Abstract

Women's careers in physics: Bound by the ropes of motherhood expectations and the gendered labor market

In spite of ongoing efforts to enhance gender equality in science in the academy, women constitute a scarce minority of the faculty staff in physics worldwide and the barriers for change are persistent. In Israel the gender imbalance is extremely severe, as women constitute only 6% of the academic staff in physics.

In this talk I will share findings from a research conducted in Israel within physics graduate students and postdocs aiming to explore their decision making regarding an academic career in physics.

Through the women stories, I will discuss the multiple and hidden ways in which gender operates as a power structure within the field of physics, inside the family and in the labor market. I will discuss how this power structure influences the women decision making regarding their career, and shapes the "deal" that physics as a male-centric environment offers to these talented young women.

The research was conducted in collaboration with Prof. Yossi Nir from the Particle Physics and Astrophysics department at Weizmann.