Recent gender analyses have been opening new paths for innovation and excellence. They are the basis for the Gendered Innovations project, led by the science historian Londa Schiebinger, in joint collaboration with the European Union. However, this work did not come out of nowhere; it is supported by decades of gender and science studies consisting of different research lines that critically reviewed the history of science and recovered the story of women’s contributions to different scientific fields. This paper reviews the origin and genealogy of the project, highlights its positive effects, and highlights examples of its achievements.
{"title":"Science from women’s lives. Better Science? How gendered studies improve science and lives","authors":"Carmen Magallón Portolés","doi":"10.7203/METODE.7.8190","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.7203/METODE.7.8190","url":null,"abstract":"Recent gender analyses have been opening new paths for innovation and excellence. They are the basis for the Gendered Innovations project, led by the science historian Londa Schiebinger, in joint collaboration with the European Union. However, this work did not come out of nowhere; it is supported by decades of gender and science studies consisting of different research lines that critically reviewed the history of science and recovered the story of women’s contributions to different scientific fields. This paper reviews the origin and genealogy of the project, highlights its positive effects, and highlights examples of its achievements.","PeriodicalId":41648,"journal":{"name":"Metode Science Studies Journal","volume":"1 1","pages":"104-111"},"PeriodicalIF":0.4,"publicationDate":"2016-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"71306860","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
One of the greatest difficulties in interdisciplinary work is being able to focus on a common project when efforts and hierarchies do not advance in the same direction. In this paper, we describe a particular group, Genre Egalite et Mixite, and its operation. This interdisciplinary research group on gender in education, created at the University of Lyon, explores the issue along three axes: professor training, scientific research and the creation of a specialised library. Coming from several disciplines, researchers have different profiles and, consequently, different conceptions of feminism, which makes the team unique.
{"title":"Gender research from multiple disciplines: profiles, commitments and interrelations in an interdisciplinary group","authors":"Marine Buet","doi":"10.7203/METODE.7.8189","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.7203/METODE.7.8189","url":null,"abstract":"One of the greatest difficulties in interdisciplinary work is being able to focus on a common project when efforts and hierarchies do not advance in the same direction. In this paper, we describe a particular group, Genre Egalite et Mixite, and its operation. This interdisciplinary research group on gender in education, created at the University of Lyon, explores the issue along three axes: professor training, scientific research and the creation of a specialised library. Coming from several disciplines, researchers have different profiles and, consequently, different conceptions of feminism, which makes the team unique.","PeriodicalId":41648,"journal":{"name":"Metode Science Studies Journal","volume":"1 1","pages":"126-131"},"PeriodicalIF":0.4,"publicationDate":"2016-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"71306851","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Statistics depict a university system that is not a space for equality – despite what we might expect of a meritocratic system. Women constitute a minority in positions of power and among high officials in university structures. This document analyses the possible causes in the decrease in women’s participation after defending their doctoral theses, a key moment that represents the start of the glass ceiling. It delves into the relationship between co-optation systems, male power networks, and the allocation of pre-doctoral grants.
{"title":"Breaking the glass ceiling: The doctoral thesis defence as a key turning point","authors":"Nazareth Gallego Morón","doi":"10.7203/METODE.7.8077","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.7203/METODE.7.8077","url":null,"abstract":"Statistics depict a university system that is not a space for equality – despite what we might expect of a meritocratic system. Women constitute a minority in positions of power and among high officials in university structures. This document analyses the possible causes in the decrease in women’s participation after defending their doctoral theses, a key moment that represents the start of the glass ceiling. It delves into the relationship between co-optation systems, male power networks, and the allocation of pre-doctoral grants.","PeriodicalId":41648,"journal":{"name":"Metode Science Studies Journal","volume":"1 1","pages":"112-119"},"PeriodicalIF":0.4,"publicationDate":"2016-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"71306766","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Women remained invisible in health sciences until the late twentieth century because they were not included in the cohorts used in researched studies. Thanks to the work done by different groups of feminist researchers, we were able to visualise the need to change those paradigms. But while gender perspectives have allowed us to research new aspects of science, gender has sometimes contributed to rendering female-specific health issues as invisible. For women to be treated equally, their differences have to be recognised, precisely so that the equal right of both sexes to quality of life can be defended. Therefore, the science of difference should be included in research and taught in all health science specialisations.
{"title":"The science of difference: The invisibility of women in health sciences","authors":"Carme Valls","doi":"10.7203/METODE.7.8155","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.7203/METODE.7.8155","url":null,"abstract":"Women remained invisible in health sciences until the late twentieth century because they were not included in the cohorts used in researched studies. Thanks to the work done by different groups of feminist researchers, we were able to visualise the need to change those paradigms. But while gender perspectives have allowed us to research new aspects of science, gender has sometimes contributed to rendering female-specific health issues as invisible. For women to be treated equally, their differences have to be recognised, precisely so that the equal right of both sexes to quality of life can be defended. Therefore, the science of difference should be included in research and taught in all health science specialisations.","PeriodicalId":41648,"journal":{"name":"Metode Science Studies Journal","volume":"1 1","pages":"120-125"},"PeriodicalIF":0.4,"publicationDate":"2016-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"71306815","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
A. Sánchez, Teresa Samper-Gras, Marcela Jabbaz, C. Díaz
The institutionalisation of equality policy in science, both at the national and the European scale, should facilitate progress towards equality in a space that wants to consider itself merit (and ability) driven. But discriminatory practices, both conscious and unconscious, direct or indirect, leave women out of many of the positions that they should occupy according to their accomplishments and capabilities. Many scientific institutions and their professionals still do not understand that if gender equality is only formally achieved and actual compliance is not monitored, they will lose part of the talent they are trying to cultivate.
{"title":"An open path for gender equality in research: When women scientists question the state of science and the institutions embrace the criticism","authors":"A. Sánchez, Teresa Samper-Gras, Marcela Jabbaz, C. Díaz","doi":"10.7203/METODE.7.8187","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.7203/METODE.7.8187","url":null,"abstract":"The institutionalisation of equality policy in science, both at the national and the European scale, should facilitate progress towards equality in a space that wants to consider itself merit (and ability) driven. But discriminatory practices, both conscious and unconscious, direct or indirect, leave women out of many of the positions that they should occupy according to their accomplishments and capabilities. Many scientific institutions and their professionals still do not understand that if gender equality is only formally achieved and actual compliance is not monitored, they will lose part of the talent they are trying to cultivate.","PeriodicalId":41648,"journal":{"name":"Metode Science Studies Journal","volume":"24 1","pages":"96-103"},"PeriodicalIF":0.4,"publicationDate":"2016-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"71306825","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Science is not «above» politics and ethics: it is intrinsically political, and constantly raises ethical dilemmas. The consequences of evading such issues were made particularly clear in the actions of scientists working in Nazi Germany in the 1930s and 40s. The accusation in 2006 that Dutch physicist Peter Debye was an opportunist who colluded with the Nazis reopened the debate about the conduct of physicists at that time. Here I consider what those events can tell us about the relationship of science and politics today. I argue that an insistence that science is an abstract, apolitical inquiry into nature is a myth that can leave it morally compromised and vulnerable to political manipulation.
{"title":"Science and ideology: The case of physics in Nazi Germany","authors":"P. Ball","doi":"10.7203/METODE.7.7665","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.7203/METODE.7.7665","url":null,"abstract":"Science is not «above» politics and ethics: it is intrinsically political, and constantly raises ethical dilemmas. The consequences of evading such issues were made particularly clear in the actions of scientists working in Nazi Germany in the 1930s and 40s. The accusation in 2006 that Dutch physicist Peter Debye was an opportunist who colluded with the Nazis reopened the debate about the conduct of physicists at that time. Here I consider what those events can tell us about the relationship of science and politics today. I argue that an insistence that science is an abstract, apolitical inquiry into nature is a myth that can leave it morally compromised and vulnerable to political manipulation.","PeriodicalId":41648,"journal":{"name":"Metode Science Studies Journal","volume":"1 1","pages":"68-77"},"PeriodicalIF":0.4,"publicationDate":"2016-07-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"71306694","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Agreeing that there are often strong connections between fields of science and the ideological convictions of those producing the science, this essay shows that the connections are often complex and rarely straightforward. Taking the example of evolutionary biology, by looking at three key figures – Herbert Spencer, Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace – it is shown how very different social beliefs can lead to very different social conclusions being drawn from one’s science. It is argued that this message should be kept firmly in mind by those who today would draw social conclusions from science, for instance suggesting that Darwinian evolutionary biology leads straight to the social philosophy of the Third Reich. The truth is always far more complex.
{"title":"Evolutionary biology and beliefs: how ideology can draw different social stances from science","authors":"M. Ruse","doi":"10.7203/METODE.7.7611","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.7203/METODE.7.7611","url":null,"abstract":"Agreeing that there are often strong connections between fields of science and the ideological convictions of those producing the science, this essay shows that the connections are often complex and rarely straightforward. Taking the example of evolutionary biology, by looking at three key figures – Herbert Spencer, Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace – it is shown how very different social beliefs can lead to very different social conclusions being drawn from one’s science. It is argued that this message should be kept firmly in mind by those who today would draw social conclusions from science, for instance suggesting that Darwinian evolutionary biology leads straight to the social philosophy of the Third Reich. The truth is always far more complex.","PeriodicalId":41648,"journal":{"name":"Metode Science Studies Journal","volume":"1 1","pages":"52-59"},"PeriodicalIF":0.4,"publicationDate":"2016-07-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"71306686","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
At the beginning of the atomic age, Francoist Spain launched an expensive project to develop, research and use nuclear energy. Scientists, the military and high-ranking officials in the administration mobilised to materialise a technoscientific dream with an international scope. The modernity of nuclear science contrasts with the reactionary ideology of the regime, but the paradox is only apparent because until now there has not necessarily been any historical relationship between science and democracy. The drive towards nuclear technoscience reveals the mutual construction of science and politics during the Cold War era and the different ways to appropriate and exploit the atom during the dictatorship.
{"title":"The conversion of the atom: Nuclear science and ideology in Francoist Spain","authors":"Xavier Roqué Rodríguez","doi":"10.7203/METODE.7.7943","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.7203/METODE.7.7943","url":null,"abstract":"At the beginning of the atomic age, Francoist Spain launched an expensive project to develop, research and use nuclear energy. Scientists, the military and high-ranking officials in the administration mobilised to materialise a technoscientific dream with an international scope. The modernity of nuclear science contrasts with the reactionary ideology of the regime, but the paradox is only apparent because until now there has not necessarily been any historical relationship between science and democracy. The drive towards nuclear technoscience reveals the mutual construction of science and politics during the Cold War era and the different ways to appropriate and exploit the atom during the dictatorship.","PeriodicalId":41648,"journal":{"name":"Metode Science Studies Journal","volume":"22 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.4,"publicationDate":"2016-07-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"71306748","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
A diferencia del cas Galileu, l’esglesia Catolica ha gestionat amb discrecio el pensament evolucionista i les obres de Charles Darwin. Entre els cientifics catolics, hi trobem defensors d’un evolucionisme amanit amb remarcables excepcions relacionades amb l’origen divi de la vida i de l’especie humana. L’entomoleg i jesuita Erich Wasmann arriba a la conclusio que la teoria evolutiva podia donar explicacio a les seues observacions sobre els mirmecofils i adopta un evolucionisme catolicament matisat que Ernst Haeckel considerava fraudulent pero molt perillos. El bioleg i jesuita catala Jaume Pujiula segui l’obra de Wasmann tot i prenent posicions ideologiques mes radicals que la de l’entomoleg austriac, com ara en invocar la necessitat indefugible de la intervencio d’un Deu personal durant la transicio de la materia inert a la vida.
{"title":"A reconciliation with Darwin? Divergent views on evolutionism in Erich Wasmann and Jaime Pujiula, biologists and Jesuits","authors":"J. Peretó, J. Català","doi":"10.7203/METODE.7.7996","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.7203/METODE.7.7996","url":null,"abstract":"A diferencia del cas Galileu, l’esglesia Catolica ha gestionat amb discrecio el pensament evolucionista i les obres de Charles Darwin. Entre els cientifics catolics, hi trobem defensors d’un evolucionisme amanit amb remarcables excepcions relacionades amb l’origen divi de la vida i de l’especie humana. L’entomoleg i jesuita Erich Wasmann arriba a la conclusio que la teoria evolutiva podia donar explicacio a les seues observacions sobre els mirmecofils i adopta un evolucionisme catolicament matisat que Ernst Haeckel considerava fraudulent pero molt perillos. El bioleg i jesuita catala Jaume Pujiula segui l’obra de Wasmann tot i prenent posicions ideologiques mes radicals que la de l’entomoleg austriac, com ara en invocar la necessitat indefugible de la intervencio d’un Deu personal durant la transicio de la materia inert a la vida.","PeriodicalId":41648,"journal":{"name":"Metode Science Studies Journal","volume":"1 1","pages":"87-93"},"PeriodicalIF":0.4,"publicationDate":"2016-07-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"71306756","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
This short paper critiques the idea of any coherent Darwinian ideology. Charles Darwin himself did not adopt any obvious ideology, except perhaps that of anti-slavery. However, his published work, and that of other evolutionists, led to the emergence of social Darwinism. Herbert Spencer’s role in fostering social Darwinism, and the rise of eugenics, are briefly described. The connection, if any, between the historical figure of Darwin and the social movement that bears his name is discussed. While Darwin’s On the origin of species or The descent of man can hardly account for all the racial stereotyping, nationalism, or political bigotry seen in the half century after his death, there can be no denying the impact of his work in providing an authoritative biological backing for eugenics, colonial belligerence, and western notions of racial superiority.
{"title":"Charles Darwin and ideology: Rethinking the Darwinian revolution","authors":"J. Browne","doi":"10.7203/METODE.7.7887","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.7203/METODE.7.7887","url":null,"abstract":"This short paper critiques the idea of any coherent Darwinian ideology. Charles Darwin himself did not adopt any obvious ideology, except perhaps that of anti-slavery. However, his published work, and that of other evolutionists, led to the emergence of social Darwinism. Herbert Spencer’s role in fostering social Darwinism, and the rise of eugenics, are briefly described. The connection, if any, between the historical figure of Darwin and the social movement that bears his name is discussed. While Darwin’s On the origin of species or The descent of man can hardly account for all the racial stereotyping, nationalism, or political bigotry seen in the half century after his death, there can be no denying the impact of his work in providing an authoritative biological backing for eugenics, colonial belligerence, and western notions of racial superiority.","PeriodicalId":41648,"journal":{"name":"Metode Science Studies Journal","volume":"1 1","pages":"61-67"},"PeriodicalIF":0.4,"publicationDate":"2016-07-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"71306737","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}