Revealing Lives: Women in Science 1830- 2000

2 day international conference hosted by AHRC Science in Culture Theme Women in Science Research Network

How are we to recover, interpret and understand women’s experiences in science? Popular history delivers stories of a few ‘heroines’ of science, but perhaps these narratives do more to conceal than reveal? Where were the workaday women scientists – now largely invisible – whose contributions have helped shape science today?

This  international conference aims to locate and examine women’s participation in science, to identify areas for further research and to reflect on how historical interpretations can inform the role of women in science today. The programme will include contemporary science-led panels to provide context and help build connections between the past and the present.

‘Science’ and ‘participation’ will be defined to encourage maximum inclusivity and we welcome contributions from a broad, multidisciplinary perspective. Themes may include (but are not limited to):

• Women and learned societies
• Women and spaces of scientific production
• Women and scientific education and learning
• Representations of women scientists: media, fiction, film, art
• Scientific collaboration
• Women within familial and social networks of science
• Gendered roles in science
• Science today: issues and challenges
• The ‘leaky pipeline’: women leaving science