This is my final project for a class in Women Studies 488
at the University of Washington, taught by Professor Angela B. Ginorio.

During Autumn Quarter 2003, our studies revolved around women scientists and their accomplishments as well as their struggles to succeed in a male-dominated field. We looked at the meaning of science as a profession for both men and women, and as a way of discovering the world around us.

We analyzed science through a feminist critique because it remains an excellent way of exposing gender bias and helps scientists avoid errors in their research. The feminist movement has refused to allow women to be marginalized any further, thus creating the climate to more adequately address women's needs alongside men's.

We studied the biographies of Nobel Prize-winning women to enhance our understanding of the roles women play in the scientific establishment. Socially defined identities of women of all color played a prominent part in our learning process, as we looked at how attitudes in society influence the choices girls and women make regardless of their natural abilities or interest levels. Many women who have won Nobel Prizes survived great odds to make discoveries that have literally changed the world, saving millions of lives through their scientific and medical research. Where might we be today if they had been successfully oppressed simply because they were born female?

This website features short summaries of the women who have won Nobel Prizes or contributed to them, a woman scientist from antiquity, and a survey I conducted with fifth-grade students regarding their attitudes toward careers in science.

This project was written and designed by Nancy Rudolph.
December 9, 2003.