Challenging the Backlash: Women Science Students in Italian Universities (1870s–2000s)

Govoni, Paola

doi:10.1007/978-94-017-9636-1_5

Cited by 2 publications

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References 34 publications

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“…Paola Govoni ( 2015 , p. 76) argues that male Italian scientists around 1900 still did not “perceive the threat from women graduates in science as possible competitors”. The experiences of Cattani and Monti demonstrate otherwise.…”

Section: Reasons For the Ongoing Rarity Of Women In Higher University...mentioning

confidence: 99%

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From exceptional to common presence: Italian women in twentieth-century life sciences

Dröscher¹

2022

HPLS

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This essay surveys the situation of Italian women life scientists from the late nineteenth to the mid-twentieth century. It follows the path that took women from being an exceptional presence to becoming a common, yet not equal, presence in the Italian science departments. Very different proportions of women occupied the three ranks in the academic hierarchy—students, research staff and professors. From the late nineteenth century onwards, women started to enrol in Italian universities. Initially, the second most popular department among female students—outdone only by the humanities—was that of mathematics, physics and natural sciences. Concerning women among research staff, a brief statistical analysis reveals the growing proportion of the female workforce in academic institutions and brings into view poorly known female assistants and technicians. The most difficult career step for women was to gain a tenured university position. A comparison between bacteriologist Giuseppina Cattani’s ‘failure’ to gain such a position and the ultimately successful strategy of zoologist and limnologist Rina Monti, who became one of the very first female university professors in Europe, illustrates the opportunities as well as the obstacles women naturalists encountered on the way into the academia. These experiences and those of others show that well into the twentieth century the support of powerful male mentors continued to be indispensable for women scientists. Positions in peripheral institutes or specializations in emerging research fields, in particular hydrobiology, entomology and cytogenetics, provided opportunities for Italian women to work their way up to professorships.

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Section: Reasons For the Ongoing Rarity Of Women In Higher University...mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This measure, however, had a positive effect on the study of the natural sciences. In fact, women’s enrolment in university science courses increased, reaching a peak in the early 1920s (Govoni, 2015 , p. 79). However, the proportion of female students in the student body as whole declined.…”

Section: The 1920s and 1930s: A New Era?mentioning

confidence: 99%

From exceptional to common presence: Italian women in twentieth-century life sciences

Dröscher¹

2022

HPLS

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Hearsay, Not-So-Big Data and Choice: Understanding Science and Maths Through the Lives of Men Who Supported Women

Govoni

2020

Women in the History of Philosophy and Sciences

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Challenging the Backlash: Women Science Students in Italian Universities (1870s–2000s)

Cited by 2 publications

References 34 publications

From exceptional to common presence: Italian women in twentieth-century life sciences

From exceptional to common presence: Italian women in twentieth-century life sciences

Hearsay, Not-So-Big Data and Choice: Understanding Science and Maths Through the Lives of Men Who Supported Women

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