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Women in cell biology: getting to the top

Nature Reviews Molecular Cell Biology volume 7, pages 287–290 (2006)Cite this article

Abstract

Those who write about women scientists tend to treat us as a group, documenting our demise at each career stage and discussing measures to prevent this. By contrast, my approach has been to focus on individual women who have 'made it' in science and to ask how their careers have been affected by their sex. Some positive conclusions emerge, but the overall picture is disheartening.

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Figure 1: Zena Werb in 1946.

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Acknowledgements

I am deeply grateful to all the women I interviewed, for their frankness and generosity. I would particularly like to thank Joyce Taylor-Papadimitriou, my first interviewee and one of the inspirations for the series.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. the Cancer Research UK London Research Institute, 44 Lincoln's Inn Fields, London, WC2A 3PX, UK

    Fiona M. Watt

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  1. Fiona M. Watt
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The author declares no competing financial interests.

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FURTHER INFORMATION

CORDIS: Women and Science

Equal Opportunities Commission

Journal of Cell Science

National Science Foundation

Remarks at NBER Conference on Diversifying the Science & Engineering Workforce

The American Society for Cell Biology

The Athena Project

The Wellcome Trust

Thomas: Legislative Information on the Internet

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Watt, F. Women in cell biology: getting to the top. Nat Rev Mol Cell Biol 7, 287–290 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrm1894

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