The Women in Natural Sciences student organization invites you to join Dr. Meg Urry for a discussion on

"Why So Few? The Dearth of Women in Science."

Thursday, December 4, 2014
at 4:00 PM
in NHB 1.720

Dr. Urry is the Israel Munson Professor of Physics and Astronomy at Yale University, the Director of the Yale Center of Astronomy & Astrophysics, and the President of the American Astronomical Society. During her visit to UT, she is receiving the prestigious Antoinette de Vaucouleurs Memorial Lectureship and Medal awarded by the Astronomy Department for outstanding scientific achievement.

"Why So Few? The Dearth of Women in Science" will focus on why women continue to be underrepresented in STEM fields and why the gender imbalance is particularly large in physics, where fewer than 20% of college physics majors are women and only 10% of physics faculty are women. Interestingly, astronomy requires more or less the same skills as physics but has roughly double the percentages of women at all levels, indicating the influence of factors beyond scientific/quantitative talent. Dr. Urry will discuss the experimental data and outline steps that can be taken to mitigate obstacles to equal gender participation in the STEM professions.