ABSTRACT
This chapter argues that there are a great many stories about women named Chloe, Olivia, Isabel Hutton, Letitia Fairfield, Harriette Chick, Honor Bridget Fell, and many more in medicine and the biomedical sciences which have not yet been told. It considers the patterns shaping women’s careers in medicine and the biomedical sciences. The chapter looks at women whose engagement with their chosen fields illuminates female narratives of the medical and scientific career: neither mere feminine versions of triumphal male tales of the Wonderful Onward March of Medical Progress, nor exemplars of victimization of women by the masculine power of medicine and science. There appear to be significant generational differences between women qualifying before the World War One and after it, a dichotomy which can possibly be pushed too far. Remaining unmarried had distinct advantages for a woman who wanted a career with administrative and policy-making responsibility.
