
Professor Dame Athene Donald DBE, FRS
Professor of Experimental Physics, Cavendish Laboratory
Master of Churchill College
50 years ago, women in physics in the University were a rare breed. They still are, although slightly less so. Matriculating in 1971, there were eight of us in physics in my final year cohort of perhaps 80. Numbers of women in the university have increased substantially since then, but in some subjects far more than others. In physics, not least because of issues starting much earlier in life and in our schools, numbers remain stubbornly low at around 20%. Better than in my graduating class but nevertheless dismal. Across the university, we are still celebrating ‘firsts’ – such as the first female master of one of the formerly male colleges or the first female Marshall. Only about 20% of the professoriate are currently women. Despite having had a female Vice Chancellor long before Oxford, no one could pretend we haven’t a long way to go.
In the past 50 years there have been massive changes, not least the shift from all single sex colleges to almost uniform co-education. Women can be found in every subject, but not equally at every level. The gender pay gap in the university substantially reflects the large proportion of women in the lowest grades and, conversely, the high proportion of men at the top. It is no trivial matter to change the numbers but that is the task for the university looking forward.
Numbers aren’t everything of course. Ensuring that policies that work to support everyone are fully implemented is fundamental too. As we celebrate International Women’s Day it is worth looking back over the 150 years since women first started studying in this university and reflecting on where we’ve got to and how far we still have to go.
SEE PROFESSOR DAME ATHENE DONALD'S EVENT
6PM - 7.15PM
TUE 10 MAR
Dame Athene Margaret Donald DBE FRS is Professor of Experimental Physics at the University of Cambridge and Master of Churchill College, Cambridge. From 2010 - 2014 she was the University of Cambridge's Gender Equality Champion. She is a regular blogger, particularly about gender issues and on the Guardian Science blogs. Read more about her on the Churchill College Cambridge website.