ABSTRACT
The proportion of women receiving first professional science degrees has grown enormously between 1960 and 1985. The lack of equitable participation is illustrated by the data on engineering, by far the largest science career area. Although the 1982 National Assessment of Educational Progress science scores show that at all ages males outperformed females, the greatest difference in the three areas that were measured (Inquiry, Science/Technology/Society, Content) occurred among seventeen-year-olds in science content, and that difference was less than ten percent. Turning from engineering to science in general, the research clearly shows that women who study science in college have been and remain concentrated in the social and life sciences. Researchers have consistently found little gender-related differences in science abilities. Opening courses to both sexes, however, has not always resulted in a balanced enrollment, and evidence shows that specific, targeted strategies are necessary to encourage science course enrollment by both sexes, but particularly by females.
