THE OUTLOOK FOR WOMEN IN THE

BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES

INTRODUCTION

Since biology is the science of life, its principal subdivisions are the sciences of zoology which deals with animals, including man, and of botany which deals with plants. The term "biologist," used rather loosely by others, is by scientists usually applied to one who studies both animal and plant life. The limnologist, for example, is a biologist who has specialized in the study of animal and plant life in fresh water, as the oceanographer has concentrated on the study of oceans and living organisms in them.

In contrast, most biological scientists specialize in animal or plant life and are accordingly called zoologists or botanists rather than biologists. They in turn may become expert in one of many specializations which have evolved in these sciences over the years such as: physiology (concerned with life processes) and genetics (concerned with breeding and heredity). These are mentioned in more detail in the separate discussions of botany and zoology which follow, and which also refer to their application to agriculture, forestry, and animal husbandry. Bacteriology has evolved more recently as a distinct biological science which, however, relates to chemistry as well. This, too, is discussed separately since it ranks relatively high among the sciences in its employment of women.

Any attempt to arrive at the number of men and women engaged in the biological sciences is subject not only to the difficulties of obtaining statistical information from widely scattered sources but also to those of classification in a group of sciences which are basic to so many fields. Table 1, therefore, which shows the numbers engaged in the biological sciences as taken from a voluntary registration in 1946, is presented merely to indicate the minimum number and proportion of women in the principal sciences in this group. Those who have taken degrees in medicine, dentistry, nursing, and human nutrition have not been included, except for unavoidable overlapping, because the outlook in most of those fields has been discussed in other bulletins of the Women's Bureau. Biochemistry has been included in the discussion on chemistry rather than under the biological sciences. The figures presented may well underestimate the total number and particularly the number of newcomers in the sciences who are not likely to be on organization and other lists used in obtaining a regis

tration by mail. However, the statistics do indicate that bacteriology, general biology, and general zoology rank highest in the number of women engaged in them, with general botany and physiology ranking next. The proportion of women is highest in general biology, bacteriology, and general botany, in all of which they form more than onefifth. In such applied agricultural and animal sciences as forestry, agronomy, and poultry breeding, women are as negligible in number as they are in engineering, an applied science in the physical field.

Table 1. Distribution by Specialization and Sex of Persons Registered in Biological Science With the National Roster of Scientific and Specialized Personnel, Dec. 31, 19461

1 This is by no means a complete listing of all scientists, but is a report of voluntary registrations. Younger workers especially are likely to be represented irɛdequately in a roster of this type.

2 Pharmacology and human nutrition have been omitted.

Source: National Roster of Scientific and Specialized Personnel (30)}

Botany as Defined by Webster's International Dictionary

Second Edition, Unabridged, 1947

"Botany-the science of plants: the branch of biology dealing with plant life. Botany, in its broadest sense, comprises many subordinate sciences, each with a distinctive terminology. The most important of these are: morphology, treating of form and structure (often only the external form); anatomy or histology, of internal structure; cytology, of the cell; physiology, of life processes; paleobotany, of fossil plants; ecology, of the relationships of plants and their environment; taxonomy or systematic botany, of plant classification; phytogeography, of distribution; pathology, of plant diseases; genetics, of plant breeding and heredity. Applied or economic botany deals with the uses of plants to mankind, * *thus forestry, pharmacognosy, horticulture, agriculture, etc., fall in greater or less degree within its province."

Courtesy American Association of University Women

Figure 2.-Contributions to cytogenetics through pioneer research with corn won for this botanist the 1947 American Association of University Women's Award for distinguished achievement by a woman scholar.

THE OUTLOOK FOR WOMEN IN BOTANY

Botanists are concerned with the science of plant life and have many possibilities of specialization within this science. Although they may be called by other names, such as taxonomist, cytologist, geneticist, they are basically botanists, and those who have not specialized so finely are usually known as botanists.

There are three main branches of botany, each of which is further broken down into finer areas of specialization. The three large divisions are:

1. Systematic botany, or taxonomy, which is concerned with the classification of plants including their identification, description, and nomenclature.

2. Plant morphology, the study of the form and structure of plants. Plant morphology is further subdivided into external morphology and histology, which includes anatomy, the study of internal structures; and cytology, the study of cell structure. Included too is morphogenesis, the study of the causes which determine form and structure.

3. Plant physiology, the study of the functions of plants. Other phases of botanical study are plant ecology, the relation between plants and various factors of their environment; plant geography, the geographical distribution of plants; and paleobotany, which deals with the structure and relationships of fossil plants. Botanical science is applied to practical problems in such fields as agronomy, horticulture, soil science, plant pathology, and forestry, among others.

The various specializations within the botanical field are too numerous to be discussed in detail in this bulletin (27). However, the broad base of fundamental botanical knowledge common to them all makes possible a considerable amount of transfer within the field. It also facilitates the teamwork among specialists in this field who attack together a problem which may involve, for example, physiology, genetics, and cytology. The woman who has a degree in botany is not restricted to a narrow occupational area. Especially if she has some knowledge of the sciences of chemistry, physics, and bacteriology, she will find a variety of jobs in which she can apply her training in botany. In this discussion, the outlook for women in botanical work in general is discussed, with special mention of a few of the specialties in which women are employed, on which information was available to the Women's Bureau: plant physiology, plant pathology, horticulture,