The opinions expressed herein are those of the author, and not necessarily those of The New Agenda.

Everyday I search on the internet for news in regard to women in physics.  I love to hear what is going on in my field and what female physicist is being celebrated for either their contributions to research or for supporting other women coming up the academic/industrial ladder.  When I receive my optics monthly publication from my professional society I specifically look through the table of contents to seek out female authors and catch up with their specialty in our shared discipline.

Am I obsessive about this?  Yes, yes I am.  My reason is that I have a very strong need to secure my knowledge that women are successful in physics and that there are many female leaders who are opening doors for many more future female physicists.  My searches lead to many resonance moments for me.  Resonance is a term in optics to describe light that is bouncing back and forth within the walls of a cavity.  If the cavity parameters fall within certain length conditions and there is nothing absorbing the light as it reflects off of the walls or travels throughout the cavity it can be amplified (or increased in strength) at certain wavelengths.  Lasers wouldn’t exist if it wasn’t for resonance.  Resonance only requires small driving forces to create a very large increase in amplitude.

A resonance moment for me is when I learn of a challenge that a woman has overcome in the field of physics that has been specific to her because of her gender.   When women share their successes with other women, showing paths taken that increased their upward mobility it increases other women’s ability to overcome or even avoid similar challenges.  OK, you English majors out there will use the term resonate because you believe I find a connection with a topic discussed.  But since I obsessively seek out this information about many women, every day, in my small discipline of physics, and the many women’s small contributions make a rather large impact, resonance is the more appropriate term.

So I will let you know about the resonance moment I had today.  In my daily search for the words women and physics I found out about a program in Chicago sponsored by the Women’s Board of the Adler Planetarium.  The program happened in May and involved engaging 270 middle school age girls in scientific lectures and activities.  What caught my attention was the honoree at the proceedings, Dr. Meg Urry.  Dr. Urry is the Director of the Yale Center for Astronomy and Astrophysics as well as the Chair of the Physics Department at Yale University.  I did a search on Dr. Urry and came across a brilliant piece that she authored in the Washington Post back in 2005 entitled Diminished by Discrimination We Scarcely See.

I want to share some of the many poignant topics she addressed:

…Discrimination isn’t a thunderbolt, it isn’t an abrupt slap in the face. It’s the slow drumbeat of being underappreciated, feeling uncomfortable and encountering roadblocks along the path to success. These subtle distinctions help make women feel out of place…

…I remember two professors having a dinner conversation in my presence about the inferiority of women scientists who had been hired because of affirmative action. (When I mentioned this to the man who’d hired me, he hastened to assure me that it didn’t apply to me.) My ambition to be an academic was sometimes met with encouragement, but one male professor told me, “Oh, we would never hire you.” And discouragement always makes a bigger impression than encouragement…

…But work was never equal. When I told my thesis adviser I was pregnant, he said, “So, you want to have it all!” I smiled but later thought, Wait a minute, isn’t that what all you guys have? Why is it “all” for me and “normal” for you?…

…On hiring committees or tenure and promotion committees I served on, we’d evaluate men and women, and somehow the women seldom came out on top. They were “good,” even “very good” but the men were always better. Some of this was caused by letters of recommendation. Every woman was always compared to other women, as if every woman scientist is female first and a scientist second. Also, women’s letters were somehow more pedestrian — the candidate “works hard” and she “has a nice personality,” “gets along well with others.” Once you see the patterns, you realize that these evaluations reflect people’s expectations more than reality…

Dr. Urry has been the driving force in programs in Astronomy that discuss and further address the discrimination that women face.  She also excels in her field and sets a wonderful precedent for young women entering physics related fields.  Her small contributions have very dramatic results in my opinion.  Enjoy this resonance moment, I know I am!