Associate Dean's Message - March 13, 2023

Dear GSBS,

In recognition of Women's History Month, I want to talk about two books that have recently been published.

Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus is a novel set in the early 1960s about a woman who set out to earn a PhD in chemistry, facing numerous roadblocks due to her gender and the status quo of the era. While the book is fiction, it eloquently illustrates what women faced, and still face, in the scientific community. It's also on both the New York Times and Amazon bestsellers lists.

The Exceptions: Nancy Hopkins, MIT, and the Fight for Women in Science by Kate Zernike is the true story of a group of women scientists at MIT who pressured the institution to admit to their discrimination against women. The author was recently interviewed on NPR.

Over two-thirds of GSBS students identify as female. While I believe we have made significant progress over the past decades, there is more work to be done. Being cognizant of our unconscious bias and addressing inequities will help further equity and equality. 

Dan Volchok, Associate Dean