Abstract

The history of U.S. women scientists’ organizations from the 19th century until the 1960s reflects both women’s relative powerlessness within the science community and their reluctance to challenge discrimination against them. Since the 1960s, feminist activism, together with the increase in the number of women trained in science, have made discrimination against women in science more obvious and less tolerable. The founding of the first explicitly equity-seeking organization, the Association of Women in Science (AWIS), in 1971 is a watershed. Today, women scientists are willing to band together so long as the promises of meritocracy remain unfulfilled.