The Only Woman in the Room
Why Science Is Still a Boys' Club
Eileen Pollack
- **ONE
- OF
- WASHINGTON
- POST'S
- NOTABLE
- NONFICTION
- BOOKS
- OF
- THE
- YEARA
- bracingly
- honest
- exploration
- of
- why
- there
- are
- still
- so
- few
- women
- in
- STEM
- fields—“beautifully
- written
- and
- full
- of
- important
- insights”
- (Washington
- Post).**In
- 2005,
- when
- Lawrence
- Summers,
- then
- president
- of
- Harvard,
- asked
- why
- so
- few
- women,
- even
- today,
- achieve
- tenured
- positions
- in
- the
- hard
- sciences,
- Eileen
- Pollack
- set
- out
- to
- find
- the
- answer.
- A
- successful
- fiction
- writer,
- Pollack
- had
- grown
- up
- in
- the
- 1960s
- and
- ’70s
- dreaming
- of
- a
- career
- as
- a
- theoretical
- astrophysicist.
- Denied
- the
- chance
- to
- take
- advanced
- courses
- in
- science
- and
- math,
- she
- nonetheless
- made
- her
- way
- to
- Yale.
- There,
- despite
- finding
- herself
- far
- behind
- the
- men
- in
- her
- classes,
- she
- went
- on
- to
- graduate
- summa
- cum
- laude,
- with
- honors,
- as
- one
- of
- the
- university’s
- first
- two
- women
- to
- earn
- a
- bachelor
- of
- science
- degree
- in
- physics.
- And
- yet,
- isolated,
- lacking
- in
- confidence,
- starved
- for
- encouragement,
- she
- abandoned
- her
- ambition
- to
- become
- a
- physicist.Years
- later,
- spurred
- by
- the
- suggestion
- that
- innate
- differences
- in
- scientific
- and
- mathematical
- aptitude
- might
- account
- for
- the
- dearth
- of
- tenured
- female
- faculty
- at
- Summer’s
- institution,
- Pollack
- thought
- back
- on
- her
- own
- experiences
- and
- wondered
- what,
- if
- anything,
- had
- changed
- in
- the
- intervening
- decades.Based
- on
- six
- years
- interviewing
- her
- former
- teachers
- and
- classmates,
- as
- well
- as
- dozens
- of
- other
- women
- who
- had
- dropped
- out
- before
- completing
- their
- degrees
- in
- science
- or
- found
- their
- careers
- less
- rewarding
- than
- they
- had
- hoped,
- The
- Only
- Woman
- in
- the
- Room
- is
- a
- bracingly
- honest,
- no-holds-barred
- examination
- of
- the
- social,
- interpersonal,
- and
- institutional
- barriers
- confronting
- women—and
- minorities—in
- the
- STEM
- fields.
- This
- frankly
- personal
- and
- informed
- book
- reflects
- on
- women’s
- experiences
- in
- a
- way
- that
- simple
- data
- can’t,
- documenting
- not
- only
- the
- more
- blatant
- bias
- of
- another
- era
- but
- all
- the
- subtle
- disincentives
- women
- in
- the
- sciences
- still
- face.The
- Only
- Woman
- in
- the
- Room
- shows
- us
- the
- struggles
- women
- in
- the
- sciences
- have
- been
- hesitant
- to
- admit,
- and
- provides
- hope
- for
- changing
- attitudes
- and
- behaviors
- in
- ways
- that
- could
- bring
- far
- more
- women
- into
- fields
- in
- which
- even
- today
- they
- remain
- seriously underrepresented.
