Workforce

For a period of history no women worked outside the home. Bust as years have gone by and society has changed, Women are working varying jobs every day. They are, however, underrepresented in some sectors of jobs. This includes women in the engineering and science fields. To matters worse, women do not ascend the career ladder as fast as or as far as men do.

The impact of this and related problems for science, the academic enterprise, the U.S. economy, and global economic competitiveness have been recently examined. The Chemical Sciences Roundtable evaluate that the demographics of the workforce and the implications for science and society vary, depending on the field of science or engineering. The roundtable has organized a workshop, "Women in the Chemical Workforce," to address issues pertinent to the chemical and chemical engineering workforce as a whole, with an emphasis on the advancement of women.

Women in the Chemical Workforce: A Workshop Report to the Chemical Sciences Roundtable includes reports regarding the workshop's three sessions—Context and Overview, Opportunities for Change, and Conditions for Success—as well as presentations by invited speakers, discussions within breakout groups, oral reports from each group.

• Front Matter
• Summary
• 1970-2000: A Less Than Golden Age for Women in Chemistry?
• The Advancement of Women in Science and Engineering
• Workforce for the 21st Century: The Federal Perspective
• Reports from the Breakout Sessions
• An Oddity No Longer: Women Scientists in Industry
• Title IX for Women in Academic Chemistry: Isn't a Millenium of Affirmative Action for White Men Sufficient?
• Remarks for the Chemical sciences Roundtable Dinner
• Reports from the Breakout Sessions
• Experience of women at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
• Reports from the Breakout Groups
• Appendix A: Workshop Participants
• Appendix B: Biographical Sketches of Workshop Speakers
• Appendix C: Origin of and Information on the Chemical Sciences Roundtable