Alison Coil knows firsthand how difficult it is to get into the science field. She once submitted an application to the grant review panel. A white male also applied for the grant at the same. Both of the applicants had similar ideas.
Dr. Coil works as an astrophysicist at the University of California in San Diego. The reaction that she got from the panel was mixed. The women on the panel liked the ideas that she had. However, the one male on the panel did not like it. He stated that the woman was too ambitious. As a result of this, she did not get the grant.
Dr. Coil was hurt because she could not believe that someone would deny her a grant just because she was ambitious. There have been many campaigns made over the years that have raised awareness about how women are treated in the workplace. However, women are still underrepresented in the field of science. Only 10 to 20 percent of the jobs in science belong to women.
There are people who believe that women are incompetent just because they are females. In 2012, there was a study done that showed that faculty members were more likely to rate men as being competent. A major problem in the science field is that men are often unwilling to admit that gender biases do occur.
Women also have to deal with the fact that they are told that the only reason they got the job was because they are a woman. Gilda Barabino is a chemical engineer who works for The City College of New York. She goes around the country making suggestions to science groups. She has also helped women of color get a grant from the National Science Foundation.
Gilda is happy that women in science now have more support than ever. When Gilda graduated from college and started working, she did not have any support.
