My courses in Women's Studies have given me the voice and tools to go out in the world and create change to better our society. - Nikole Snover '05, English major, women's studies minor

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Kristin Cummings
Angie Ricciardi
IS-3470.01
13 December 05

Tracking Troughs and Baking Biscuits:

Women in Meteorology

Shortly after receiving her doctorate in 1949, Joanne Simpson turned the field of meteorology on its head when she proved that hot towers – or tall, anvil shaped cumulonimbus clouds – provide the energy needed to keep the Hadley circulation moving and the trade winds running (Weier). All the while she compromised her own career for her first husband's and was accused by her own children of being a distant figure in their lives (LeMone). A decade earlier her departmental advisor had told her “no woman has ever gotten a Ph.D. in meteorology, no woman ever will get a Ph.D. in meteorology, there's no point in your even trying…” ( Taylor , 183).

Since the 1950s Simpson has shown women meteorologists that it is possible for them to be professional scientists, wives and mothers. But she has also shown that having all three comes at a high price. She married twice. Her children were fully grown before they forgave Simpson for the distance and the constant stream of babysitters. By her own admission, Simpson believed for 34 years that her work as a research scientist was at best freakish and at worst a waste of time ( Taylor , 183).

Despite that, Simpson cleared a path in the atmospheric sciences for generations of women. But by providing women with so many options, she forced those serious about a career in meteorology to seek the motivation and support to balance a professional career in science with personal relationships.

Finding that support can be difficult, sometimes impossible. Often, women in the sciences are asked to choose between work and family. A serious career scientist might find it difficult to bake biscuits, fold laundry and bandage scraped knees while tracking troughs and forecasting fronts. Women are too often asked to choose between being great mothers and great researchers.

Beyond that, the discrimination and stereotyping women have had to face often prevented them from entering the sciences in the first place. While women continue to face discrimination today, it isn't the main factor that determines whether or not they enter higher levels of education in meteorology. Balancing work and family is the main challenge.

Dr. Lourdes Avilés, an assistant professor of meteorology at Plymouth State University , said her struggle to balance work and family was difficult, but made easier by the support of her husband. In fact, Avilés said, supportive personal relationships are the key for anyone seriously interested in the sciences.

There are different models for support. A husband could take care of a home and children, could share career pursuits and family responsibilities equally or could take months or years to care for the family, and then ask his partner to do the same. Whatever the model, the key is that a woman scientist needs to conserve time and energy if she is to pursue her career goals. For a woman to ask this of her partner might be difficult, however, especially while pursuing a career in a field that has only recently begun to accept women.

Although women worked in the weather service throughout much of the last century, w omen trying to pursue careers in meteorology faced bitter discrimination well into the 1970s (Simpson and LeMone, 129). The number of women choosing careers in the physical sciences was extremely low then. Women represented less than 10% of the registered scientists in the United States (Johnson, 109; Obasi, 8). In atmospheric science alone, women made up roughly “4% of the approximately 5,500 professional members of the American Meteorological Society” (Simpson and LeMone, 123). According to Diane Johnson, of the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder , Colorado , the “old myths and stereotypes” of scientists were a major cause of the failure of women to join the field (110).

Some women envisioned a “dedicated scientist” spending all of her time in a laboratory, mumbling arcane concepts to anyone around. This mythical figure chased some women away because those women were “unwilling to make a career choice which is perceived as placing work above family and other human relationships” (Johnson, 110).

Another stereotype had to do with how a woman scientist looked and behaved. Many women imagined that a female scientist wore wrinkled clothes and thick glasses, and had her hair pulled back in an unkempt bun. It was also thought that a female scientist had to be a “loud, aggressive old woman who, by being tough, has made it as a scientist” (Johnson, 110).

In 1974, Joanne Simpson and Margaret LeMone published the first detailed survey of women in meteorology (Obasi, 3). Their research showed that of the 247 women surveyed, all with undergraduate degrees or higher and several years of professional work in meteorology, 32 had Ph.D.'s, 76 had non-student masters' degrees, and 84 had non-student bachelor's degrees. The remaining women were candidates for Ph.D.s and masters' degrees (Obasi, 3; Simpson and LeMone, 122). Of the 576 doctorates awarded to individuals in the field of meteorology between the years of 1971-1976, women made up roughly 3.3% (LeMone, Frisch, and Julian, 178). Simpson and LeMone also discovered that the “conditions and opportunities for women had improved, but that combining family life and career was a challenge” (Obasi, 3; Simpson and LeMone, 131).

A decade later, another survey of women in meteorology was conducted. The challenges of discrimination had improved, but the challenges of balancing the perceived responsibilities of home with the demands of research persisted.

The survey results showed that the number of women pursuing careers in the field had increased, with approximately 500 women active in meteorology (LeMone and Waukau, 1275). The survey also found that by the 1980s, 10% of women graduating from college were earning a bachelor's or masters' degree in meteorology, and 4-5% of women were being awarded a doctorate. Discrimination against women had decreased, and had all but disappeared among women with doctorates. While one-time contacts with clients or the general public remained a source of some discrimination, according to the survey, many of the earlier challenges facing women had disappeared (LeMone and Waukau, 1275).

Interestingly enough, part-time work proved a major problem for the latest generation of women meteorologists. While it allowed them to balance work with family, it prevented them from making major advances in their career (LeMone and Waukau, 1275).

Avilés said that she has seen many women in the atmospheric sciences choose less taxing career paths. More women pursue broadcasting, she said, because it only requires an undergraduate degree. Many women stop after receiving a masters' degree, as well, she said.

Even if a woman does receive her Ph.D., the journey is not over. The demands of research, of teaching and of work as a serious scientist pose real problems for anyone trying to balance a family life. The traditional roles of wife, mother and homemaker cannot apply.

According to the response of meteorology students in the United States to a questionnaire sent out in 1997 by the World Meteorological Organization, approximately 20-25% of those entering the fields of meteorology and hydrology were women (“Participation,” 2245). The World Meteorological Organization also reported at their Second Conference on Women in Meteorology and Hydrology, in March 2003, that women were still finding it difficult to maintain a career and family simultaneously (Obasi, 3).

Even with the increased interest in meteorology, the number of women entering the profession decreases slightly as the level of education increases. Women earned 28.9% of undergraduate degrees in the atmospheric sciences in 2001. Masters' degrees were slightly down from that, at 28.6%. The difference is somewhat more pronounced among Ph.D. recipients, however. Only 24.1% of doctoral recipients were women in 2001. The trend remains the same throughout prior years, and data was not available for years after 2001 (National Science Foundation).

As Avilés said, many female meteorology students find it easier to enter broadcasting, to stop at their undergraduate or masters' degree. In fact, she said, balancing family and work is one of the few challenges still facing women as they enter the field. Old stereotypes have all but disappeared – at least for meteorologists, perhaps not for physicists – and blatant discrimination is practically a thing of the past, she said.

Today, women face basic questions about the lives they hope to lead. Do they want children and a family? If they do, are they comfortable placing their children in daycare? Finding a family member to care for them during the day? Leaving them with their partner?

By answering these very personal, very private questions, the role of women in the meteorology, in the sciences and in our society as a whole will be further defined. No longer do women struggle simply against persecution. Today, they wrestle with the many options before them.

When Joanne Simpson took her Ph.D. more than 56 years ago, the culture of the sciences was almost entirely different. Today, women in meteorology face more options than ever before, but those very options can serve to restrict them.

Works Cited

Avilés, Lourdes , Ph.D. Assistant Professor of Meteorology at Plymouth State University .

Personal Interview, conducted Nov. 18, 2005.

Johnson, Diane. “Women in Meteorology: A Small Glimpse at the Large-Scale Pattern.”

Weatherwise . June 1975: 108-113.

LeMone, Margaret A. “Interview of Joanne Simpson.” American MeteorologicalSociety:

University Corporation for Atmospheric Research. 6 Sept. 1989. 22 Nov. 2005

LeMone, Margaret A., Joan V. Frisch and Lesley T. Julian. “Tracking Women and the

Weather.” Weatherwise . Aug. 1984: 176-181.

LeMone, Margaret A. and Patricia L. Waukau. “Women in Meteorology.” Bulletin of the

American Meteorological Society . 63. 11 (1982): 1266-1276.

“Integrated Post-Secondary Data Education System, Completions Survey 1994-2001.”

National Science Foundation, Division of Science Resources Statistics with

special tabulations by the U.S. Dept. of Education, National Center for Education

Statistics. 2001. 10 Dec. 2005.

Obasi, Professor G.O.P., Secretary-General of the World Meteorological Society.

“Welcome Address on the Occasion of the Opening of the Second Conference on

Women in Meteorology and Hydrology.” 24 March 2003. 22 Nov. 2005.

“The Participation of Women in Meteorology and Hydrology in the United States : The

U.S. Response to a World Meteorological Organization Questionnaire.” Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society 78. 10 (1997): 2241-2245.

Simpson, Joanne and Margaret LeMone. “Women in Meteorology.” Bulletin of the

American Meteorological Society . 55. 2 (1974): 122-131.

Taylor, Edward F. “Joanne Simpson: Pathfinder for a Generation.” Weatherwise . Aug.

1984: 182-183, 206-207.

Weier, John. “On the Shoulders of Giants: Joanne Simpson (1923-present).” NASA:

Earth Observatory. David Herring. 23 April 2004. 22 Nov. 2005