As a political science major, I have spent hours reading countless pages of tedious readings, the vast majority of which are written by men. It is refreshing, empowering, and frankly, surprising when I come across the rare article written at least in part by a woman. So for my fellow students struggling to find those female academic role models (and inspiration to get through our plethora of readings), here are four women who have made waves in their respective fields that we can all look up to:
1. Elinor Ostrom (August 7, 1933- June 12, 2012)
Economics and Political Science
For all those Econ and Poli-Sci majors out there, Elinor Ostrom took the field of political economy by storm. Not only was she the first woman to receive the Johan Skytte Prize in Political Science, but she is the one and only woman to ever win the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences. She graduated from UCLA with both a B.A and Ph.D. in economics. Her resume is impressive, to say the least, but one of her most astounding accomplishments is her work with theories on property. Lee Anne Fennell, dubbed Ostrom’s work in the theoretical framework of property as “Ostrom’s Law,” in her article “Ostrom’s Law: Property rights in the commons” in the International Journal of the Commons. She taught at Indiana University where she co-founded the Workshop in Political Theory and Policy Analysis.
2. Janet Yellen (August 13, 1946- )
Economics
Janet Yellen, an American economist, is the definition of a trailblazing woman in her field. She was valedictorian of her graduating high school class, earned her degree in economics summa cum laude from Brown University, and earned her Ph.D. from Yale University. Not only has she been a distinguished lecturer at an array of impressive institutions, including Harvard, The London School of Economics and Political Science, and the Haas School of Business at the UC Berkeley, but she was appointed as the first woman Chair of the Federal Reserve by President Barack Obama. She has been listed by distinguished publications including Forbes as one of the most influential women in not only economics but in the world.
3. Mary Somerville (December 26, 1780 – November 29, 1872)
Science and Math
Mary Somerville, designated as the “Queen of Science” by The Morning Post in her obituary, was a so-called jack of all trades in both science and math. She conducted experiments exploring the relationship between light and magnetism, translated and wrote an impressive amount of textbooks that were widely distributed to universities worldwide, and synthesized scientific research in various publications. For all this work and more, Somerville, along with Caroline Herschel, became the first women members of the Royal Astronomical Society in 1835. In addition, she won multiple awards for her work, including the Patrons medal in 1869. Seven years after her death, Somerville college was founded at Oxford University for women seeking higher education.
4. Harriet Martineau (June 12, 1802 – June 27, 1876)
Sociology
Harriet Martineau was a British Social Theorist and is often cited as the first female sociologist. She also wrote on the subject of political economy and was the first to introduce ideas of marriage, religion, and race relations in the study of sociology. In the course of her life, she wrote 35 books and even more essays. The definition of a strong independent woman, Martineau earned enough by writing to completely support herself which was no small feat in the 19th century.
Images Obtained from:
http://www.egmo2018.org/blog/should-women-in-academia-man-up/
https://www.nu.nl/economie/2833415/nobelprijswinnaar-ostrom-overleden.html
http://www.pionline.com/article/20140822/ONLINE/140829956/yellen-facing-…
https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg23531320-600-mary-somerville-quee…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harriet_Martineau
Information Obtained from:
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/19390459.2014.941177
https://www.denverpost.com/2013/10/11/janet-yellen-a-brief-profile-of-th…
http://dangerouswomenproject.org/2017/03/08/mary-somerville-queen-science/