Words from the WISE: investigating women in science, 1830-2012

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'Words from the WISE: women in science 1830-2012' is a research network which aims to stimulate cross-disciplinary (both academic and non-academic) debate of the position of women in science today. Although WISE usually refers to Women in Science and Engineering, in the context of this project we also include technology and mathematics (which with Science and Engineering make up the STEM subjects) and medicine. The network will be composed of thirty or so participants who can bring a wide breadth of knowledge to the table, be they academic historians interested in how women first broke into the male enclave of science, to sociologists and policy makers concerned that women scientists still have a long way to go to achieve parity in representation at all levels. The aim is to generate new ideas concerning the application of an historical understanding of female scientists' experience of science, particularly through learned societies, to contemporary imbalances, with regard to participation of women in science, persistence in scientific careers and achievement. The network will examine what might be learned through a better understanding of female scientists' historical interactions with learned societies, such as the Royal Society and Royal Institution, the Royal Society of Chemistry, the Institute for Engineering and Technology, or the Royal College of Physicians, to name a few. It is, after all, through these prestigious organisations that the fruits of imagination, argument, creativity, discovery and curiosity have largely been published, celebrated and rewarded, yet the history of women's interaction with them has not been fully explored and documented. Our proposed network will bring participants together to discuss the theme from several perspectives, in a series of UK-based workshops. Participants will bring expertise in historical and archival research, the use of biographical and autobiographical sources (including oral history), and social science research methods. By sharing cross disciplinary methodologies we will explore what each group might learn from the other in a wider history of how gender affects authority, expertise, trust and engagement in science. A two-day conference is planned, to accumulate and share views from international participants to enable a cross-border and cross-cultural exchange of ideas.The international perspective of this programme is reflected in the presence of scholars from Europe and the United States on the project's steering committee.The key scientific figures, institutions and research questions identified during the network debates will form the basis of a large scale archival research proposal. If the position of women in science is to be improved (and current experience suggests that large pools of talent are being lost to science with a concomitant effect on the competitiveness of the British economy), such research is essential to understanding why it is happening and how to correct it.The project will also produce more immediate outcomes which will have an impact on archival policies of the learned societies which participate, and a number of other short term outcomes. These are discussed in detail in the Impact Summary.This is a collaborative project led by Kingston University with support from The Royal Society, The Rothschild Archive, London and Liverpool University. Individuals from a range of educational, public and professional institutions have already agreed to participate in the management of the project and in the network itself.