One woman likes the unbalanced percentages between genders. She is used to working with men and admits the ratio gives her more visibility, with more positive than negative repercussions: ``People remember me much more than if I were a man.'' On the other hand, she noted that some men claim reverse discrimination, where women have received what they consider undeserved awards.
She also said, ``The women in the department are not particularly close, partly because there is such a small selection of us...The chances are small that we will find other women that we really want to be close with...Also, I think that most of us women are pretty strong and have learned how to survive without a support network. That's not to say it wouldn't be nice to have one, but I don't think there's a lot of interest - as long as life is not terrible for women, [we] might as well just get science (or one's private life) done, instead of meeting about being women in science.''
Another woman commented, ``During my many years of study, I came in contact with one female professor - first-year music. I had no role models. In fact I was often the only woman in my class. I was the only female PhD in my program and for many years the only female faculty member in my department.''
From another: ``I had few female peers and fewer female professors in graduate school. The ones who `made it' didn't have the time nor often the inclination to help younger female precolleagues.''
And from a leader: ``I have a selfish motivation in wanting more women to participate in the field. When a group wants a woman to give a speech, I am often the one called. I need to have others share the work load.''
Many women raised the issue of tokenism. ``I don't like being the sole person fighting a battle...There is a critical mass needed in both race and gender: You need about one-third representation before you escape from tokenism. Lower than this, it's hard to keep good female workers.''