Londa Schiebinger

Londa Schiebinger

Londa Schiebinger presenting the Gendered Innovations Project at the European Parliament.
Born (1952-05-13)May 13, 1952
Institutions EU/US Gendered Innovations in Science, Medicine, Engineering, and Environment Project
Alma mater Harvard University
Thesis Women and the origins of modern science (1984)
Spouse Robert Proctor
Children Geoffrey Schiebinger and Jonathan Proctor

Londa Schiebinger (born May 13, 1952) is the John L. Hinds Professor of History of Science, Stanford University and a leading international authority on gender and science. She received her Ph.D. from Harvard University in 1984. She is currently Director of EU/US Director of the EU/US Gendered Innovations in Science, Medicine, Engineering, and Environment Project.

Career

From 2004-2010, Schiebinger served as the Director of Stanford's Clayman Institute for Gender Research.[1] In 2010 and 2014, Schiebinger presented the keynote address and wrote the conceptual background paper[2] for the United Nations' Expert Group Meeting on Gender, Science, and Technology.[3] In 2013 she presented the Gendered Innovations[4] project at the European Parliament. She is known for her writings on the impacts of feminism in the fields of science.

Has Feminism Changed Science?
Schiebinger's book, Has Feminism Changed Science?, has been split into three sections: 'Women in Science', 'Gender in the Cultures of Science', and 'Gender in the Substance of Science'. Throughout the book, she describes the factors that led to the inequality between male and female in the science field. In addition, she gave examples of different types of women in the society. An important idea brought up in the book was the private versus the public, where the private sphere is seen as the domain of women and public sphere as an area refers for men. Another important point she brought up was that the idea of including women in the fields of science does not mean that the sciences will adopt a more feminist view point. A simple increase in the number of women in a given field does not change the culture of that field. The construction of gender and science is a cycle in that ideas of gender are brought to the table already when practicing science and can inform what evidence people look for or areas they choose to study, and that whatever is found then influences theories of gender. The various contradictions shown through the achievements and silencing of women in science throughout history shows how nature and the society can influence gender and science. Schiebinger not only addresses the gender in the context of science, she also describes the feminism is changed through the history and culture. It is important to note that the book is written from a Western perspective and that the culture she discusses is that of the Western World, and in many cases, more specifically, the United States.

The first of the books three sections takes a look at the impacts of some of the first women to be known to have participated in science, such as Christine de Pizan and Marie Curie.[5] The section also examines the numerical count of women in the various fields of science in academics in the late 20th century United States, as well as looking at the breakdown of other factors, such as pay rates and the level of degree held, in relation to gender.[6] The section goes on to theorize that the cultural reinforcement of gender roles may play a factor as to why there are fewer women in science.[7]

The second section, 'Gender in the Cultures of Science', argues that science has been gendered as being a masculine field and that women report a distaste for the excessive competition fostered by academic science.[8] The argument is also made in this section, that the splitting of gender roles in personal life, where women still take on a majority of domestic responsibilities, may be a reason that is hindering women in scientific fields from accomplishing more.[9]

The third section of the book, 'Gender in the substance of Science' details the perspectives that women have brought to fields such as medicine, primatology, archeology, biology, and physics. In fact, Schiebinger states that as of the writing of the book, that women earned nearly 80 percent of all Ph.D.'s in primatology, and yet, despite this, having a large number of women scientists in a field does not necessarily lead to a change in the assumptions of science, or the culture of science.[10]

Personal life

Her husband is Robert Proctor, and her children are Geoffrey Schiebinger and Jonathan Proctor.

Selected bibliography

Criticism

Peer-reviewed website

Awards

Schiebinger's awards have included[11]

References

External links

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