Monday, November 02, 2009

High School Senior Thesis Survey - Women in Science Careers

A high school student conducting research on women in science contacted me for assistance with a survey, the results of which will be used in her high school senior thesis. The student wrote:

At my school, students are required to conduct a year-long senior thesis project in which they research a topic of their choice. I chose to research the current status of women in science careers.

Part of my methodology is to distribute a short survey to men and women in science careers to determine their attitudes toward their field and their work.


Perhaps because I am a physical scientist and therefore deeply ignorant about the ethics of surveys, I see no reason not to post this survey on my blog and request that anyone who is interested fill it out and help this student with her thesis project. Also, I am impressed that a high school student would select this topic, so I'd like to help her out.

Survey answers can either be posted as a comment to this blog or sent by email to bursuz@gmail.com.

High School Senior Thesis Survey : Women in Science Careers

Sex:
[ ]Male [ ]Female

Level of Education:
[ ]Undergraduate [ ]Postgraduate [ ]Postdoctoral

Field(s):
[ ]Astronomy [ ]Biology [ ]Chemistry [ ]Engineering [ ]Geology [ ]Physics
Specialization: _______________
Occupation: _________________

Why did you decide to pursue a science-based career? (Check all that apply.)
[ ] Love of science
[ ] Personal ambition
[ ] Interest in monetary gain
[ ] Lack of other options
[ ] Encouragement from others
- Who encouraged you? ____________
[ ] Inspiration from others
- Who inspired you? _______________
[ ] Other reasons
- Please specify: __________________

Have you ever strongly considered leaving your field or career? [ ]Yes [ ]No
- If so, why were you considering to do this? ______________________
- Why did you decide to remain in your field or career? ______________

How accurately do the following statements describe your experiences?
1 means "very inaccurately", while 5 means "very accurately".
- I love my field of science.
1 2 3 4 5
- I am happy with my career.
1 2 3 4 5
- My career can be overwhelming at times.
1 2 3 4 5
- I have loved science since high school or younger.
1 2 3 4 5
- It has been easy for me to balance career and family responsibilities.
1 2 3 4 5
- How many children do you have?____

103 comments:

brooklebee said...

Sex:
[ ]Male [X]Female

Level of Education:
[ ]Undergraduate [X]Postgraduate [ ]Postdoctoral

Field(s):
[ ]Astronomy [X]Biology [ ]Chemistry [ ]Engineering [ ]Geology [ ]Physics
Specialization: _____Evolution__________
Occupation: ____PhD Candidate_____________

Why did you decide to pursue a science-based career? (Check all that apply.)
[X] Love of science
[X] Personal ambition
[ ] Interest in monetary gain
[ ] Lack of other options
[X] Encouragement from others
- Who encouraged you? ____Several teachers/professors________
[X] Inspiration from others
- Who inspired you? ___My undergraduate thesis advisor (male, mid 40s, tenured prof at liberal arts college)____________
[ ] Other reasons
- Please specify: __________________

Have you ever strongly considered leaving your field or career? [X]Yes [ ]No
- If so, why were you considering to do this? ___Unsure if academia is for me___________________
- Why did you decide to remain in your field or career? _____I haven't totally yet, but mostly because out of all the other options I can see, academia seems most intersting_________

How accurately do the following statements describe your experiences?
1 means "very inaccurately", while 5 means "very accurately".
- I love my field of science.
5
- I am happy with my career.
4
- My career can be overwhelming at times.
5
- I have loved science since high school or younger.
5
- It has been easy for me to balance career and family responsibilities.
2 --I don't have many of the latter (yet)
- How many children do you have?__0__

Anonymous said...

I am guessing this comment thread will also help us learn what is the gender distribution of readers of your blog (and also their fields)

As far as my humble self goes:

Sex:
[X]Male [ ]Female

Level of Education:
[ ]Undergraduate [ ]Postgraduate [X]Postdoctoral

Field(s):
[ ]Astronomy [ ]Biology [ ]Chemistry [ ]Engineering [ ]Geology [ ]Physics
Specialization: Mathematics!!!!!!!
Occupation: __Postdoc_______________

Why did you decide to pursue a science-based career? (Check all that apply.)
[X] Love of science
[X] Personal ambition
[ ] Interest in monetary gain
[ ] Lack of other options
[ ] Encouragement from others
- Who encouraged you? ____________
[ ] Inspiration from others
- Who inspired you? _______________
[ ] Other reasons
- Please specify: __________________

Have you ever strongly considered leaving your field or career? [ ]Yes [X]No
- If so, why were you considering to do this? ______________________
- Why did you decide to remain in your field or career? ___only thing I know how to do___________

How accurately do the following statements describe your experiences?
1 means "very inaccurately", while 5 means "very accurately".
- I love my field of science.
1 2 3 4 5 Ans: 5
- I am happy with my career.
1 2 3 4 5 Ans: 4
- My career can be overwhelming at times.
1 2 3 4 5 Ans: 5
- I have loved science since high school or younger.
1 2 3 4 5 Ans: 5
- It has been easy for me to balance career and family responsibilities.
1 2 3 4 5 Ans: 5 (simple: dont have any)
- How many children do you have?____ 0

How dare someone leave out Mathematics from the list of fields? grrrrrrr .....

me?scientist said...

I tried to email to the student, but there seems to be a problem with the address. Posting reply here instead.

High School Senior Thesis Survey : Women in Science Careers

Sex:
[ ]Male [X]Female

Level of Education:
[ ]Undergraduate [ ]Postgraduate [X]Postdoctoral

Field(s):
[ ]Astronomy [X]Biology [ ]Chemistry [ ]Engineering [ ]Geology [ ]Physics
Specialization: __Neurobiology_____________
Occupation: _______Associate Professor at a major research univeristy__________

Why did you decide to pursue a science-based career? (Check all that apply.)
[X] Love of science
[X] Personal ambition
[ ] Interest in monetary gain
[ ] Lack of other options
[X] Encouragement from others
- Who encouraged you? _many others - teachers, family, ___________
[ ] Inspiration from others
- Who inspired you? _______________
[ ] Other reasons
- Please specify: __________________

Have you ever strongly considered leaving your field or career? [X]Yes [ ]No
- If so, why were you considering to do this? _____Yes - very difficult funding situation at NIH in the last several years___
- Why did you decide to remain in your field or career? __pig-headedness_____

How accurately do the following statements describe your experiences?
1 means "very inaccurately", while 5 means "very accurately".
- I love my field of science.
2
- I am happy with my career.
2
- My career can be overwhelming at times.
1 2
- I have loved science since high school or younger.
1
- It has been easy for me to balance career and family responsibilities.
4
- How many children do you have?_1___

Jamie Bougher said...

Sex:
[ ]Male [X]Female

Level of Education:
[X]Undergraduate [ ]Postgraduate [ ]Postdoctoral

Field(s):
[ ]Astronomy [ ]Biology [ ]Chemistry [ ]Engineering [ ]Geology [X]Physics
Specialization: High Energy Particle
Occupation: Graduate Student

Why did you decide to pursue a science-based career? (Check all that apply.)
[X] Love of science
[X] Personal ambition
[ ] Interest in monetary gain
[ ] Lack of other options
[X] Encouragement from others
- Who encouraged you? Parents. Teachers.
[ ] Inspiration from others
- Who inspired you? _______________
[ ] Other reasons
- Please specify: __________________

Have you ever strongly considered leaving your field or career? [ ]Yes [X]No
- If so, why were you considering to do this? ______________________
- Why did you decide to remain in your field or career? ______________

How accurately do the following statements describe your experiences?
1 means "very inaccurately", while 5 means "very accurately".
- I love my field of science.
4
- I am happy with my career.
4
- My career can be overwhelming at times.
4
- I have loved science since high school or younger.
5
- It has been easy for me to balance career and family responsibilities.
3
- How many children do you have?0

Angry Professor said...

That's a pretty limited list of sciences. Which means I can't fill out the survey.

Anonymous said...

Sex:
Female

Level of Education:
Postdoctoral

Field(s):
Chemistry
Specialization: Materials
Occupation: Professor

Why did you decide to pursue a science-based career? (Check all that apply.)
Love of science
Encouragement from others
- Who encouraged you?
High school teacher, undergraduate and graduate advisor


Have you ever strongly considered leaving your field or career?
[ ]Yes -
If so, why were you considering to do this? too much work without much sense of recognition; lack of balance of life aspirations

- Why did you decide to remain in your field or career? Can't accept the idea that I would be yet another person to leave... want to set an example

Anonymous said...

Not a comment on today's post but I thought this obituary would be relevant to the blog:
http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/obituaries/articles/2009/11/02/alice_schafer_94_math_professor_breached_social_barriers/?page=2

a physicist said...

Sex:
[X]Male [ ]Female

Level of Education:
[ ]Undergraduate [ ]Postgraduate [X]Postdoctoral

(I am a professor right now and I did one postdoc.)

Field(s):
[ ]Astronomy [ ]Biology [ ]Chemistry [ ]Engineering [ ]Geology [X]Physics
Specialization: _______________
Occupation: _________________

Why did you decide to pursue a science-based career? (Check all that apply.)
[X] Love of science
[ ] Personal ambition
[ ] Interest in monetary gain
[ ] Lack of other options
[X] Encouragement from others
- Who encouraged you? _parents__
[X] Inspiration from others
- Who inspired you? ___father______
[X] Other reasons
- Please specify: _was good at it_____

Have you ever strongly considered leaving your field or career? [ ]Yes [X]No
- If so, why were you considering to do this? ______________________
- Why did you decide to remain in your field or career? ______________

How accurately do the following statements describe your experiences?
1 means "very inaccurately", while 5 means "very accurately".
- I love my field of science. 5
- I am happy with my career. 5
- My career can be overwhelming at times. 3
- I have loved science since high school or younger. 5
- It has been easy for me to balance career and family responsibilities.
3
- How many children do you have?__1

MGS said...

Sex:
[ ]Male [X]Female

Level of Education:
[ ]Undergraduate [X]Postgraduate [ ]Postdoctoral

Field(s):
[ ]Astronomy [X]Biology [ ]Chemistry [ ]Engineering [ ]Geology [ ]Physics
Specialization: ___Computational Neuroscience___
Occupation: ___Graduate Student_____

Why did you decide to pursue a science-based career? (Check all that apply.)
[X] Love of science
[X] Personal ambition
[ ] Interest in monetary gain
[ ] Lack of other options
[ ] Encouragement from others
- Who encouraged you? ____________
[ ] Inspiration from others
- Who inspired you? _______________
[X] Other reasons
- Please specify: ___It's my calling___

Have you ever strongly considered leaving your field or career? [X]Yes [ ]No
- If so, why were you considering to do this? __Was actively discouraged__
- Why did you decide to remain in your field or career? __Realized it was the best choice for me, Found some mentors to support me, Bolstered by blogs____

How accurately do the following statements describe your experiences?
1 means "very inaccurately", while 5 means "very accurately".
- I love my field of science.
5
- I am happy with my career.
5
- My career can be overwhelming at times.
5
- I have loved science since high school or younger.
2
- It has been easy for me to balance career and family responsibilities.
2
- How many children do you have?__0__

Professor in Training said...

Sex:
[ ]Male [X]Female

Level of Education:
[ ]Undergraduate [ ]Postgraduate [X]Postdoctoral

Field(s):
[ ]Astronomy [X]Biology [ ]Chemistry [ ]Engineering [ ]Geology [ ]Physics
Specialization: _Physiology_________
Occupation: _Assistant professor_

Why did you decide to pursue a science-based career? (Check all that apply.)
[X] Love of science
[ ] Personal ambition
[ ] Interest in monetary gain
[ ] Lack of other options
[ ] Encouragement from others
- Who encouraged you? ____________
[ ] Inspiration from others
- Who inspired you? _______________
[ ] Other reasons
- Please specify: __________________

Have you ever strongly considered leaving your field or career? [X]Yes [ ]No
- If so, why were you considering to do this? There's a lot of stress with no certain future with is frustrating given how much education and training is required to get to this point
- Why did you decide to remain in your field or career? _I love it too much to give it up

How accurately do the following statements describe your experiences?
1 means "very inaccurately", while 5 means "very accurately".
- I love my field of science.
5
- I am happy with my career.
4
- My career can be overwhelming at times.
5
- I have loved science since high school or younger.
4
- It has been easy for me to balance career and family responsibilities.
4
- How many children do you have?__0__


Best of luck with your thesis :)

Miss Outlier said...

High School Senior Thesis Survey : Women in Science Careers

Sex:
[ ]Male [X]Female

Level of Education:
[ ]Undergraduate [X]Postgraduate [ ]Postdoctoral

Field(s):
[ ]Astronomy [ ]Biology [ ]Chemistry [X]Engineering [ ]Geology [ ]Physics
Specialization: __mechanical engineer
Occupation: _graduate student

Why did you decide to pursue a science-based career? (Check all that apply.)
[ ] Love of science
[X] Personal ambition
[X] Interest in monetary gain
[ ] Lack of other options
[X] Encouragement from others
- Who encouraged you? _parents__
[X] Inspiration from others
- Who inspired you? __father___
[X] Other reasons
- Please specify: _I have always loved being creative and building things (not necessarily the science, but that comes with the territory...)_________________

Have you ever strongly considered leaving your field or career? [X]Yes [ ]No
- If so, why were you considering to do this? _because I love being creative and building things, so I wanted to be a graphic designer or a landscape architect___
- Why did you decide to remain in your field or career? other field were too easy - not a challenge

How accurately do the following statements describe your experiences?
1 means "very inaccurately", while 5 means "very accurately".
- I love my field of science.
5
- I am happy with my career.
4
- My career can be overwhelming at times.
3
- I have loved science since high school or younger.
2
- It has been easy for me to balance career and family responsibilities.
4
- How many children do you have? 0

Miss Outlier said...

Oh, I forgot - under why I decided to stay, definitely add "I was good at it."

Wouldn't be here if I wasn't good at what I do.

Eilat said...

High School Senior Thesis Survey : Women in Science Careers

Sex:
[ ]Male [x]Female

Level of Education:
[ ]Undergraduate [ ]Postgraduate [x]Postdoctoral

Field(s):
[x]Astronomy [ ]Biology [ ]Chemistry [ ]Engineering [ ]Geology [ ]Physics
Specialization: Observational Cosmology
Occupation: Lecturer/Postoctoral Fellow

Why did you decide to pursue a science-based career? (Check all that apply.)
[x] Love of science
[x] Personal ambition
[ ] Interest in monetary gain
[ ] Lack of other options
[ ] Encouragement from others
- Who encouraged you? ____________
[x] Inspiration from others
- Who inspired you? Carl Sagan
[ ] Other reasons
- Please specify: __________________

Have you ever strongly considered leaving your field or career? [x]Yes [ ]No
- If so, why were you considering to do this? I was having difficulties balancing my family (small baby at the time) and my work. Didn't feel that my contributions were being valued. Belonged to a highly dysfunctional research group.
- Why did you decide to remain in your field or career? I won a prestigious fellowship that allowed me more flexibility with my time and eased my doubts about my abilities.

How accurately do the following statements describe your experiences?
1 means "very inaccurately", while 5 means "very accurately".
- I love my field of science.
4
- I am happy with my career.
3
- My career can be overwhelming at times.
5
- I have loved science since high school or younger.
4
- It has been easy for me to balance career and family responsibilities.
1
- How many children do you have? 2

Anonymous said...

There should be an "other" option under field(s). Although not a "hard" science, the social sciences should be included. So I just added in my field - cognitive experimental psychology. I think this is great, I hope the student sends you the results of her study.

Anonymous said...

Sex:
[ ]Male [x]Female

Level of Education:
[ ]Undergraduate [ ]Postgraduate [x]Postdoctoral

Field(s):
[ ]Astronomy [x]Biology [ ]Chemistry [ ]Engineering [ ]Geology [ ]Physics
Specialization: _Epigenetics______________
Occupation: ___Postdoctoral fellow______________

Why did you decide to pursue a science-based career? (Check all that apply.)
[x] Love of science
[ ] Personal ambition
[ ] Interest in monetary gain
[ ] Lack of other options
[ ] Encouragement from others
- Who encouraged you? ____________
[x] Inspiration from others
- Who inspired you? _Marie Curie______________
[ ] Other reasons
- Please specify: __________________

Have you ever strongly considered leaving your field or career? [ ]Yes [x]No
- If so, why were you considering to do this? ______________________
- Why did you decide to remain in your field or career? ______________

How accurately do the following statements describe your experiences?
1 means "very inaccurately", while 5 means "very accurately".
- I love my field of science.
5
- I am happy with my career.
4
- My career can be overwhelming at times.
5
- I have loved science since high school or younger.
5
- It has been easy for me to balance career and family responsibilities.
4 (havent had too many family responsibilities till now)
- How many children do you have? 0

Natalie said...

Absolutely commendable for the high school student to choose this as a project. It struck me immediately while reading the responses - eight females responded, seven past the undergrad stage and all seven had thought about leaving their profession (although for various reasons). Of the two males who responded, neither had considered leaving. So. interesting. Thanks for sharing FSP!

Anonymous said...

This is great--I sent mine on to the student
Mark P

Sex:
[X]Male [ ]Female

Level of Education:
[ ]Undergraduate [ ]Postgraduate [X]Postdoctoral

Field(s):
[ ]Astronomy [XBiology [ ]Chemistry [ ]Engineering [ ]Geology [ ]Physics
Specialization: Cell and developmental Biology
Occupation: Professor

Why did you decide to pursue a science-based career? (Check all that apply.)
[X] Love of science
[ ] Personal ambition
[ ] Interest in monetary gain
[ ] Lack of other options
[X] Encouragement from others
- Who encouraged you? A naturalist who worked at a nature center affiliated with my school district in elementary-high school, a great (female) biology professor in college, a professor at a major university where I got my first research experience before grad school, and my Ph. D and postdoc advisors
[X] Inspiration from others
a great (female) biology professor in college, a professor at a major university where I got my first research experience before grad school, and my Ph. D and postdoc advisors
[ ] Other reasons
- Please specify: __________________

Have you ever strongly considered leaving your field or career? [ ]Yes [X]No
- If so, why were you considering to do this? I did think hard when I was looking for jobs about whether I wanted to work at a Research I University or a small college.
- Why did you decide to remain in your field or career? ______________

How accurately do the following statements describe your experiences?
1 means "very inaccurately", while 5 means "very accurately".
- I love my field of science.
5
- I am happy with my career.
4
- My career can be overwhelming at times.
4
- I have loved science since high school or younger.
3
- It has been easy for me to balance career and family responsibilities.
2
- How many children do you have?_2_

DisgruntledFemalePostdoc said...

Sex:
[ ]Male [X]Female

Level of Education:
[ ]Undergraduate [ ]Postgraduate [X]Postdoctoral

Field(s):
[ ]Astronomy [ ]Biology [ ]Chemistry [ ]Engineering [ ]Geology [X]Physics
Specialization: _____Theory__________
Occupation: _____Postdoc____________

Why did you decide to pursue a science-based career? (Check all that apply.)
[X] Love of science
[ ] Personal ambition
[ ] Interest in monetary gain
Hahahahaha (sorry...)
[ ] Lack of other options
[ ] Encouragement from others
- Who encouraged you? ____________
[X] Inspiration from others
- Who inspired you? ____Uncle___________
[ ] Other reasons
- Please specify: __________________

Have you ever strongly considered leaving your field or career? [X]Yes [ ]No
- If so, why were you considering to do this? ___"Women should go back to the kitchen where they belong"-attitude that still prevails today_____
- Why did you decide to remain in your field or career? ____I can't cook__________

How accurately do the following statements describe your experiences?
1 means "very inaccurately", while 5 means "very accurately".
- I love my field of science.
5
- I am happy with my career.
1
- My career can be overwhelming at times.
5
- I have loved science since high school or younger.
5
- It has been easy for me to balance career and family responsibilities.
1
- How many children do you have?__0__

Anonymous said...

As someone who is familiar with the ethics of surveys...there is a limitation to using voluntary response data like this. People reading this blog are likely different than people in science fields in general (e.g. they are likely women or men who are sensitive to gender issues). That is something the students should keep in mind when considering her results. Don't make sweeping generalities about all women in any science field; results from this blog are likely only relevant to readers of this blog. (Incidentally, my science field is not listed, so I cannot provide a response.)

Sally said...

Sex:
[ ]Male [X]Female

Level of Education:
[ ]Undergraduate [ ]Postgraduate [X]Postdoctoral

Field(s):
[X]Astronomy [ ]Biology [ ]Chemistry [ ]Engineering [ ]Geology [ ]Physics
Specialization: ___Planetary Science_____
Occupation: ___Assistant Professor_____

Why did you decide to pursue a science-based career? (Check all that apply.)
[X] Love of science
[X] Personal ambition
[ ] Interest in monetary gain
[ ] Lack of other options
[X] Encouragement from others
- Who encouraged you? ___My undergraduate advisor____
[X] Inspiration from others
- Who inspired you? __My grandmother, a chemistry professor___
[ ] Other reasons
- Please specify: __________________

Have you ever strongly considered leaving your field or career? [X]Yes [ ]No
- If so, why were you considering to do this? __I was worried about not getting a permanent job and unwilling to go through many rounds of job-searching______
- Why did you decide to remain in your field or career? ___I got a job____

How accurately do the following statements describe your experiences?
1 means "very inaccurately", while 5 means "very accurately".
- I love my field of science.
5
- I am happy with my career.
4
- My career can be overwhelming at times.
5
- I have loved science since high school or younger.
5
- It has been easy for me to balance career and family responsibilities.
2 --Even though I have no children, I have a two-body problem that has been difficult at times
- How many children do you have?__0__

mathgirl said...

Sex:
[ ]Male [x]Female

Level of Education:
[ ]Undergraduate [ ]Postgraduate [x]Postdoctoral

Field(s):
[ ]Astronomy [ ]Biology [ ]Chemistry [ ]Engineering [ ]Geology [ ]Physics
Specialization: Mathematics
Occupation: Assistant Professor

Why did you decide to pursue a science-based career? (Check all that apply.)
[x] Love of science
[x] Personal ambition
[ ] Interest in monetary gain
[ ] Lack of other options
[x] Encouragement from others
- Who encouraged you? teachers,professors, parents
[x] Inspiration from others
- Who inspired you? Older friends and my PhD supervisor (male, 40s, successful mathematician with a nice family).
[ ] Other reasons
- Please specify: __________________

Have you ever strongly considered leaving your field or career? [ ]Yes [x]No
- If so, why were you considering to do this? ______________________
- Why did you decide to remain in your field or career? I totally love it! I couldn't do anything else.

How accurately do the following statements describe your experiences?
1 means "very inaccurately", while 5 means "very accurately".
- I love my field of science.
5
- I am happy with my career.
5
- My career can be overwhelming at times.
4
- I have loved science since high school or younger.
5
- It has been easy for me to balance career and family responsibilities.
3
- How many children do you have? 1

Anonymous said...

Sex: [X]Female

Level of Education: [X]Postgraduate

Field(s): [X]Biology
Specialization: Human Evolution
Occupation: PhD Student - pre-candidate

Why did you decide to pursue a science-based career? (Check all that apply.)
[X] Love of science
[ ] Personal ambition
[ ] Interest in monetary gain
[ ] Lack of other options
[X] Encouragement from others
- Who encouraged you? Parents, husband
[X] Inspiration from others
- Who inspired you? Parents, professors
[ ] Other reasons
- Please specify: __________________

Have you ever strongly considered leaving your field or career? [ ]Yes [X]No
- If so, why were you considering to do this? ______________________
- Why did you decide to remain in your field or career? ______________

How accurately do the following statements describe your experiences?
1 means "very inaccurately", while 5 means "very accurately".
- I love my field of science. 5
- I am happy with my career. 5
- My career can be overwhelming at times.4
- I have loved science since high school or younger.5
- It has been easy for me to balance career and family responsibilities.3
- How many children do you have?0

Chris said...

---I strongly agree with the Anonymous comment above about the potentially quite biased results that will come out of the replies on this blog. Keep that in mind!---

High School Senior Thesis Survey : Women in Science Careers

Sex:
[ ]Male [X]Female

Level of Education:
[ ]Undergraduate [X]Postgraduate [ ]Postdoctoral

Field(s):
[ ]Astronomy [X]Biology [ ]Chemistry [X]Engineering [ ]Geology [ ]Physics
Specialization: _Biological Engineering__
Occupation: ___Graduate Student___

Why did you decide to pursue a science-based career? (Check all that apply.)
[X] Love of science
[X] Personal ambition
[ ] Interest in monetary gain
[ ] Lack of other options
[X] Encouragement from others
- Who encouraged you? _Family members_
[X] Inspiration from others
- Who inspired you? _Previous professors_
[X] Other reasons
- Please specify: _Love the University environment

Have you ever strongly considered leaving your field or career? [ ]Yes [X]No
- If so, why were you considering to do this? ______________________
- Why did you decide to remain in your field or career? ______________

How accurately do the following statements describe your experiences?
1 means "very inaccurately", while 5 means "very accurately".
- I love my field of science. --5
- I am happy with my career.--3
- My career can be overwhelming at times.-- 5
- I have loved science since high school or younger.--5
- It has been easy for me to balance career and family responsibilities.--3
- How many children do you have?- 0

Anonymous said...

Sex:
[ ]Male [X]Female

Level of Education:
[X]Undergraduate [ ]Postgraduate [ ]Postdoctoral

Field(s):
[ ]Astronomy [X]Biology [ ]Chemistry [ ]Engineering [ ]Geology [ ]Physics
Specialization: Biotechnology
Occupation: Student

Why did you decide to pursue a science-based career? (Check all that apply.)
[X] Love of science
[ ] Personal ambition
[ ] Interest in monetary gain
[ ] Lack of other options
[X] Encouragement from others
- Who encouraged you? Friends
[ ] Inspiration from others
- Who inspired you? _______________
[ ] Other reasons
- Please specify: I found it interesting

Have you ever strongly considered leaving your field or career? [ ]Yes [X]No
- If so, why were you considering to do this? ______________________
- Why did you decide to remain in your field or career? ______________

How accurately do the following statements describe your experiences?
1 means "very inaccurately", while 5 means "very accurately".
4 I love my field of science.
1 2 3 4 5
3 I am happy with my career.
1 2 3 4 5
5 My career can be overwhelming at times.
1 2 3 4 5
3 I have loved science since high school or younger.
1 2 3 4 5
4 It has been easy for me to balance career and family responsibilities.
1 2 3 4 5
0 How many children do you have?____

Anonymous said...

Sex:
[ ]Male [X]Female

Level of Education:
[ ]Undergraduate [ ]Postgraduate [X]Postdoctoral

Field(s):
[ ]Astronomy [ ]Biology [ ]Chemistry [X]Engineering [ ]Geology [ ]Physics
Specialization: _Chemical__________
Occupation: _Assistant Prof_________

Why did you decide to pursue a science-based career? (Check all that apply.)
[ ] Love of science
[X] Personal ambition
[ ] Interest in monetary gain
[ ] Lack of other options
[ ] Encouragement from others
- Who encouraged you? _Parents, PhD advisor______
[ ] Inspiration from others
- Who inspired you? _______________
[ ] Other reasons
- Please specify: _I seem to have a knack for it_______

Have you ever strongly considered leaving your field or career? [X]Yes [ ]No
- If so, why were you considering to do this? _Frustration and stress levels. Time demands. Desire to relocate.____________
- Why did you decide to remain in your field or career? _Currently, inertia_____________

How accurately do the following statements describe your experiences?
1 means "very inaccurately", while 5 means "very accurately".
- I love my field of science.
3
- I am happy with my career.
3
- My career can be overwhelming at times.
3
- I have loved science since high school or younger.
3
- It has been easy for me to balance career and family responsibilities.
3
- How many children do you have?__0__

Cloud said...

I'm looking forward to coming back and reading the responses when I have more time.

I see that anonymous has provided some info about the problems with this approach for surveys. I'll add a more general problem with voluntary survey responses- there is selection bias, in that the people who choose to reply may not be representative of the whole population, and you have no way of knowing what sort of people looked and chose not to reply. This is why those internet/phone in polls on CNN are useless. However, as long as these limitations are noted, I think this info will be useful for a high school thesis!

Anyway, here are my answers. Note that I'm in industry, so if you wanted to only survey academic scientists, you should toss out my answer.

Sex:
[ ]Male [X ]Female

Level of Education:
[ ]Undergraduate [X ]Postgraduate [ ]Postdoctoral

Field(s):
[ ]Astronomy [X ]Biology [ X]Chemistry [ ]Engineering [ ]Geology [ ]Physics
Specialization: _bioinformatics, and recently, cheminformatics______________
Occupation: _head of informatics at a biotech company________________

Why did you decide to pursue a science-based career? (Check all that apply.)
[ X] Love of science
[ ] Personal ambition
[ ] Interest in monetary gain
[ ] Lack of other options
[X ] Encouragement from others
- Who encouraged you? high school chemistry teacher, organic chemistry professor____________
[ ] Inspiration from others
- Who inspired you? _______________
[X ] Other reasons
- Please specify: chance to work on interesting and challenging problems__________________

Have you ever strongly considered leaving your field or career? [ X]Yes [ ]No
- If so, why were you considering to do this? repetitive strain injury made computer use painful______________________
- Why did you decide to remain in your field or career? physical therapy and specialized equipment solved the problem______________

How accurately do the following statements describe your experiences?
1 means "very inaccurately", while 5 means "very accurately".
- I love my field of science.
4
- I am happy with my career.
4
- My career can be overwhelming at times.
2
- I have loved science since high school or younger.
3
- It has been easy for me to balance career and family responsibilities.
3
- How many children do you have?____ 2

Anonymous said...

Sex:
[ ]Male [x]Female

Level of Education:
[ ]Undergraduate [ ]Postgraduate [x]Postdoctoral

Field(s):
[ ]Astronomy [ ]Biology [x]Chemistry [ ]Engineering [x]Geology [ ]Physics
Specialization: oceanography__
Occupation: _professor_

Why did you decide to pursue a science-based career? (Check all that apply.)
[x] Love of science
[ ] Personal ambition
[ ] Interest in monetary gain
[ ] Lack of other options
[x] Encouragement from others
- Who encouraged you? _parents, teachers_
[ ] Inspiration from others
- Who inspired you? _______________
[ ] Other reasons
- Please specify: __________________

Have you ever strongly considered leaving your field or career? [ ]Yes [x]No
- If so, why were you considering to do this? ______________________
- Why did you decide to remain in your field or career? ______________

How accurately do the following statements describe your experiences?
1 means "very inaccurately", while 5 means "very accurately".
- I love my field of science.
5
- I am happy with my career.
4
- My career can be overwhelming at times.
5
- I have loved science since high school or younger.
5
- It has been easy for me to balance career and family responsibilities.
4
- How many children do you have?__0__

Anonymous said...

High School Senior Thesis Survey : Women in Science Careers

Sex:
[ ]Male [x]Female

Level of Education:
[ ]Undergraduate [x]Postgraduate [ ]Postdoctoral

Field(s):
[ ]Astronomy [ ]Biology [ ]Chemistry [ ]Engineering [ ]Geology [x]Physics
Specialization: _HEP____
Occupation: currently stay-at-home mom, but haven't really left the field -- still doing work on the side related to my PhD thesis and planning to return as a postdoc when kids are a bit older

Why did you decide to pursue a science-based career? (Check all that apply.)
[x] Love of science
[ ] Personal ambition
[ ] Interest in monetary gain
[ ] Lack of other options
[ ] Encouragement from others
- Who encouraged you? ____________
[ ] Inspiration from others
- Who inspired you? _______________
[x] Other reasons
- Please specify: _good at it, enjoy academic lifestyle

Have you ever strongly considered leaving your field or career? [x]Yes [ ]No
- If so, why were you considering to do this? money, family balance
- Why did you decide to remain in your field or career? love it -- though, as mentioned above, willing to take a break for family time

How accurately do the following statements describe your experiences?
1 means "very inaccurately", while 5 means "very accurately".
- I love my field of science.
5
- I am happy with my career.
4
- My career can be overwhelming at times.
3
- I have loved science since high school or younger.
5
- It has been easy for me to balance career and family responsibilities.
1
- How many children do you have? 2.5 (#3 on the way)

Anonymous said...

I'm not sure that it's a good idea to post results as comments while people are still filling out the survey, since reading the answers of others may influence one's own answers.

Ursula said...

Sex:
[ ]Male [X]Female

Level of Education:
[ ]Undergraduate [ ]Postgraduate [X]Postdoctoral

Field(s):
[ ]Astronomy [X]Biology [X]Chemistry [ ]Engineering [ ]Geology [ ]Physics
Specialization: Bioinformatics
Occupation: Professional Researcher at a University

Why did you decide to pursue a science-based career? (Check all that apply.)
[x] Love of science
[x] Encouragement from others
- Who encouraged you? Mother_

Have you ever strongly considered leaving your field or career? [x]Yes [ ]No
- If so, why were you considering to do this? Wanted to become an opera singer
- Why did you decide to remain in your field or career? Didn't make it as a singer
How accurately do the following statements describe your experiences?
1 means "very inaccurately", while 5 means "very accurately".
- I love my field of science.
3
- I am happy with my career.
3
- My career can be overwhelming at times.
5
- I have loved science since high school or younger.
5
- It has been easy for me to balance career and family responsibilities.
4
- How many children do you have? 0 (but 2 cats and a dog)

tideliar said...

Do you need an IRB if it's not a clinical trial/survey?

permission/consent is inherent in people taking and posting their answers, so maybe it's an expedited IRB :)

Anonymous said...

Sex:
[ ]Male [x ]Female

Level of Education:
[ ]Undergraduate [ ]Postgraduate [x ]Postdoctoral

Field(s):
[ ]Astronomy [ x]Biology [ ]Chemistry [ ]Engineering [ ]Geology [ ]Physics
Specialization: _toxicology________
Occupation: _________________

Why did you decide to pursue a science-based career? (Check all that apply.)
[ x] Love of science
[x ] Personal ambition
[ ] Interest in monetary gain
[ ] Lack of other options
[x ] Encouragement from others
- Who encouraged you? former boss
[ ] Inspiration from others
- Who inspired you? _______________
[ ] Other reasons
- Please specify: __________________

Have you ever strongly considered leaving your field or career? [ ]Yes [ x]No
- If so, why were you considering to do this? ______________________
- Why did you decide to remain in your field or career? got lucky enough to obtain funding

How accurately do the following statements describe your experiences?
1 means "very inaccurately", while 5 means "very accurately".
- I love my field of science.
4
- I am happy with my career.
4
- My career can be overwhelming at times.
4
- I have loved science since high school or younger.
5
- It has been easy for me to balance career and family responsibilities.
3
- How many children do you have? 1.5

Mark Sherman said...

Sex:
Male

Level of Education:
Postgraduate

Field(s):
Engineering
Specialization: Engineering Education
Occupation: Graduate Student

Why did you decide to pursue a science-based career? (Check all that apply.)
[ ] Love of science
[ ] Personal ambition
[ ] Other reasons
- Please specify: Love of sharing knowledge

Have you ever strongly considered leaving your field or career? [ ]No

How accurately do the following statements describe your experiences?
1 means "very inaccurately", while 5 means "very accurately".
- I love my field of science. 5
- I am happy with my career. 4
- My career can be overwhelming at times. 5
- I have loved science since high school or younger. 5
- It has been easy for me to balance career and family responsibilities. 4
- How many children do you have? 0

Anonymous said...

High School Senior Thesis Survey : Women in Science Careers

Sex:
[ ]Male [x]Female

Level of Education:
[ ]Undergraduate [ ]Postgraduate [x]Postdoctoral

Field(s):
[ ]Astronomy [ ]Biology [ ]Chemistry [ ]Engineering [ ]Geology [ ]Physics
Specialization: Geospatial Science
Occupation: Professor

Why did you decide to pursue a science-based career? (Check all that apply.)
[x] Love of science
[x] Personal ambition
[x] Interest in monetary gain
[x] Lack of other options
[ ] Encouragement from others
- Who encouraged you? school teacher
[ ] Inspiration from others
- Who inspired you? _______________
[ ] Other reasons
- Please specify: __________________

Have you ever strongly considered leaving your field or career? [x]Yes [ ]No
- If so, why were you considering to do this? salary is very low compared to the costs of living, spend all my free time at work
- Why did you decide to remain in your field or career? I don't think I could get a job anywhere else, over qualified, too old to start at the bottom rank

How accurately do the following statements describe your experiences?
1 means "very inaccurately", while 5 means "very accurately".
- I love my field of science.
5
- I am happy with my career.
2
- My career can be overwhelming at times.
5
- I have loved science since high school or younger.
5
- It has been easy for me to balance career and family responsibilities.
1
- How many children do you have?
0 - I waited too long and have not been able to have children

Anonymous said...

High School Senior Thesis Survey : Women in Science Careers

Sex:
[ ]Male [X]Female

Level of Education:
[ ]Undergraduate [X]Postgraduate
[ ]Postdoctoral

Field(s):
[ ]Astronomy [X]Biology
[ ]Chemistry [ ]Engineering
[ ]Geology [ ]Physics
Specialization: __Evolution & Genetics__
Occupation: __Graduate Student__

Why did you decide to pursue a science-based career? (Check all that apply.)
[X] Love of science
(This is the #1 reason)
[ ] Personal ambition
[ ] Interest in monetary gain (lol?)
[ ] Lack of other options
[X] Encouragement from others
- Who encouraged you? (Parents, Former Boss, Undergrad Professors)
[ ] Inspiration from others
- Who inspired you? _______________
[X] Other reasons
- Please specify: (It was the subject I most excelled at)

Have you ever strongly considered leaving your field or career?
[ ]Yes [X]No
(not yet, but I bet I will someday! Everyone has self-doubt from time to time...)
- If so, why were you considering to do this? ______________________
- Why did you decide to remain in your field or career? ______________

How accurately do the following statements describe your experiences?
1 means "very inaccurately", while 5 means "very accurately".
- I love my field of science.
4
- I am happy with my career.
3 (As a trainee, I'm only part of the way to my career - I am looking forward to being more independent in the future)
- My career can be overwhelming at times.
4
- I have loved science since high school or younger.
5
- It has been easy for me to balance career and family responsibilities.
3 (I would be shocked if this was "easy" for anyone - I don't have kids yet so I bet I have it easier than most)
- How many children do you have? (0)

Anonymous said...

High School Senior Thesis Survey : Women in Science Careers

Sex:
[ ]Male [x ]Female

Level of Education:
[ ]Undergraduate [ ]Postgraduate [ x]Postdoctoral

Field(s):
[ ]Astronomy [ ]Biology [x ]Chemistry [ ]Engineering [ ]Geology [ ]Physics
Specialization: __inorganic_____________
Occupation: ____professor_____________

Why did you decide to pursue a science-based career? (Check all that apply.)
[ x] Love of science
[ ] Personal ambition
[ ] Interest in monetary gain
[ ] Lack of other options
[ x] Encouragement from others
- Who encouraged you? _teachers/professors___________
[ x] Inspiration from others
- Who inspired you? _faculty at my small liberal arts college seemed to be having fun______________
[ ] Other reasons
- Please specify: __________________

Have you ever strongly considered leaving your field or career? [ ]Yes [x ]No
- If so, why were you considering to do this? ______________________
- Why did you decide to remain in your field or career? ______________

How accurately do the following statements describe your experiences?
1 means "very inaccurately", while 5 means "very accurately".
- I love my field of science.
5
- I am happy with my career.
5
- My career can be overwhelming at times.
4
- I have loved science since high school or younger.
4
- It has been easy for me to balance career and family responsibilities.
2
- How many children do you have?__2__

Anonymous said...

High School Senior Thesis Survey : Women in Science Careers

Sex:
[x]Female

Level of Education:
[x]Postdoctoral

Field(s):
[x]Geology
Occupation: _associate professor____

Why did you decide to pursue a science-based career? (Check all that apply.)
[x] Love of science
[x] Encouragement from others
- Who encouraged you? _parents, college professors___________

Have you ever strongly considered leaving your field or career? [x]Yes
- If so, why were you considering to do this? _career appeared to be at a dead end_
- Why did you decide to remain in your field or career? _it wasn't a dead end after all_

How accurately do the following statements describe your experiences?
1 means "very inaccurately", while 5 means "very accurately".
- I love my field of science. 5
- I am happy with my career. 3
- My career can be overwhelming at times. 5
- I have loved science since high school or younger. 5
- It has been easy for me to balance career and family responsibilities. 1
- How many children do you have?__1__

Kevin said...

Questions were asked about the need for an IRB for survey research. The short answer is "yes" institutional review is required even for survey research. Age of the researcher is not a factor either.

The county science fair has a review board and all science fair projects that involve people or animals must be reviewed, which includes essentially all the "human behavior" projects. I imagine that the review for survey questions by 4th graders is fairly pro forma, but it is a requirement for science fair entry.

Anonymous said...

Sex:
[ ]Male [X]Female

Level of Education:
[ ]Undergraduate [ ]Postgraduate [X]Postdoctoral

Field(s):
[ ]Astronomy [ ]Biology [X]Chemistry [ ]Engineering [ ]Geology [ ]Physics
Specialization: Organic Physical Chemistry
Occupation: Assistant Professor

Why did you decide to pursue a science-based career? (Check all that apply.)
[X] Love of science
[X] Personal ambition
[ ] Interest in monetary gain
[ ] Lack of other options
[ ] Encouragement from others
- Who encouraged you? ____________
[ ] Inspiration from others
- Who inspired you? _______________
[ ] Other reasons
- Please specify: __________________

Have you ever strongly considered leaving your field or career? [ ]Yes [X]No
- If so, why were you considering to do this? ______________________
- Why did you decide to remain in your field or career? ______________

How accurately do the following statements describe your experiences?
1 means "very inaccurately", while 5 means "very accurately".
- I love my field of science.
4
- I am happy with my career.
3
- My career can be overwhelming at times.
4
- I have loved science since high school or younger.
4
- It has been easy for me to balance career and family responsibilities.
2
- How many children do you have? 0

I'm writing from Spain, so things might not be very representative of the situation in the US. Here there is no lack of women in science (in engineering the percentages are also much higher than in the US and there are more women than men in math), but there is a large "glass ceiling" problem, though.
The main problem with family/personal life is related to the need of at least a two year post-doc abroad if someone is interested in any sort of scientific tenure-track position. And I'm not going to talk about academic "inbreeding" because it is a bit off topic. Luck with the study!

Kind regards,

Anita

Anonymous said...

High School Senior Thesis Survey : Women in Science Careers

Sex:
[ ]Male [x ]Female

Level of Education:
[ ]Undergraduate [ ]Postgraduate [ x]Postdoctoral

Field(s):
[ ]Astronomy [ ]Biology [ X]Chemistry [ ]Engineering [ ]Geology [X ]Physics
Specialization: __materials, nanoscience_____________
Occupation: ____assistant professor_____________

Why did you decide to pursue a science-based career? (Check all that apply.)
[ x] Love of science
[ X] Personal ambition
[ ] Interest in monetary gain
[ ] Lack of other options
[ ] Encouragement from others
- Who encouraged you? ____________
[ ] Inspiration from others
- Who inspired you? _______________
[ ] Other reasons
- Please specify: __________________

Have you ever strongly considered leaving your field or career? [X ]Yes [ ]No
- If so, why were you considering to do this? ___dysfunctional research department/group, lack of recognition/support, difficulty balancing family responsibility___________________
- Why did you decide to remain in your field or career? _haven't really decided that yet..._____________

How accurately do the following statements describe your experiences?
1 means "very inaccurately", while 5 means "very accurately".
- I love my field of science.
5
- I am happy with my career.
3
- My career can be overwhelming at times.
5
- I have loved science since high school or younger.
4
- It has been easy for me to balance career and family responsibilities.
2
- How many children do you have?__1__

rox said...

Sex:
[ ]Male [x]Female

Level of Education:
[ ]Undergraduate [x]Postgraduate [ ]Postdoctoral

Field(s):
[ ]Astronomy [ ]Biology [ ]Chemistry [ ]Engineering [x]Geology [ ]Physics
Specialization: _Marine Geology__
Occupation: __Assistant Professor___

Why did you decide to pursue a science-based career? (Check all that apply.)
[x] Love of science
[ ] Personal ambition
[ ] Interest in monetary gain
[ ] Lack of other options
[ ] Encouragement from others
- Who encouraged you? ____________
[ ] Inspiration from others
- Who inspired you? _______________
[x] Other reasons
- Please specify: _Love of teaching____

Have you ever strongly considered leaving your field or career? [x]Yes [ ]No
- If so, why were you considering to do this? __Psychotic PhD advisor___
- Why did you decide to remain in your field or career? __Got a job offer and changed advisors_

How accurately do the following statements describe your experiences?
1 means "very inaccurately", while 5 means "very accurately".
- I love my field of science.
4
- I am happy with my career.
5
- My career can be overwhelming at times.
4
- I have loved science since high school or younger.
2
- It has been easy for me to balance career and family responsibilities.
3
- How many children do you have?_one on the way

butterflywings said...

Agree that this is a well designed survey, for a high school student, apart from the issue others identified with the lack of an 'other' option for science fields.

Also, I thought 'I have loved science' is a bit ambiguous, as in, what is 'loved'?

But I'm picky ;-)

If I was in science I'd fill it in.

There's no ethical issue at all (as someone who does know about this stuff)

a physicist said...

I missed two of the questions.

Specialization: experimental physics, but would rather not be more specific than that.

Occupation: associate professor of physics

Anonymous said...

Sex:
[ X]Male [ ]Female

Level of Education:
[ ]Undergraduate [X ]Postgraduate [ ]Postdoctoral

Field(s):
[ ]Astronomy [ ]Biology [ ]Chemistry [ X]Engineering [ ]Geology [ ]Physics
Specialization: ___Computer Science____________
Occupation: ____Assistant Professor_____________

Why did you decide to pursue a science-based career? (Check all that apply.)
[X ] Love of science
[ ] Personal ambition
[ ] Interest in monetary gain
[ ] Lack of other options
[ ] Encouragement from others
- Who encouraged you? ____________
[ ] Inspiration from others
- Who inspired you? _______________
[ ] Other reasons
- Please specify: __________________

Have you ever strongly considered leaving your field or career? [ ]Yes [X ]No
- If so, why were you considering to do this? ______________________
- Why did you decide to remain in your field or career? ______________

How accurately do the following statements describe your experiences?
1 means "very inaccurately", while 5 means "very accurately".
- I love my field of science.
5
- I am happy with my career.
4
- My career can be overwhelming at times.
5
- I have loved science since high school or younger.
5
- It has been easy for me to balance career and family responsibilities.
5
- How many children do you have?__0__

bn said...

High School Senior Thesis Survey : Women in Science Careers

Sex:
[ ]Male [ X]Female

Level of Education:
[ ]Undergraduate [ ]Postgraduate [ X]Postdoctoral

Field(s):
[ ]Astronomy [ ]Biology [ ]Chemistry [ ]Engineering [ X]Geology [ ]Physics
Specialization: Volcanology
Occupation: Professor

Why did you decide to pursue a science-based career? (Check all that apply.)
[ X] Love of science
[ ] Personal ambition
[ ] Interest in monetary gain
[ ] Lack of other options
[ X] Encouragement from others
- Who encouraged you? My father
[ X] Inspiration from others
- Who inspired you? Gene Shoemaker
[ ] Other reasons
- Please specify: __________________

Have you ever strongly considered leaving your field or career? [ ]Yes [X ]No
- If so, why were you considering to do this? ______________________
- Why did you decide to remain in your field or career? ______________

How accurately do the following statements describe your experiences?
1 means "very inaccurately", while 5 means "very accurately".
- I love my field of science.
5
- I am happy with my career.
4
- My career can be overwhelming at times.
2
- I have loved science since high school or younger.
5
- It has been easy for me to balance career and family responsibilities.
3
- How many children do you have?__2__

BSW said...

High School Senior Thesis Survey : Women in Science Careers

Sex:
Male

Level of Education:
Postdoctoral

Field(s):
Chemistry
Specialization: Organometallics
Occupation: Professor

Why did you decide to pursue a science-based career? (Check all that apply.)
[X] Love of science
[ ] Personal ambition
[ ] Interest in monetary gain
[ ] Lack of other options
[X] Encouragement from others
- Who encouraged you? parents, teachers
[ ] Inspiration from others
- Who inspired you? _______________
[X] Other reasons
- Please specify: apparent aptitude

Have you ever strongly considered leaving your field or career?
No

How accurately do the following statements describe your experiences?

- I love my field of science.
5
- I am happy with my career.
5
- My career can be overwhelming at times.
4
- I have loved science since high school or younger.
5
- It has been easy for me to balance career and family responsibilities.
5
- How many children do you have?
0 (and single)

Anonymous said...

Sex:
[ ]Male [X ]Female

Level of Education:
[ ]Undergraduate [ ]Postgraduate [ X]Postdoctoral

Field(s):
[ ]Astronomy [X ]Biology [ ]Chemistry [ ]Engineering [ ]Geology [ ]Physics
Specialization: Ecology__________
Occupation: Postdoc, academia___

Why did you decide to pursue a science-based career? (Check all that apply.)
[X ] Love of science
[ X] Personal ambition
[ ] Interest in monetary gain
[ ] Lack of other options
[ X] Encouragement from others
- Who encouraged you? undergrad faculty__
[ ] Inspiration from others
- Who inspired you? _______________
[X ] Other reasons
- Please specify: _love of the outdoors_________________

Have you ever strongly considered leaving your field or career? [ X]Yes [ ]No
- If so, why were you considering to do this? _worried about employment options_____________________
- Why did you decide to remain in your field or career? ______________

How accurately do the following statements describe your experiences?
1 means "very inaccurately", while 5 means "very accurately".
5 - I love my field of science.
1 2 3 4 5
3- I am happy with my career.
1 2 3 4 5
1- My career can be overwhelming at times.
1 2 3 4 5
4- I have loved science since high school or younger.
1 2 3 4 5
3- It has been easy for me to balance career and family responsibilities.
1 2 3 4 5
- How many children do you have?_0___

Unknown said...

Sex:
[ ]Male [X]Female

Level of Education:
[ ]Undergraduate [X]Postgraduate [ ]Postdoctoral

Field(s):
[X]Astronomy [ ]Biology [ ]Chemistry [ ]Engineering [X]Geology [ ]Physics
Specialization: Planetary Science
Occupation: Grad Student

Why did you decide to pursue a science-based career? (Check all that apply.)
[X] Love of science
[X] Personal ambition
[ ] Interest in monetary gain
[ ] Lack of other options
[ ] Encouragement from others
- Who encouraged you? ____________
[ ] Inspiration from others
- Who inspired you? _______________
[ ] Other reasons
- Please specify: __________________

Have you ever strongly considered leaving your field or career? [X]Yes [ ]No
- If so, why were you considering to do this? Job availability
- Why did you decide to remain in your field or career? It's what I know and love!

How accurately do the following statements describe your experiences?
1 means "very inaccurately", while 5 means "very accurately".
- I love my field of science.
1 2 3 4 (5)
- I am happy with my career.
1 2 3 4 (5)
- My career can be overwhelming at times.
1 2 3 4 (5)
- I have loved science since high school or younger.
1 2 3 4 (5)
- It has been easy for me to balance career and family responsibilities.
1 2 (3) 4 5
- How many children do you have? 0

Cindy Bethel said...

High School Senior Thesis Survey : Women in Science Careers

Sex:
[ ]Male
[x]Female

Level of Education:
[ ]Undergraduate [ ]Postgraduate [X]Postdoctoral

Field(s):
[ ]Astronomy [ ]Biology [ ]Chemistry [X]Engineering [ ]Geology [ ]Physics
Specialization: Computer Science-Robotics
Occupation: Postdoctoral Associate

Why did you decide to pursue a science-based career? (Check all that apply.)
[X] Love of science
[X] Personal ambition
[ ] Interest in monetary gain
[ ] Lack of other options
[X] Encouragement from others
- Who encouraged you? Father
[ ] Inspiration from others
- Who inspired you? _______________
[ ] Other reasons
- Please specify: __________________

Have you ever strongly considered leaving your field or career? [X]Yes [ ]No
- If so, why were you considering to do this? It was really hard at times and I didn't have confidence I could do it. Thankfully I had parents that just kept telling me I could do it and quitting was not an option.
- Why did you decide to remain in your field or career? I love robotics and science and conducting research. There is something wonderful about doing something that has never been done before and working at something you feel you can have an impact and make a difference.
How accurately do the following statements describe your experiences?
1 means "very inaccurately", while 5 means "very accurately".
- I love my field of science. 5
1 2 3 4 5
- I am happy with my career. 5
1 2 3 4 5
- My career can be overwhelming at times. 4
1 2 3 4 5
- I have loved science since high school or younger. 4
1 2 3 4 5
- It has been easy for me to balance career and family responsibilities. 2
1 2 3 4 5
- How many children do you have? 0
posted by female Science Professor at 12:01 AM on Nov 2, 2009

Anonymous said...

High School Senior Thesis Survey : Women in Science Careers

Sex:
[ ]Male [X]Female

Level of Education:
[ ]Undergraduate [ ]Postgraduate [X]Postdoctoral

Field(s):
[ ]Astronomy [ ]Biology [ ]Chemistry [ ]Engineering [X ]Geology [x]Physics
Specialization: _____Geophysics, Planetary Science__________
Occupation: __Postdoctoral Research Associate_______________

Why did you decide to pursue a science-based career? (Check all that apply.)
[X] Love of science
[X] Personal ambition
[ ] Interest in monetary gain
[ ] Lack of other options
[x] Encouragement from others
- Who encouraged you? a librarian in college, teachers____________
[ ] Inspiration from others
- Who inspired you? _______________
[X] Other reasons
- Please specify: I wanted to go in applied math, but the financial aid situation there is horrible, so i went onto applying math methods to solve geophysics problems.

Have you ever strongly considered leaving your field or career? [ X]Yes [ ]No
- If so, why were you considering to do this? _Funding, the lab, the working overnight on my ideas to prove them since I didn't have time during the day, the infernal department politics, and last but not least, sexual discrimination being rampant everywhere I have been in above undergraduate level work_
- Why did you decide to remain in your field or career? _I am stubborn. Also I love the aha moment of figuring something difficult. Also I like to teach at upper high school, college and graduate level._____________

How accurately do the following statements describe your experiences?
1 means "very inaccurately", while 5 means "very accurately".
- I love my field of science.
4 5
- I am happy with my career.
2 (I am happy with my choice, but I am not happy with how difficult it has gotten to get funding and how little emphasis there is on basic teaching and mentoring)
- My career can be overwhelming at times.
5
- I have loved science since high school or younger.
5
- It has been easy for me to balance career and family responsibilities.
1
- How many children do you have?__0__

Anonymous said...

Sex:
[ ]Male [X]Female

Level of Education:
[ ]Undergraduate [ ]Postgraduate [X ]Postdoctoral

Field(s):
[ ]Astronomy [X]Biology [ ]Chemistry [ ]Engineering [ ]Geology [ ]Physics
Specialization: _____Evolution__________
Occupation: ____Junior Faculty_____________

Why did you decide to pursue a science-based career? (Check all that apply.)
[X] Love of science
[X] Personal ambition
[ ] Interest in monetary gain
[ ] Lack of other options
[ ] Encouragement from others
- Who encouraged you? ____________
[ ] Inspiration from others
- Who inspired you? ______________
[ ] Other reasons
- Please specify: __________________

Have you ever strongly considered leaving your field or career? [X]Yes [ ]No
- If so, why were you considering to do this? __Problems finding an independent position__________________
- Why did you decide to remain in your field or career? ____I have not decided yet_________

How accurately do the following statements describe your experiences?
1 means "very inaccurately", while 5 means "very accurately".
- I love my field of science.
4
- I am happy with my career.
4
- My career can be overwhelming at times.
4
- I have loved science since high school or younger.
5
- It has been easy for me to balance career and family responsibilities.
4
- How many children do you have?__0__

PUI prof said...

Wow, how cool that several listed their SLAC profs as inspirations. **warm fuzzies**

Anonymous said...

Sex:
[x]Male [ ]Female

Level of Education:
[ ]Undergraduate [ ]Postgraduate [x]Postdoctoral

Field(s):
[ ]Astronomy [ ]Biology [ ]Chemistry [ ]Engineering [ ]Geology [x]Physics
Specialization: General Relativity
Occupation: Tenure-track faculty

Why did you decide to pursue a science-based career? (Check all that apply.)
[x] Love of science
[ ] Personal ambition
[ ] Interest in monetary gain
[ ] Lack of other options
[ ] Encouragement from others
- Who encouraged you? ____________
[ ] Inspiration from others
- Who inspired you? _______________
[x] Other reasons
- Please specify: Science always came easier than other stuff

Have you ever strongly considered leaving your field or career? [x]Yes [ ]No
- If so, why were you considering to do this? In order to make a greater impact on the human condition
- Why did you decide to remain in your field or career? I found a way to do that in academia.

How accurately do the following statements describe your experiences?
1 means "very inaccurately", while 5 means "very accurately".
- I love my field of science.
4
- I am happy with my career.
4
- My career can be overwhelming at times.
5
- I have loved science since high school or younger.
5
- It has been easy for me to balance career and family responsibilities.
4
- How many children do you have? 0

Anonymous said...

Sex: Female
Level of Education: postdoctoral
Fields: physics; engineering
Occupation: research scientist

Why did you decide to pursue a science-based career:
Love of science

have you ever strongly considered leaving your field or career: Yes
Reason: the longer I stay in science the more I observe that the people who get job security and the chance for career advancement ("normal" attributes of any professional job) are those who do more politicking than actual science. Since I am not interested in playing politics, and I call out unethical practices when I see it, I have no permanent job with any job security let alone any prospects for career advancement.

Why did you decide to remain in your field or career: invested so much for so long already I would like to get some tangible benefit from it. And besides, if people who are less accomplished at science than me can 'succeed' meaning get job security and a regular salary with decent benefits, I should not let them push me out of my first-choice career.

How accurately do the following statements describe your experiences?
- I love my field of science.
5
- I am happy with my career.
used to be 5 up until my postdoctoral training and ever since it's a 2
- My career can be overwhelming at times.
4
- I have loved science since high school or younger.
5
- It has been easy for me to balance career and family responsibilities.
4
- How many children do you have?
-0, but it is irrelevant to career decisions.

Anonymous said...

Sex:
[ ]Male [X]Female

Level of Education:
[ ]Undergraduate [X]Postgraduate [ ]Postdoctoral

Field(s):
[ ]Astronomy [X]Biology [ ]Chemistry [ ]Engineering [ ]Geology [ ]Physics
Specialization: __Developmental biology__
Occupation: ____Grad student/Almost post-doc____

Why did you decide to pursue a science-based career? (Check all that apply.)
[x] Love of science
[ ] Personal ambition
[ ] Interest in monetary gain
[ ] Lack of other options
[x] Encouragement from others
- Who encouraged you? ___high school teachers__
[ ] Inspiration from others
- Who inspired you? _______________
[ ] Other reasons
- Please specify: __________________

Have you ever strongly considered leaving your field or career? [x]Yes [ ]No
- If so, why were you considering to do this? _My (female) graduate advisor; extreme disillusionment about what graduate school training is (or is not)_
- Why did you decide to remain in your field or career? __I am hoping my post-doc experience will reinvigorate my love of science (with a new female mentor)__

How accurately do the following statements describe your experiences?
1 means "very inaccurately", while 5 means "very accurately".
- I love my field of science.
1
- I am happy with my career.
3
- My career can be overwhelming at times.
2
- I have loved science since high school or younger.
1
- It has been easy for me to balance career and family responsibilities.
2
- How many children do you have?__0_

Heather Olins said...

High School Senior Thesis Survey : Women in Science Careers

Sex:
[ ]Male [x ]Female

Level of Education:
[ ]Undergraduate [x ]Postgraduate [ ]Postdoctoral

Field(s):
[ ]Astronomy [ x]Biology [ ]Chemistry [ ]Engineering [ x]Geology [ ]Physics
Specialization: _____deep sea microbiology_______
Occupation: graduate student

Why did you decide to pursue a science-based career? (Check all that apply.)
[x ] Love of science
[x ] Personal ambition
[ ] Interest in monetary gain
[ ] Lack of other options
[x ] Encouragement from others
- Who encouraged you? family and professors
[ ] Inspiration from others
- Who inspired you? _______________
[ ] Other reasons
- Please specify: __________________

Have you ever strongly considered leaving your field or career? [x ]Yes [ ]No
- If so, why were you considering to do this? politics of academia
- Why did you decide to remain in your field or career? i left for teaching, and returned because i missed doing research

How accurately do the following statements describe your experiences?
1 means "very inaccurately", while 5 means "very accurately".
- I love my field of science.
5
- I am happy with my career.
5
- My career can be overwhelming at times.
3
- I have loved science since high school or younger.
5
- It has been easy for me to balance career and family responsibilities.
4
- How many children do you have?_0

Anonymous said...

Sex:
[ ]Male [x ]Female

Level of Education:
[ ]Undergraduate [x ]Postgraduate [ ]Postdoctoral

Field(s):
[ ]Astronomy [ x]Biology [ ]Chemistry [ ]Engineering [ ]Geology [ ]Physics
Specialization: __Computational Biology/Medicine_____________
Occupation: ___MD/PhD student______________

Why did you decide to pursue a science-based career? (Check all that apply.)
[ x] Love of science
[ x] Personal ambition
[ x] Interest in monetary gain
[ ] Lack of other options
[x ] Encouragement from others
- Who encouraged you? __undergraduate faculty, and senior lab members (both male & female)__________
[x ] Inspiration from others
- Who inspired you? ____undergraduate faculty (both male and female)___________
[ x] Other reasons
- Please specify: ___very interested in mechanisms of disease; insatiably curious about the universe_______________

Have you ever strongly considered leaving your field or career? [ x]Yes [ ]No
- If so, why were you considering to do this? ____difficulty balancing family + career; lack of mentorship; difficulties/frustrations while pursuing scientific goals; need for more $ to support a family than a graduate stipend provides__________________
- Why did you decide to remain in your field or career? _I haven't actually decided that yet -- I just asked my dean for a year off. I love science, and hope to return to it, but realistically it might not be feasible.__________

How accurately do the following statements describe your experiences?
1 means "very inaccurately", while 5 means "very accurately".
- I love my field of science. 4
1 2 3 4 5
- I am happy with my career. 2
1 2 3 4 5
- My career can be overwhelming at times. 5
1 2 3 4 5
- I have loved science since high school or younger. 5
1 2 3 4 5
- It has been easy for me to balance career and family responsibilities. 1
1 2 3 4 5
- How many children do you have?__3__

Anonymous said...

High School Senior Thesis Survey : Women in Science Careers

Sex:
[ ]Male [x ]Female

Level of Education:
[ ]Undergraduate [ ]Postgraduate [x ]Postdoctoral

Field(s):
[ ]Astronomy [ ]Biology [ ]Chemistry [ ]Engineering [ ]Geology [ ]Physics
Specialization: _____oceanography__________
Occupation: _assistant professor________________

Why did you decide to pursue a science-based career? (Check all that apply.)
[x] Love of science
[x] Personal ambition
[ ] Interest in monetary gain
[ ] Lack of other options
[x] Encouragement from others
- Who encouraged you? _parents, teachers___________
[x] Inspiration from others
- Who inspired you? father _______________
[ ] Other reasons
- Please specify: __________________

Have you ever strongly considered leaving your field or career? [x ]Yes [ ]No
- If so, why were you considering to do this? _low-point in graduate school; feeling stressed and tired and poor_____________________
- Why did you decide to remain in your field or career? _sheer momentum- I wasn't sure what else to do, thought I would give it another chance_____________

How accurately do the following statements describe your experiences?
1 means "very inaccurately", while 5 means "very accurately".
- I love my field of science.
1 2 3 4 5 (4)
- I am happy with my career.
1 2 3 4 5 (4)
- My career can be overwhelming at times.
1 2 3 4 5 (5)
- I have loved science since high school or younger.
1 2 3 4 5 (5)
- It has been easy for me to balance career and family responsibilities.
1 2 3 4 5 (3)
- How many children do you have? 2____

Anonymous said...

High School Senior Thesis Survey : Women in Science Careers

Sex:
[ ]Male [X]Female

Level of Education:
[ ]Undergraduate [ ]Postgraduate [X]Postdoctoral

Field(s):
[ ]Astronomy [ ]Biology [ ]Chemistry [ ]Engineering [ ]Geology [X]Physics
Specialization: __biophysics________
Occupation: _postdoc__________

Why did you decide to pursue a science-based career? (Check all that apply.)
[X] Love of science
[X] Personal ambition
[ ] Interest in monetary gain
[ ] Lack of other options
[X] Encouragement from others
- Who encouraged you? _parents, teachers______
[X] Inspiration from others
- Who inspired you? _teachers, books by and about great scientists like Linus Pauling, Boltzmann, the Curies, Einstein, Feynman
[ ] Other reasons
- Please specify: __________________

Have you ever strongly considered leaving your field or career? [X]Yes [ ]No
- If so, why were you considering to do this? _doubts about ability to get a job in academia____
- Why did you decide to remain in your field or career? _stubbornness_____________

How accurately do the following statements describe your experiences?
1 means "very inaccurately", while 5 means "very accurately".
- I love my field of science.
5
- I am happy with my career.
4
- My career can be overwhelming at times.
4
- I have loved science since high school or younger.
5
- It has been easy for me to balance career and family responsibilities.
3
- How many children do you have?_0__

Anonymous said...

Sex:
[ ]Male [X]Female

Level of Education:
[X]Undergraduate [ ]Postgraduate [ ]Postdoctoral

Field(s):
[ ]Astronomy [X]Biology [ ]Chemistry [X]Engineering [ ]Geology [ ]Physics
Specialization: genetic engineering
Occupation: technician

Why did you decide to pursue a science-based career? (Check all that apply.)
[X] Love of science
[X] Personal ambition
[ ] Interest in monetary gain
[ ] Lack of other options
[X] Encouragement from others
- Who encouraged you? parents, teachers
[X] Inspiration from others
- Who inspired you? father
[X] Other reasons
- Please specify: I was good at it

Have you ever strongly considered leaving your field or career? [X]Yes [ ]No
- If so, why were you considering to do this? Midway through undergrad, it wasn't so easy anymore. And I went to my first grownup conference, saw my future in the lives of the bitter, angry, unconsciously-incompetent middle-aged post-postdocs...DID NOT WANT. I actually did quit, and came back two years later.
- Why did you decide to remain in your field or career? Too darn geeky to leave. Also, it's what I'm best at.

How accurately do the following statements describe your experiences?
1 means "very inaccurately", while 5 means "very accurately".
- I love my field of science. 5
- I am happy with my career. 3 (was a 5...the economy ate my field, I took a large pay/rank cut and switched to cancer research in the interest of sleeping indoors)
- My career can be overwhelming at times. 2
- I have loved science since high school or younger. 5
- It has been easy for me to balance career and family responsibilities. 4 (don't have much)
- How many children do you have? 0

Anonymous said...

Sex:
[X]Male [ ]Female

Level of Education:
[ ]Undergraduate [X]Postgraduate [ ]Postdoctoral

Field(s):
[ ]Astronomy [ ]Biology [ ]Chemistry [X]Engineering [ ]Geology [ ]Physics
Specialization: _Computer Science ___
Occupation: ____Research Engineer ___

Why did you decide to pursue a science-based career? (Check all that apply.)
[X] Love of science
[ ] Personal ambition
[ ] Interest in monetary gain
[ ] Lack of other options
[ ] Encouragement from others
- Who encouraged you? ____________
[ ] Inspiration from others
- Who inspired you? _______________
[X] Other reasons
- Please specify: __Enjoy my job and change the world ________________

Have you ever strongly considered leaving your field or career? [X]Yes [ ]No
- If so, why were you considering to do this? So much politics to advance in career. Very limited career options and lack of available jobs (after so much study, it's depressing to find employment so difficult!)
- Why did you decide to remain in your field or career? Enjoy what I do. Still may leave.

How accurately do the following statements describe your experiences?
1 means "very inaccurately", while 5 means "very accurately".
- I love my field of science.
4
- I am happy with my career.
3
- My career can be overwhelming at times.
5
- I have loved science since high school or younger.
5
- It has been easy for me to balance career and family responsibilities.
2
- How many children do you have?_2_

jlsjae said...

Sex:
Female

Level of Education:
Postdoctoral

Field(s):
cognitive neuroscience
Specialization: statistics
Occupation: postdoc

Why did you decide to pursue a science-based career? (Check all that apply.)
Love of science
variety and challenge of work; chance to contribute to society.

Have you ever strongly considered leaving your field or career?
No

How accurately do the following statements describe your experiences?
1 means "very inaccurately", while 5 means "very accurately".
- I love my field of science.
4
- I am happy with my career.
4
- My career can be overwhelming at times.
5
- I have loved science since high school or younger.
5
- It has been easy for me to balance career and family responsibilities.
3
- How many children do you have?
0

muddled postdoc said...

High School Senior Thesis Survey : Women in Science Careers

Sex:
[ ]Male [X]Female

Level of Education:
[ ]Undergraduate [X]Postgraduate [ ]Postdoctoral

Field(s):
[ ]Astronomy [ ]Biology [ ]Chemistry [X]Engineering [ ]Geology [ ]Physics
Specialization: ______Nanotechnology/Magnetics_________
Occupation: _______Grad student/research engineer__________

Why did you decide to pursue a science-based career? (Check all that apply.)
[X] Love of science
[X] Personal ambition
[ ] Interest in monetary gain
[ ] Lack of other options
[X] Encouragement from others
- Who encouraged you? _____parents_______
[ ] Inspiration from others
- Who inspired you? _______________
[ ] Other reasons
- Please specify: __________________

Have you ever strongly considered leaving your field or career? [X]Yes [ ]No
- If so, why were you considering to do this? _Wouldn't switch fields but careers yes due to a lot of uncertainty, financial uncertainty etc_____________________
- Why did you decide to remain in your field or career? __love it and cant see myself enjoying anything else in the long run____________

How accurately do the following statements describe your experiences?
1 means "very inaccurately", while 5 means "very accurately".
- I love my field of science.
5
- I am happy with my career.
4
- My career can be overwhelming at times.
3
- I have loved science since high school or younger.
5
- It has been easy for me to balance career and family responsibilities.
2 (not much responsibility yet)
- How many children do you have?__0__

Anzel said...

Sex:
[X]Male [ ]Female

Level of Education:
[ ]Undergraduate [X]Postgraduate [ ]Postdoctoral

Field(s):
[ ]Astronomy [ ]Biology [ ]Chemistry [ ]Engineering [ ]Geology [X]Physics
Specialization: _Condensed Matter, experimental__
Occupation: _PhD Student_

Why did you decide to pursue a science-based career? (Check all that apply.)
[X] Love of science
[X] Personal ambition
[ ] Interest in monetary gain
[ ] Lack of other options
[X] Encouragement from others
- Who encouraged you? _Parents_
[X] Inspiration from others
- Who inspired you? _Teachers in high school and college__
[ ] Other reasons
- Please specify: __________________

Have you ever strongly considered leaving your field or career? [X]Yes [ ]No
- If so, why were you considering to do this? _Feeling tired of science_
- Why did you decide to remain in your field or career? _Job market uncertain, decided I'd prefer to continue with school_

How accurately do the following statements describe your experiences?
1 means "very inaccurately", while 5 means "very accurately".
- I love my field of science.
4
- I am happy with my career.
3
- My career can be overwhelming at times.
4
- I have loved science since high school or younger.
5
- It has been easy for me to balance career and family responsibilities.
3
- How many children do you have?_0_

quasarpulse said...

Sex:
[ ]Male [X]Female

Level of Education:
[X]Undergraduate [ ]Postgraduate [ ]Postdoctoral

Field(s):
[ ]Astronomy [ ]Biology [ ]Chemistry [ ]Engineering [X]Geology [X]Physics
Specialization: _______________
Occupation: Undergraduate Student

Why did you decide to pursue a science-based career? (Check all that apply.)
[X] Love of science
[ ] Personal ambition
[ ] Interest in monetary gain
[ ] Lack of other options
[X] Encouragement from others
- Who encouraged you? father, professors
[X] Inspiration from others
- Who inspired you? father
[ ] Other reasons
- Please specify: __________________

Have you ever strongly considered leaving your field or career? [X]Yes [ ]No
- If so, why were you considering to do this? not sure if I have what it takes
- Why did you decide to remain in your field or career? stubbornness

How accurately do the following statements describe your experiences?
1 means "very inaccurately", while 5 means "very accurately".
- I love my field of science.
5
- I am happy with my career.
5
- My career can be overwhelming at times.
5
- I have loved science since high school or younger.
5
- It has been easy for me to balance career and family responsibilities.
2
- How many children do you have? 0

Anonymous said...

It seems science as a career takes too much of me.
Sex:
[ ]Male [X]Female

Level of Education:
[ ]Undergraduate [X]Postgraduate [ ]Postdoctoral

Field(s):
[ ]Astronomy [ ]Biology [ ]Chemistry [ ]Engineering [X]Geology [ ]Physics
Specialization: _______________
Occupation: __PhD candidate_

Why did you decide to pursue a science-based career? (Check all that apply.)
[X] Love of science
[ ] Personal ambition
[ ] Interest in monetary gain
[ ] Lack of other options
[X] Encouragement from others
- Who encouraged you? Teachers
[ ] Inspiration from others
- Who inspired you? _______________
[ ] Other reasons
- Please specify: __________________

Have you ever strongly considered leaving your field or career? [X]Yes [ ]No
- If so, why were you considering to do this? __I somehow expected academia to be full of profound people. But if I am to be dealing with jerks all the time, I'd better do it a place that pays me better. Perhaps this attitude makes me a jerk too.___
- Why did you decide to remain in your field or career? __It still is interesting. ___

How accurately do the following statements describe your experiences?
1 means "very inaccurately", while 5 means "very accurately".
- I love my field of science.
4
- I am happy with my career.
3
- My career can be overwhelming at times.
5
- I have loved science since high school or younger.
5
- It has been easy for me to balance career and family responsibilities.
2
- How many children do you have?__0__

Anonymous said...

Sex:
[X]Male [ ]Female

Level of Education:
[ ]Undergraduate [ ]Postgraduate [X]Postdoctoral

Field(s):
[ ]Astronomy [ ]Biology [X]Chemistry [ ]Engineering [ ]Geology [ ]Physics
Specialization: _Organic_______
Occupation: _Postdoc_________

Why did you decide to pursue a science-based career? (Check all that apply.)
[X] Love of science
[X] Personal ambition
[ ] Interest in monetary gain
[ ] Lack of other options
[X] Encouragement from others
- Who encouraged you? _Family_____
[ ] Inspiration from others
- Who inspired you? _______________
[ ] Other reasons
- Please specify: __________________

Have you ever strongly considered leaving your field or career? [ ]Yes [X]No
- If so, why were you considering to do this? ______________________
- Why did you decide to remain in your field or career? ______________

How accurately do the following statements describe your experiences?
1 means "very inaccurately", while 5 means "very accurately".
- I love my field of science.
5
- I am happy with my career.
4
- My career can be overwhelming at times.
5
- I have loved science since high school or younger.
5
- It has been easy for me to balance career and family responsibilities.
2
- How many children do you have?_2__

Anonymous said...

Sex:
[ ]Male [x]Female

Level of Education:
[ ]Undergraduate [ ]Postgraduate [x]Postdoctoral

Field(s):
[x]Astronomy [ ]Biology [ ]Chemistry [ ]Engineering [ ]Geology [x]Physics
Specialization: __Cosmology____
Occupation: ___Research track faculty job____

Why did you decide to pursue a science-based career? (Check all that apply.)
[x] Love of science
[ ] Personal ambition
[ ] Interest in monetary gain
[ ] Lack of other options
[x] Encouragement from others
- Who encouraged you? __undergrad faculty mentors___
[x] Inspiration from others
- Who inspired you? __female faculty at my and other universities who also had families___
[ ] Other reasons
- Please specify: __________________

Have you ever strongly considered leaving your field or career? [x]Yes [ ]No
- If so, why were you considering to do this? __difficult life-career balance (profoundly stressful at times, especially when my babies were little)___
- Why did you decide to remain in your field or career? _ when it comes down to it, I can't think of anything else I'd like to do as a career; I do love this, even if sometimes I think I'm too profoundly sleep deprived because of work and family demands to function!___

How accurately do the following statements describe your experiences?
1 means "very inaccurately", while 5 means "very accurately".
- I love my field of science.
5
- I am happy with my career.
4
- My career can be overwhelming at times.
5 (is 15 an option?! I could use one right now)
- I have loved science since high school or younger. 5
- It has been easy for me to balance career and family responsibilities.
1
- How many children do you have?_3 (living)___

Anonymous said...

High School Senior Thesis Survey : Women in Science Careers

Sex:
[ ]Male [X]Female

Level of Education:
[ ]Undergraduate [ ]Postgraduate [X]Postdoctoral

Field(s):
[ ]Astronomy [ ]Biology [ ]Chemistry [ ]Engineering [X]Geology [ ]Physics
Specialization: ____Seismology___
Occupation: ___Assistant Prof/R1_____

Why did you decide to pursue a science-based career? (Check all that apply.)
[X] Love of science
[X] Personal ambition
[ ] Interest in monetary gain
[ ] Lack of other options
[ ] Encouragement from others
- Who encouraged you? ____________
[X] Inspiration from others
- Who inspired you? ___Close friend_____
[ ] Other reasons
- Please specify: __________________

Have you ever strongly considered leaving your field or career? [X]Yes [ ]No
- If so, why were you considering to do this? __Lack of two-body solution___
- Why did you decide to remain in your field or career? ____Found a two-body solution_____

How accurately do the following statements describe your experiences?
1 means "very inaccurately", while 5 means "very accurately".
- I love my field of science.
4.5
- I am happy with my career.
4
- My career can be overwhelming at times.
5
- I have loved science since high school or younger.
5
- It has been easy for me to balance career and family responsibilities.
N/A (no 'family' other than my husband)
- How many children do you have?_0__

Anonymous said...

Sex:
[X]Male []Female

Level of Education:
[ ]Undergraduate [X]Postgraduate [ ]Postdoctoral

Field(s):
[ ]Astronomy [ ]Biology [ ]Chemistry [X]Engineering [ ]Geology [ ]Physics
Specialization: _____Biophotonics__________
Occupation: ____PhD Candidate_____________

Why did you decide to pursue a science-based career? (Check all that apply.)
[X] Love of science
[X] Personal ambition
[ ] Interest in monetary gain
[ ] Lack of other options
[ ] Encouragement from others
- Who encouraged you? ____________
[X ] Inspiration from others
- Who inspired you? ___REU advisors____________
[ ] Other reasons
- Please specify: __________________

Have you ever strongly considered leaving your field or career? [ ]Yes [X]No
- If so, why were you considering to do this? ______________________
- Why did you decide to remain in your field or career? ______________

How accurately do the following statements describe your experiences?
1 means "very inaccurately", while 5 means "very accurately".
- I love my field of science.
5
- I am happy with my career.
3
- My career can be overwhelming at times.
5
- I have loved science since high school or younger.
5
- It has been easy for me to balance career and family responsibilities.
2 (not children, but extended family is hard to balance)
- How many children do you have?__0__

Laura E. Mariani said...

Sex:
[ ]Male [ X]Female

Level of Education:
[ ]Undergraduate [ X]Postgraduate [ ]Postdoctoral

Field(s):
[ ]Astronomy [X ]Biology [ ]Chemistry [ ]Engineering [ ]Geology [ ]Physics
Specialization: Neuroscience
Occupation: graduate student

Why did you decide to pursue a science-based career? (Check all that apply.)
[ X] Love of science
[X ] Personal ambition
[ ] Interest in monetary gain
[ ] Lack of other options
[X ] Encouragement from others
- Who encouraged you? Parents, teachers, college professors
[X ] Inspiration from others
- Who inspired you? College professors
[ ] Other reasons

Have you ever strongly considered leaving your field or career? [ X]Yes [ ]No
- If so, why were you considering to do this? Had a bad experience at a job
- Why did you decide to remain in your field or career? I realized that I'd have better career prospects with a PhD, so I went back to school to get one

How accurately do the following statements describe your experiences?
1 means "very inaccurately", while 5 means "very accurately".
- I love my field of science.
5
- I am happy with my career.
4
- My career can be overwhelming at times.
4
- I have loved science since high school or younger.
5
- It has been easy for me to balance career and family responsibilities.
3
- How many children do you have? 0, but plan to have some in the future

ME said...

High School Senior Thesis Survey : Women in Science Careers

Sex:
[ ]Male [x ]Female

Level of Education:
[ ]Undergraduate [x ]Postgraduate [ ]Postdoctoral

Field(s):
[ ]Astronomy [ ]Biology [ ]Chemistry [ x]Engineering [ ]Geology [ ]Physics
Specialization: __decline to answer_____________
Occupation: __Faculty_______________

Why did you decide to pursue a science-based career? (Check all that apply.)
[x ] Love of science
[x ] Personal ambition
[ ] Interest in monetary gain
[ ] Lack of other options
[x ] Encouragement from others
- Who encouraged you? _research mentor, staff in department office from my ta-ship___________
[ ] Inspiration from others
- Who inspired you? _______________
[ ] Other reasons
- Please specify: __________________

Have you ever strongly considered leaving your field or career? [ ]Yes [x ]No
- If so, why were you considering to do this? ______________________
- Why did you decide to remain in your field or career? ______________

How accurately do the following statements describe your experiences?
1 means "very inaccurately", while 5 means "very accurately".
- I love my field of science.
4
- I am happy with my career.
4
- My career can be overwhelming at times.
5
- I have loved science since high school or younger.
4
- It has been easy for me to balance career and family responsibilities.
3
- How many children do you have?__2_

Unknown said...

High School Senior Thesis Survey : Women in Science Careers

Sex:
[ ]Male [X]Female

Level of Education:
[ ]Undergraduate [ ]Postgraduate [X ]Postdoctoral

Field(s):
[ ]Astronomy [ ]Biology [X ]Chemistry [ ]Engineering [ ]Geology [ ]Physics
Specialization: _______________
Occupation: _________________

Why did you decide to pursue a science-based career? (Check all that apply.)
[X] Love of science
[ ] Personal ambition
[ ] Interest in monetary gain
[ ] Lack of other options
[X] Encouragement from others
- Who encouraged you? teachers, mother (community health nurse)____________
[ ] Inspiration from others
- Who inspired you? _______________
[ ] Other reasons
- Please specify: __________________

Have you ever strongly considered leaving your field or career? [X ]Yes []No
- If so, why were you considering to do this? thesis work hit a two year snag
- Why did you decide to remain in your field or career? success as an academic scientist
How accurately do the following statements describe your experiences?
1 means "very inaccurately", while 5 means "very accurately".
5 I love my field of science.
1 2 3 4 5
5 I am happy with my career.
1 2 3 4 5
5 My career can be overwhelming at times.
1 2 3 4 5
5 I have loved science since high school or younger.
1 2 3 4 5
5 It has been easy for me to balance career and family responsibilities. I do not have children and my husband is also an academic scientist who understands the pressures of the job
1 2 3 4 5
- How many children do you have?_0__

Anonymous said...

ex:
[ ]Male [X]Female

Level of Education:
[ ]Undergraduate []Postgraduate [ X]Postdoctoral

Field(s):
[ ]Astronomy [X]Biology [ ]Chemistry [ ]Engineering [ ]Geology [ ]Physics
Specialization: _____Behavioral Neuroscience__________
Occupation: ____Postdoc_____________

Why did you decide to pursue a science-based career? (Check all that apply.)
[X] Love of science
[X] Personal ambition
[ ] Interest in monetary gain
[ ] Lack of other options
[X] Encouragement from others
- Who encouraged you? ____Undergraduate thesis advisor (female full professor at liberal arts college)________
[X] Inspiration from others
- Who inspired you? __my maternal grandparents (grandmother was editor of medical journal)____________
[ ] Other reasons
- Please specify: __________________

Have you ever strongly considered leaving your field or career? [X]Yes [ ]No
- If so, why were you considering to do this? _in the very beginning of graduate school, professional science seemed very overwhelming and competitive and I wasn't sure I had what it took to compete._
- Why did you decide to remain in your field or career? _as I continued in my PhD, I realized that I was more driven than some others in my position to figure out my scientific problem, and that I really enjoyed telling other people about my research, making a research story, and designing experiments and interpreting data. Academic science is the best career a person can be in in that situation.__

How accurately do the following statements describe your experiences?
1 means "very inaccurately", while 5 means "very accurately".
- I love my field of science.
5
- I am happy with my career.
4
- My career can be overwhelming at times.
5
- I have loved science since high school or younger.
3 - loved it as a kid, but middle and high school made me hate biology and it was college psychology that brought me back.
- It has been easy for me to balance career and family responsibilities.
3 - not easy, but manageable, but I am apprehensive for when I have kids
- How many children do you have?__0 currently__

Unknown said...

Sex:
[ ]Male [ x]Female

Level of Education:
[ ]Undergraduate [ ]Postgraduate [ x]Postdoctoral

Field(s):
[ ]Astronomy [ ]Biology [x ]Chemistry [ ]Engineering [ ]Geology [ ]Physics
Specialization: _____mol. genetics__________
Occupation: ____science writer / marketing_____________

Why did you decide to pursue a science-based career? (Check all that apply.)
[x ] Love of science
[ ] Personal ambition
[ ] Interest in monetary gain
[ ] Lack of other options
[x ] Encouragement from others
- Who encouraged you? __father__________
[ ] Inspiration from others
- Who inspired you? _______________
[ ] Other reasons
- Please specify: __I was good at it.________________

Have you ever strongly considered leaving your field or career? [ ]Yes [x ]No
- If so, why were you considering to do this? ______________________
- Why did you decide to remain in your field or career? ______________

How accurately do the following statements describe your experiences?
1 means "very inaccurately", while 5 means "very accurately".
- I love my field of science.
5
- I am happy with my career.
4
- My career can be overwhelming at times.
4
- I have loved science since high school or younger.
5
- It has been easy for me to balance career and family responsibilities.
3
- How many children do you have?__2__

Anonymous said...

Sex:
[ ]Male [X]Female

Level of Education:
[X]Undergraduate [ ]Postgraduate [ ]Postdoctoral

Field(s):
[ ]Astronomy [ ]Biology [X]Chemistry [ ]Engineering [ ]Geology [ ]Physics
Specialization: Theoretical
Occupation: College Senior / Grad School applicant

Why did you decide to pursue a science-based career? (Check all that apply.)
[ ] Love of science
[X] Personal ambition
[X] Interest in monetary gain
[ ] Lack of other options
[X] Encouragement from others
- Who encouraged you? Mom, Dad, high school chem teacher, classmates
[ ] Inspiration from others
- Who inspired you? _______________
[ ] Other reasons
- Please specify: __________________

Have you ever strongly considered leaving your field or career? [X]Yes [ ]No
- If so, why were you considering to do this? Wasn't sure if I'd be happy doing this as a career
- Why did you decide to remain in your field or career? found a specialization I really like
How accurately do the following statements describe your experiences?
1 means "very inaccurately", while 5 means "very accurately".
- I love my field of science.
3
- I am happy with my career.
3
- My career can be overwhelming at times.
5
- I have loved science since high school or younger.
2
- It has been easy for me to balance career and family responsibilities.
5 - not really an issue yet
- How many children do you have? 0 (but I want to have kids eventually... I'm 21 and not married)

Anonymous said...

Sex:
[ ]Male [X]Female

Level of Education:
[ ]Undergraduate [ ]Postgraduate [X]Postdoctoral

Field(s):
[ ]Astronomy [X]Biology [ ]Chemistry [ ]Engineering [ ]Geology [ ]Physics
Specialization: Molecular Biology
Occupation:Academic Administrator

Why did you decide to pursue a science-based career? (Check all that apply.)
[X] Love of science
[ ] Personal ambition
[ ] Interest in monetary gain
[ ] Lack of other options
[ ] Encouragement from others
[ ] Inspiration from others
[ ] Other reasons
- Please specify: __________________

Have you ever strongly considered leaving your field or career? [X]Yes [ ]No
- If so, why were you considering to do this? dislike the competitiveness and ego-centric scientists
- Why did you decide to remain in your field or career? it's hard to switch this late in the game and still love doing research and teaching

How accurately do the following statements describe your experiences?
1 means "very inaccurately", while 5 means "very accurately".
- I love my field of science.
5
- I am happy with my career.
3
- My career can be overwhelming at times.
1
- I have loved science since high school or younger.
5
- It has been easy for me to balance career and family responsibilities.
3 -I gave up on a full ladder faculty position to have less pressure and more flexibility
- How many children do you have?__2__

Anonymous said...

High School Senior Thesis Survey : Women in Science Careers

Sex:
[X]Male [ ]Female

Level of Education:
[ ]Undergraduate [X] Postgraduate [ ]Postdoctoral

Field(s):
[ ]Astronomy [ ]Biology [ ]Chemistry [ ]Engineering [X]Geology [ ]Physics
Specialization: Tectonics
Occupation: Professor

Why did you decide to pursue a science-based career? (Check all that apply.)
[X] Love of science
[X] Personal ambition
[ ] Interest in monetary gain
[ ] Lack of other options
[ ] Encouragement from others
- Who encouraged you? ____________
[ ] Inspiration from others
- Who inspired you? Professors
[ ] Other reasons
- Please specify: __________________

Have you ever strongly considered leaving your field or career? [ ]Yes [X]No
- If so, why were you considering to do this? ______________________
- Why did you decide to remain in your field or career? Love it from the moment I get up in the morning.

How accurately do the following statements describe your experiences?
1 means "very inaccurately", while 5 means "very accurately".
- I love my field of science.
5
- I am happy with my career.
5
- My career can be overwhelming at times.
1
- I have loved science since high school or younger.
5
- It has been easy for me to balance career and family responsibilities.
2
- How many children do you have? 2

PlantHead said...

Sex:
[ ]Male [X]Female

Level of Education:
[ ]Undergraduate [X]Postgraduate [ ]Postdoctoral

Field(s):
[ ]Astronomy [X]Biology [ ]Chemistry [ ]Engineering [ ]Geology [ ]Physics
Specialization: _Ecology______________
Occupation: ___Grad student researcher______________

Why did you decide to pursue a science-based career? (Check all that apply.)
[X] Love of science
[X] Personal ambition
[ ] Interest in monetary gain
[ ] Lack of other options
[X] Encouragement from others
- Who encouraged you? __a few mentors in highschool and undergrad___
[ ] Inspiration from others
- Who inspired you? _______________
[ ] Other reasons
- Please specify: __________________

Have you ever strongly considered leaving your field or career? [ ]Yes [X]No
- If so, why were you considering to do this? ______________________
- Why did you decide to remain in your field or career? ______________

How accurately do the following statements describe your experiences?
1 means "very inaccurately", while 5 means "very accurately".
- I love my field of science.
5
- I am happy with my career.
5
- My career can be overwhelming at times.
5
- I have loved science since high school or younger.
5
- It has been easy for me to balance career and family responsibilities.
3
- How many children do you have?__0_

Like to the Lark said...

I couldn't find your e-mail FSP, so here is a link (not related to this post) that I thought you would appreciate. It reminded me of your style of writing about science. The comments are good too.

http://publicaddress.net/default,6274.sm#post6274

Background: it comes from New Zealand, our parliament building is in the shape of a beehive.

Anonymous said...

High School Senior Thesis Survey : Women in Science Careers

Sex:
[ ]Male [X ]Female

Level of Education:
[ ]Undergraduate [X ]Postgraduate [ ]Postdoctoral

Field(s):
[ ]Astronomy [ X]Biology [ ]Chemistry [ ]Engineering [ ]Geology [ ]Physics
Specialization: ______Reproduction_________
Occupation: ______PhD Student___________

Why did you decide to pursue a science-based career? (Check all that apply.)
[ X] Love of science
[X ] Personal ambition
[ ] Interest in monetary gain
[ ] Lack of other options
[ ] Encouragement from others
- Who encouraged you? ____________
[ ] Inspiration from others
- Who inspired you? _______________
[ ] Other reasons
- Please specify: __________________

Have you ever strongly considered leaving your field or career? [ X]Yes [ ]No
- If so, why were you considering to do this? _To better meet the needs of people around me, ignoring my own.
Why did you decide to remain in your field or career?
Because it was the best option for my mental health (haha)

How accurately do the following statements describe your experiences?
1 means "very inaccurately", while 5 means "very accurately".
- I love my field of science.
5
- I am happy with my career.
4
- My career can be overwhelming at times.
5
- I have loved science since high school or younger.
5
- It has been easy for me to balance career and family responsibilities.
1
- How many children do you have?__1__

Anonymous said...

[ ]Male [X]Female

Level of Education:
[ ]Undergraduate [X]Postgraduate [ ]Postdoctoral

Field(s):
[ ]Astronomy [ ]Biology [ ]Chemistry [ ]Engineering [ ]Geology [X]Physics
Specialization: _____Theoretical Biological Physics__________
Occupation: ____PhD Candidate_____________

Why did you decide to pursue a science-based career? (Check all that apply.)
[X] Love of science
[ ] Personal ambition
[ ] Interest in monetary gain
[ ] Lack of other options
[ ] Encouragement from others
- Who encouraged you? ___________
[X] Inspiration from others
- Who inspired you? ___I saw a presentation by the Canadian Space Agency when I was in high school -- the same year Julie Payette flew on the space shuttle. I thought she was pretty amazing. ____________
[ ] Other reasons
- Please specify: __________________

Have you ever strongly considered leaving your field or career? [X]Yes [ ]No
- If so, why were you considering to do this? ___I was concerned about employability after school -- my family was particularly concerned about this. They never saw ads for 'physicist' in the newspaper, which scared them. I was pressured endlessly by my parents to switch to engineering or to go into medical school. In the end, I decided I was happier pursuing graduate studies than I would be with the alternatives.___________________
- Why did you decide to remain in your field or career? _____Because I love it. And I would rather love what I do than not._________

How accurately do the following statements describe your experiences?
1 means "very inaccurately", while 5 means "very accurately".
- I love my field of science.
5
- I am happy with my career.
4
- My career can be overwhelming at times.
5
- I have loved science since high school or younger.
5
- It has been easy for me to balance career and family responsibilities.
2 -> I'm 27 and single, without children. I have had to make hard choices in the past between my career and romantic partners... but since it was never science asking me to choose, it always won. :) I have to confess, it's difficult meeting datable people outside academia who don't look at you like you're crazy when you say you're doing a phd in physics.

- How many children do you have?__0__

Lina Merchan said...

High School Senior Thesis Survey : Women in Science Careers

Sex:
[ ]Male [X]Female

Level of Education:
[ ]Undergraduate [X]Postgraduate [ ]Postdoctoral

Field(s):
[ ]Astronomy [ ]Biology [ ]Chemistry [ ]Engineering [ ]Geology [X]Physics
Specialization: _Molecular dynamics of nanofluids_________
Occupation: _7th year PhD student______

Why did you decide to pursue a science-based career? (Check all that apply.)
[X] Love of science
[X] Personal ambition
[ ] Interest in monetary gain
[ ] Lack of other options
[ ] Encouragement from others
- Who encouraged you? ____________
[X] Inspiration from others
- Who inspired you? my physicist dad
[ ] Other reasons
- Please specify: __________________

Have you ever strongly considered leaving your field or career? [X]Yes [ ]No
- If so, why were you considering to do this? Trying to balance children,marriage and research,
in a very competitive field is hard.
- Why did you decide to remain in your field or career? I've been reading blogs of women with family that are managing and it gives me hope.

How accurately do the following statements describe your experiences?
1 means "very inaccurately", while 5 means "very accurately".
- I love my field of science.
4
- I am happy with my career.
3
- My career can be overwhelming at times.
5
- I have loved science since high school or younger.
5
- It has been easy for me to balance career and family responsibilities.
2
- How many children do you have?_2__

After having chest pains due to stress, for not sleeping well, not spending time with husband and falling behind in my job, I decided to arrange my priorities, and live by that :God, husband,children,me,job. Now I work about 30hours or less. If I graduate like this, I will be fine, if not, I will be fine too.

Anonymous said...

[ ]Male [X]Female

Level of Education:
[ ]Undergraduate [X]Postgraduate [ ]Postdoctoral

Field(s):
[ ]Astronomy []Biology [ X]Chemistry [ ]Engineering [ ]Geology [ ]Physics
Specialization: _____polymer chemistry__________
Occupation: ____professor_____________

Why did you decide to pursue a science-based career? (Check all that apply.)
[X] Love of science
[X] Personal ambition
[ ] Interest in monetary gain
[ ] Lack of other options
[X] Encouragement from others
- Who encouraged you? ____Several teachers/professors________
[X] Inspiration from others
- Who inspired you? ___My undergraduate advisor, teaching assistants____________
[ ] Other reasons
- Please specify: __________________

Have you ever strongly considered leaving your field or career? [X]Yes [ ]No
- If so, why were you considering to do this? ___after teaching at the college level for 14 years, I see that my talents and love of college students, along with the analytical skills and problem solving learned in my degree, may be better served in a different position___________________
- Why did you decide to remain in your field or career? The opportunity to leave has not presented itself, but I gain experience in mentorship with each student that comes into my class. Due to my deep faith in God, I am more concerned in helping individuals through life rather than just the chemistry course. At the end of my life, I hope that it is said that I helped people - not just students interested in chemistry.________

How accurately do the following statements describe your experiences?
1 means "very inaccurately", while 5 means "very accurately".
- I love my field of science.
5
- I am happy with my career.
4
- My career can be overwhelming at times.
5
- I have loved science since high school or younger.
5
- It has been easy for me to balance career and family responsibilities.
5
- How many children do you have?__
3__

Lucy said...

Sex:
[ ]Male [x]Female

Level of Education:
[ ]Undergraduate [x]Postgraduate [ ]Postdoctoral

Field(s):
[ ]Astronomy [x]Biology [ ]Chemistry [ ]Engineering [ ]Geology [ ]Physics
Specialization: immunology/virology
Occupation: PhD student

Why did you decide to pursue a science-based career? (Check all that apply.)
[x] Love of science
[x] Personal ambition
[ ] Interest in monetary gain
[ ] Lack of other options
[ ] Encouragement from others
- Who encouraged you? ___noone
[x] Inspiration from others
- Who inspired you? ___great science journalists at new scientist and even in the british news press.
[x] Other reasons
- Please specify: i want to do something useful to society.

Have you ever strongly considered leaving your field or career? [x]Yes [ ]No
- If so, why were you considering to do this? considering a move into health policy/public health once i've finished my PhD. think i could be more useful there.
- Why did you decide to remain in your field or career? ______________

How accurately do the following statements describe your experiences?
1 means "very inaccurately", while 5 means "very accurately".
- I love my field of science.
5
- I am happy with my career.
5
- My career can be overwhelming at times.
5
- I have loved science since high school or younger.
5
- It has been easy for me to balance career and family responsibilities.
2 - it's important to move around if you care about your career.
- How many children do you have? 0

Anonymous said...

High School Senior Thesis Survey : Women in Science Careers

Sex:
[ ]Male [X]Female

Level of Education:
[ ]Undergraduate [ ]Postgraduate [X]Postdoctoral

Field(s):
[ ]Astronomy [X]Biology [ ]Chemistry [ ]Engineering [ ]Geology [ ]Physics
Specialization: _______________
Occupation: _________________

Why did you decide to pursue a science-based career? (Check all that apply.)
[X] Love of science
[ ] Personal ambition
[ ] Interest in monetary gain
[ ] Lack of other options
[X] Encouragement from others
- Who encouraged you? ___my now husband_________
[ ] Inspiration from others
- Who inspired you? _______________
[ ] Other reasons
- Please specify: __________________

Have you ever strongly considered leaving your field or career? [X]Yes [ ]No
- If so, why were you considering to do this? ______________________
- Why did you decide to remain in your field or career? ______________

How accurately do the following statements describe your experiences?
1 means "very inaccurately", while 5 means "very accurately".
- I love my field of science.
5
- I am happy with my career.
3
- My career can be overwhelming at times.
5
- I have loved science since high school or younger.
5
- It has been easy for me to balance career and family responsibilities.
1
- How many children do you have?__0__

I am female and I do not have children because I am a postdoc with student loans to repay and can barely afford rent and food.

Unknown said...

High School Senior Thesis Survey : Women in Science Careers

Sex:
[ ]Male [x ]Female

Level of Education:
[ ]Undergraduate [ ]Postgraduate [x ]Postdoctoral

Field(s):
[ ]Astronomy [ ]Biology [ ]Chemistry [x ]Engineering [ ]Geology [ ]Physics
Specialization: ___Materials____________
Occupation: ___Assistant Professor______________

Why did you decide to pursue a science-based career? (Check all that apply.)
[x ] Love of science
[ ] Personal ambition
[ ] Interest in monetary gain
[ ] Lack of other options
[ ] Encouragement from others
- Who encouraged you? ____________
[ ] Inspiration from others
- Who inspired you? _______________
[ ] Other reasons
- Please specify: __________________

Have you ever strongly considered leaving your field or career? [ ]Yes [ x]No
- If so, why were you considering to do this? ______________________
- Why did you decide to remain in your field or career? _Because I found the greatest job of all.___________

How accurately do the following statements describe your experiences?
1 means "very inaccurately", while 5 means "very accurately".
-5 I love my field of science.
1 2 3 4 5
5- I am happy with my career.
1 2 3 4 5
4- My career can be overwhelming at times.
1 2 3 4 5
-3 I have loved science since high school or younger.
1 2 3 4 5
-1 It has been easy for me to balance career and family responsibilities.
1 2 3 4 5
- How many children do you have?_One___

enwudz said...

High School Senior Thesis Survey : Women in Science Careers

Sex:
[ X]Male [ ]Female

Level of Education:
[ ]Undergraduate [ ]Postgraduate [ X]Postdoctoral

Field(s):
[ ]Astronomy [ X]Biology [ ]Chemistry [ ]Engineering [ ]Geology [ ]Physics
Specialization: ____Genetics/Development_________
Occupation: _____PostDoc____________

Why did you decide to pursue a science-based career? (Check all that apply.)
[ x] Love of science
[ ] Personal ambition
[ ] Interest in monetary gain
[ ] Lack of other options
[ x] Encouragement from others
- Who encouraged you? __PhD Mentor; 7th grade science teacher__________
[ ] Inspiration from others
- Who inspired you? _______________
[ x] Other reasons
- Please specify: autonomy, novelty, thinking & doing

Have you ever strongly considered leaving your field or career? [ x]Yes [ ]No
- If so, why were you considering to do this? __Hard to support family in far-from-certain academic science track; money is MUCH better in industry ______
- Why did you decide to remain in your field or career? __autonomy, freedom, thinking & doing___

How accurately do the following statements describe your experiences?
1 means "very inaccurately", while 5 means "very accurately".
- I love my field of science.
4
- I am happy with my career.
4
- My career can be overwhelming at times.
4
- I have loved science since high school or younger.
4
- It has been easy for me to balance career and family responsibilities.
2
- How many children do you have? 2

Anonymous said...

Sex:
[]Male [X]Female

Level of Education:
[ ]Undergraduate [X]Postgraduate [ ]Postdoctoral

Field(s):
[X]Astronomy [ ]Biology [ ]Chemistry [ ]Engineering [ ]Geology [ ]Physics
Specialization: Stellar astrophysics
Occupation: Graduate student

Why did you decide to pursue a science-based career? (Check all that apply.)
[X] Love of science
[X] Personal ambition
[ ] Interest in monetary gain
[ ] Lack of other options
[X] Encouragement from others
- Who encouraged you? Undergrad academic advisor
[ ] Inspiration from others
- Who inspired you? _______________
[ ] Other reasons
- Please specify: __________________

Have you ever strongly considered leaving your field or career? [ ]Yes [X]No
- If so, why were you considering to do this? ______________________
- Why did you decide to remain in your field or career? Science is cool!

How accurately do the following statements describe your experiences?
1 means "very inaccurately", while 5 means "very accurately".
- I love my field of science.
5
- I am happy with my career.
4
- My career can be overwhelming at times.
5
- I have loved science since high school or younger.
5
- It has been easy for me to balance career and family responsibilities.
3
- How many children do you have? 0

Caitlin said...

High School Senior Thesis Survey : Women in Science Careers

Sex:
[ ]Male [x]Female

Level of Education:
[x]Undergraduate [ ]Postgraduate [ ]Postdoctoral

Field(s):
[ ]Astronomy [x]Biology [ ]Chemistry [ ]Engineering [ ]Geology [ ]Physics
Specialization: Entomology
Occupation: Undergrad/aspiring graduate student

Why did you decide to pursue a science-based career? (Check all that apply.)
[x] Love of science
[x] Personal ambition
[ ] Interest in monetary gain
[ ] Lack of other options
[x] Encouragement from others
- Who encouraged you? My friends, family, and undergraduate advisors.
[ ] Inspiration from others
- Who inspired you? Many science authors, including the obvious S.J. Gould, E.O. Wilson, R. Dawikins, C. Sagan. Interesting...all men.
[ ] Other reasons
- Please specify: __________________

Have you ever strongly considered leaving your field or career? [ ]Yes [x]No
- If so, why were you considering to do this? ______________________
- Why did you decide to remain in your field or career? I'm really just starting, but know there is nothing else I'd rather be doing.

How accurately do the following statements describe your experiences?
1 means "very inaccurately", while 5 means "very accurately".
- I love my field of science. 5
- I am happy with my career. 5 Where career = being a student.
- My career can be overwhelming at times. 5
- I have loved science since high school or younger. 5
- It has been easy for me to balance career and family responsibilities. 4
- How many children do you have? 0 (And I am open to having them one day.)

JAB said...

Sex:
Female

Level of Education:
Postgraduate

Field(s):
Engineering
Specialization: Aerospace
Occupation: Currently a fulltime nursing student, previously a flight test engineer

Why did you decide to pursue a science-based career? (Check all that apply.)
[ ] Love of science
[ ] Lack of other options
__________________

Have you ever strongly considered leaving your field or career? Yes
- If so, why were you considering to do this? Inhospitable work environment, inability to have a family while chasing airplanes around the country, illness


How accurately do the following statements describe your experiences?
1 means "very inaccurately", while 5 means "very accurately".
- I love my field of science.
5
- I am happy with my career.
1
- My career can be overwhelming at times.
5
- I have loved science since high school or younger.
5
- It has been easy for me to balance career and family responsibilities.
1
- How many children do you have? 1

Junu said...

High School Senior Thesis Survey : Women in Science Careers

Sex:
[ x]Male [ ]Female

Level of Education:
[ ]Undergraduate [ ]Postgraduate [x ]Postdoctoral

Field(s):
[ ]Astronomy [ ]Biology [ ]Chemistry [x ]Engineering [ ]Geology [ ]Physics
Specialization: ___Materials____________
Occupation: _Instructor______________

Why did you decide to pursue a science-based career? (Check all that apply.)
[ ] Love of science
[ ] Personal ambition
[ ] Interest in monetary gain
[x ] Lack of other options
[ ] Encouragement from others
- Who encouraged you? ___Parents_________
[ ] Inspiration from others
- Who inspired you? _______________
[ ] Other reasons
- Please specify: __________________

Have you ever strongly considered leaving your field or career? [ ]Yes [ x]No
- If so, why were you considering to do this? ______________________
- Why did you decide to remain in your field or career? Because I love my field___________

How accurately do the following statements describe your experiences?
1 means "very inaccurately", while 5 means "very accurately".
-5 I love my field of science.
1 2 3 4 5
4- I am happy with my career.
1 2 3 4 5
4- My career can be overwhelming at times.
1 2 3 4 5
-2 I have loved science since high school or younger.
1 2 3 4 5
-1 It has been easy for me to balance career and family responsibilities.
1 2 3 4 5
- How many children do you have?_two___

geomorph_gal said...

High School Senior Thesis Survey : Women in Science Careers

Sex:
[ ]Male [x]Female

Level of Education:
[ ]Undergraduate [x]Postgraduate [ ]Postdoctoral

Field(s):
[ ]Astronomy [ ]Biology [ ]Chemistry [ ]Engineering [ x]Geology [ ]Physics
Specialization: ___geomorphology____________
Occupation: ___PhD student______________

Why did you decide to pursue a science-based career? (Check all that apply.)
[x] Love of science
[ ] Personal ambition
[ ] Interest in monetary gain
[ ] Lack of other options
[ ] Encouragement from others
- Who encouraged you? ____________
[x] Inspiration from others
- Who inspired you? undergrad advisors, authors EO Wilson, Edward Abbey, Wallace Stegner, Jared Diamond_______________
[x] Other reasons
- Please specify: _felt like this is where I could make a difference in the world_________________

Have you ever strongly considered leaving your field or career? [ ]Yes [x]No
- If so, why were you considering to do this? ______________________
- Why did you decide to remain in your field or career? I left a corporate management career to return to school because that job was sucking the life out of me______________

How accurately do the following statements describe your experiences?
1 means "very inaccurately", while 5 means "very accurately".
- I love my field of science.
5
- I am happy with my career.
5, though still a student
- My career can be overwhelming at times.
3
- I have loved science since high school or younger.
4
- It has been easy for me to balance career and family responsibilities.
3
- How many children do you have?__0__

Anonymous said...

High School Senior Thesis Survey : Women in Science Careers

Sex:
[ ]Male [X ]Female

Level of Education:
[ ]Undergraduate [ ]Postgraduate [ X]Postdoctoral

Field(s):
[ ]Astronomy [X ]Biology [ ]Chemistry [ ]Engineering [ ]Geology [ ]Physics
Specialization: _____cell biology__________
Occupation: ____assistant professor_____________

Why did you decide to pursue a science-based career? (Check all that apply.)
[ x] Love of science
[ ] Personal ambition
[ ] Interest in monetary gain
[ ] Lack of other options
[x ] Encouragement from others
- Who encouraged you? _professors, advisors___________
[ ] Inspiration from others
- Who inspired you? _______________
[ ] Other reasons
- Please specify: __________________

Have you ever strongly considered leaving your field or career? [ x]Yes [ ]No
- If so, why were you considering to do this? ____crazy stupid hours, time away from famly__________________
- Why did you decide to remain in your field or career? _if I get tenure, better hours (though still lots of pressure for grants/papers)_____________

How accurately do the following statements describe your experiences?
1 means "very inaccurately", while 5 means "very accurately".
-5 I love my field of science.
1 2 3 4 5
-4 I am happy with my career.
1 2 3 4 5
-5 My career can be overwhelming at times.
1 2 3 4 5
-2 I have loved science since high school or younger.
1 2 3 4 5
-1 It has been easy for me to balance career and family responsibilities.
1 2 3 4 5
- How many children do you have?__2__

Anonymous said...

High School Senior Thesis Survey : Women in Science Careers

Sex:
[ ]Male [x ]Female

Level of Education:
[ ]Undergraduate [ ]Postgraduate [X ]Postdoctoral

Field(s):
[ ]Astronomy [ ]Biology [ ]Chemistry [ ]Engineering [ X]Geology [ ]Physics
Specialization: _____geophysics_______
Occupation: associate professor

Why did you decide to pursue a science-based career? (Check all that apply.)
[X ] Love of science
[X ] Personal ambition
[X] Interest in monetary gain
[ ] Lack of other options
[x ] Encouragement from others
- Who encouraged you? Junior High Teacher, others
[ ] Inspiration from others
- Who inspired you? _______________
[ ] Other reasons
- Please specify:

Have you ever strongly considered leaving your field or career? [ ]Yes [ ]No
Field: no career: yes
- If so, why were you considering to do this? intense stress.
- Why did you decide to remain in your field or career? I love research. I would leave if I could figure out how to do research, get paid a middle-class wage, and live in the same place as my husband.

How accurately do the following statements describe your experiences?
1 means "very inaccurately", while 5 means "very accurately".
- I love my field of science.
5
- I am happy with my career.
3
- My career can be overwhelming at times.
5
- I have loved science since high school or younger.
5
- It has been easy for me to balance career and family responsibilities.
3
- How many children do you have? 0

Anonymous said...

Sex:
[ ]Male [X]Female

Level of Education:
[ ]Undergraduate [ ]Postgraduate [X]Postdoctoral

Field(s):
[ ]Astronomy [X]Biology [ ]Chemistry [ ]Engineering [ ]Geology [ ]Physics
Specialization: Evolutionary ecology Occupation: Postdoctoral fellow

Why did you decide to pursue a science-based career? (Check all that apply.)
[X] Love of science
[ ] Personal ambition
[ ] Interest in monetary gain
[ ] Lack of other options
[ ] Encouragement from others
- Who encouraged you?
[X] Inspiration from others
- Who inspired you? _First year biology professor, relatives with a great interst in the natural world______________
[ ] Other reasons
- Please specify:

Have you ever strongly considered leaving your field or career? [X]Yes []No
- If so, why were you considering to do this? _Despair at the lack of work life balance; feeling that I didn't fit in with the dominant culture of science_____________________
- Why did you decide to remain in your field or career? Because I love what I do, especially thinking about scientific ideas Because I don't think that because there is one dominant culture in science that it should remain that way; and because I believe there is no reason why great scientists can't go home and bake cookies or whatever______________

How accurately do the following statements describe your experiences?
1 means "very inaccurately", while 5 means "very accurately".

5 I love my field of science.
3 I am happy with my career.
5 My career can be overwhelming at times.
1 I have loved science since high school or younger. (I would qualify this by saying that I have always had an absolutely avid interest in lots of things including the natural world, and eg knew all the botanical names of plants where we lived by the time I was 11, but did not regard this as loving "science". Similarly, I loved blowing things up at around the same age, but then I spent hours and hours reading novels as well, so was definitely not heading in a science direction particularly until uni
1 It has been easy for me to balance career and family responsibilities.
3 How many children do you have?____

11/02/2009 10:50:00 AM

Anonymous said...

Late comment, but one thing I'm curious about is the profession of the spouse/significant other. From what I've seen, most women in science are married to a scientist or another academic, but only some fraction of male scientists are married to academics. This would tie in with the question on balancing family and work, if it turns out that a good number of male scientists have wives that stay at home, or work part time, or generally have more time to spare for the family than an academic life allows, while female scientists are married to people who are as insanely busy as they are.

Geknitics said...

High School Senior Thesis Survey : Women in Science Careers

Sex:
[ ]Male [x ]Female

Level of Education:
[ ]Undergraduate [ ]Postgraduate [x ]Postdoctoral

Field(s):
[ ]Astronomy [ ]Biology [ ]Chemistry [ ]Engineering [ ]Geology [ ]Physics [x] Anthropology
Specialization: anthropological genetics__
Occupation: _postdoctoral fellow________________

Why did you decide to pursue a science-based career? (Check all that apply.)
[x ] Love of science
[ ] Personal ambition
[ ] Interest in monetary gain
[ ] Lack of other options
[x ] Encouragement from others
- Who encouraged you? my father____________
[x ] Inspiration from others
- Who inspired you? _my strong-willed and independent grandmothers______________
[ ] Other reasons
- Please specify: __________________

Have you ever strongly considered leaving your field or career? [ ]Yes [ x]No
- If so, why were you considering to do this? ______________________
- Why did you decide to remain in your field or career? It's what I love______________

How accurately do the following statements describe your experiences?
1 means "very inaccurately", while 5 means "very accurately".
- I love my field of science.
5
- I am happy with my career.
4
- My career can be overwhelming at times.
4
- I have loved science since high school or younger.
5
- It has been easy for me to balance career and family responsibilities.
2
- How many children do you have?_4___

Anonymous said...

igh School Senior Thesis Survey : Women in Science Careers

Sex:
[ ]Male [X]Female

Level of Education:
[ ]Undergraduate [X]Postgraduate [ ]Postdoctoral

Field(s):
[ ]Astronomy [ ]Biology [ ]Chemistry [X]Engineering [ ]Geology [ ]Physics
Specialization: Aerosols
Occupation: Research Engineer

Why did you decide to pursue a science-based career? (Check all that apply.)
[X] Love of science
[X] Personal ambition
[X] Interest in monetary gain
[X] Lack of other options
[X] Encouragement from others
- Who encouraged you? Parents
[ ] Inspiration from others
- Who inspired you? _______________
[ ] Other reasons
- Please specify: __________________

Have you ever strongly considered leaving your field or career? [ X]Yes [ ]No
- If so, why were you considering to do this? I was in physics, and most of the physics people I knew had no knowledge of jobs outside academia, and many were quite pompous
- Why did you decide to remain in your field or career? I left for a few years, and broadened my interests. I didn't have many other options that could beat the salary of an engineer, either.

How accurately do the following statements describe your experiences?
1 means "very inaccurately", while 5 means "very accurately".
- I love my field of science.
4
- I am happy with my career.
4
- My career can be overwhelming at times.
4
- I have loved science since high school or younger.
3
- It has been easy for me to balance career and family responsibilities.
4
- How many children do you have? 0

Anonymous said...

Sex:
[ ]Male [X]Female

Level of Education:
[ ]Undergraduate [X]Postgraduate [ ]Postdoctoral

Field(s):
[ ]Astronomy [ ]Biology [ ]Chemistry [X]Engineering [ ]Geology [X]Physics
Specialization: _Energy______________
Occupation: _Graduate Student________________

Why did you decide to pursue a science-based career? (Check all that apply.)
[X] Love of science
[ ] Personal ambition
[ ] Interest in monetary gain
[ ] Lack of other options
[X] Encouragement from others
- Who encouraged you? _parents, professors___________
[X] Inspiration from others
- Who inspired you? _friends, professors______________
[ ] Other reasons
- Please specify: __________________

Have you ever strongly considered leaving your field or career? [X]Yes [ ]No
- If so, why were you considering to do this? ______________________
- Why did you decide to remain in your field or career? ______________

How accurately do the following statements describe your experiences?
1 means "very inaccurately", while 5 means "very accurately".
- I love my field of science.
5
- I am happy with my career.
3
- My career can be overwhelming at times.
3
- I have loved science since high school or younger.
5
- It has been easy for me to balance career and family responsibilities.
2
- How many children do you have?__1__

Anonymous said...

female
postdoctoral
Biology - Ocean science
Biological oceanography
Assistant professor
love of science - excitement about science
personal ambition
encouragement from others
my PhD advisor
Inspiration from others - many people!
Considered leaving - yes, a number of times at different stages of my career. I was unhappy - it is a difficult path through the graduate degree, postdoc, early career steps
love science - 4
happy with my career - 4
my career can be overwhleming - 5
loved science since high school/college - yes
Easy to balance career/family - 2
1 child

Anonymous said...

High School Senior Thesis Survey : Women in Science Careers

Sex:
[ ]Male [x]Female

Level of Education:
[ ]Undergraduate [ ]Postgraduate [x]Postdoctoral

Field(s):OTHER
[ ]Astronomy [ ]Biology [ ]Chemistry [ ]Engineering [ ]Geology [ ]Physics
Specialization: _______________
Occupation: Asst Professor.

Why did you decide to pursue a science-based career? (Check all that apply.)
[x] Love of science
[x] Personal ambition
[ ] Interest in monetary gain
[ ] Lack of other options
[ ] Encouragement from others
- Who encouraged you? ____________
[x] Inspiration from others
- Who inspired you? Marie Curie as child. Some of my mentors later.
[x] Other reasons
- Please specify: Lifestyle!

Have you ever strongly considered leaving your field or career? [x]Yes [ ]No
- If so, why were you considering to do this? I was afraid I would not succeed in getting a tenure track position (would have to do more postdoccing)
- Why did you decide to remain in your field or career? I got the TT job I wanted!

How accurately do the following statements describe your experiences?
1 means "very inaccurately", while 5 means "very accurately".
I love my field of science. 5
I am happy with my career 4
My career can be overwhelming at times 5
I have loved science since high school or younger 5
It has been easy for me to balance career and family responsibilities 4
How many children do you have? 0

Anonymous said...

Sex:
[ ]Male [X]Female

Level of Education:
[ ]Undergraduate [X]Postgraduate [ ]Postdoctoral

Field(s):
[ ]Astronomy [ ]Biology [X]Chemistry [ ]Engineering [ ]Geology [ ]Physics
Specialization: _Environmental Chemistry_
Occupation: _PhD Candidate_

Why did you decide to pursue a science-based career? (Check all that apply.)
[X] Love of science
[X] Personal ambition
[ ] Interest in monetary gain
[ ] Lack of other options
[X] Encouragement from others
- Who encouraged you? _Several of my undergrad chemistry professors/research mentors_
[X] Inspiration from others
- Who inspired you? _My first undergrad research mentor, a young female assistant professor_
[ ] Other reasons
- Please specify: __________________

Have you ever strongly considered leaving your field or career? [ ]Yes [X]No
- If so, why were you considering to do this? ______________________
- Why did you decide to remain in your field or career? ______________

How accurately do the following statements describe your experiences?
1 means "very inaccurately", while 5 means "very accurately".
- I love my field of science.
5
- I am happy with my career.
5
- My career can be overwhelming at times.
4
- I have loved science since high school or younger.
5
- It has been easy for me to balance career and family responsibilities.
3
- How many children do you have?_0_