When does science cease to become a tool for discovering truth, and becomes a means to defend a notion that society already believes? When a justification for inequality collapses, does it truly disappear, or is another explanation devised to fit it into contemporary standards?Â
As an aspiring scientist, I often find myself thinking about these questions. Science is often regarded as objective, governed by evidence and quantitative data rather than whim. Yet, probing through history reveals this reality is quite complicated.
Five years after the University of California, Berkeley was founded, Dr. Edward Clarke published Sex in Education (1873), in which he argued that women were biologically unsuited for the demands of higher education and labor. He drew upon the prominent belief that the body possessed a certain finite reserve of energy, contending that intellectual exertion would divert energy vital for a women’s reproductive organ. In his view, education was a direct threat to fertility. What surprised me the most about his argument is his belief that the classroom can become a hazard, intellectual ambition a risk to the body, and women’s exclusion from higher education something supposedly rational.Â
Women have the amazing ability to bring human life into the world, endure the intensive physical transformations that follow the long journey of menstruation and hormonal shifts, and shoulder caregiving with professional responsibilities. Yet, beyond biological birth, women have continuously birthed ideas, movements, reforms, arts, businesses, and communities that have fundamentally reshaped human society.
“Yet, beyond biological birth, women have continuously birthed ideas, movements, reforms, arts, businesses, and communities that have fundamentally reshaped human society.”
Ada Lovelace wrote the first computer algorithm, which laid the groundwork for predicting the future of computing. She was the first to understand that a machine’s knowledge extends beyond just calculation.
A century later, Margaret Hamilton led the software engineering team for NASA’s Apollo program, and made the onboard flight software used for moon-landing.
Sarah Breedlove, the first female self-made millionaire in America, developed a hair care product for African American hair after realizing that her and many Black women struggled with hair loss and scalp disease due to harsh hair products. She built a hair-care enterprise during a time when racial and gender discrimination largely restricted such economic opportunities, and used her influence to make donations to African American schools and orphanages.
Frida Kahlo, through her self-portraits which explored personal identity and themes of mortality, created art that became a beacon for the feminist movement. Dr. Ann Tsukamoto co-patented a process needed to isolate human cell steps, advancing stem cell applications for treating cancer and other diseases.Â
The list is endless. In every facet of human achievement is a woman’s sweat, blood, and tears poured. Across time and disciplines, women’s intellect, persistence, and creativity have left a remarkable mark.Â
“In every facet of human achievement is a woman’s sweat, blood, and tears.”
Yet, Dr. Clarke’s words showcase that women have nevertheless been denied access to the very institutions and education that produce scientific knowledge by people of power. While the language regarding these interpretations change over time, restrictions still remain, with women continuing to earn less than men, being a minority in leadership, and performing more unpaid domestic labor.Â
Scientific progress undoubtedly depends on discovery, but unleashing its full potential is contingent on recognizing when societal beliefs cloud and leave perspectives unexamined or probed.
Women have continuously challenged the boundaries forced upon them by fighting to enter universities, hospitals, positions of power, and other areas where their presence was seen as inappropriate. Following their example, science must continually challenge the authority of conclusions, as well as the laws and societal systems built upon them.