Now, I’ll be frank. I’m more of a humanities girl than a scientific one, but I completely applaud those women who make their way in what is still a very ‘male’ domain. In fact – and this is what I’ll be posting about today – the Royal Society’s  list of the ten most important women in science was recently announced. The Independent then published a list of ten ‘trail blazers’ – women working in science right now. From the Independent:

Sexism remains all too prevalent in Britain’s scientific community, according to some of its leading figures, even as The Royal Society unveils a list of the 10 greatest women scientists in British history.

“If you are on high-level committees, you’ll be asked to make the tea,” said Professor Athene Donald, the deputy head of physics at Cambridge University. “Recently, on a committee, the chairman thought I was the secretary. And I’ve been in committees where we’ve been addressed as “gentlemen”, despite the fact that there are women there. It is very off-putting.”

I know I shouldn’t be surprised, but I was open-mouthed at Professor Donald’s experiences. To be that well-respected in your field, to be amongst your peers, and to still be mistaken for the secretary! I am shocked. And disgusted. And furious!

In that light, I’m glad that the lists of women in science has been released, and that it was given such wide coverage in at least one national newspaper. Women in science need all the publicity they can get. Here are the lists:

The Royal Society Top 10

1. Caroline Herschel (1750-1848)
As an assistant to her brother, a royal astronomer, Herschel discovered eight comets and catalogued star clusters. She was the first woman scientist to receive a salary and was awarded many honours.

2. Mary Somerville (1780-1872)
The Scottish scientist was only the second woman to receive recognition in the UK for her scientific experiments, which were on magnetism. Her popular renditions of the French astronomer Laplace’s book Traité de Mécanique Céleste made her famous.

3. Mary Anning (1799-1847)
The daughter of poor Dissenters, the palaeontologist made a number of important finds in Lyme Regis, including the first correctly identified ichthyosaur skeleton and the first two plesiosaur skeletons ever found. She also discovered important fish fossils.

4. Elizabeth Garrett Anderson (photo right, 1836-1917)
Denied entry to medical school, Garrett Anderson instead passed the Society of Apothecaries examination to become the first English female doctor. She founded the New Hospital for Women in London and was influential in the passing of an Act permitting women to enter the medical profession in 1876.

5. Hertha Ayrton (1854-1923)
Working with her husband, Professor William Ayrton, Ayrton published several papers on the electric arc. In 1902 she became the first woman to be nominated as a fellow of the Royal Society, although as a married woman she could not accept.

6. Kathleen Lonsdale (1903-1971)
A pioneer of X-ray crystallography – the study of molecule shapes – in 1945 she and Marjory Stephenson were the first women to be admitted as fellows to the Royal Society. She was the first female professor at University College London, and the first woman to be president of the British Association for the Advancement of Science.

7. Elsie Widdowson (1908-2000)
Her work with Professor R A McCance revolutionised the way the world assessed nutritional values and how mammalian development was perceived. She worked on nutritional problems during the Second World War, and on treating the effects of starvation suffered by concentration camp victims.

8. Dorothy Hodgkin (1910-1994)
Hodgkin discovered the structure of penicillin and of vitamin B12. She was awarded the Nobel prize for her work, and was made a member of the Order of Merit. She devoted much of her later life to championing scientists in developing countries.

9. Rosalind Franklin (1920-1958)
Her work on the X-ray diffraction images of DNA was used to formulate Crick and Watson’s 1953 hypothesis of the structure of DNA. She led the pioneering work on the tobacco mosaic and polio viruses.

10. Anne McLaren (1927-2007)
McLaren produced the first litter of mice grown from eggs that had been developed in tissue culture and transferred to a surrogate mother, paving the way for human in vitro fertilisation.

Today’s Trail Blazers

1. Susan Greenfield Professor of pharmacology, University of Oxford
“People don’t sell science to young people, and especially to girls, as well as they might. It takes time and resources to send people into schools. Doing that sort of thing is regarded very badly in the scientific community, it is seen as ‘dumbing down’.”

2. Patricia Fara Director of studies, history and philosophy of science, Cambridge University
“Younger women believe there is no discrimination against women in science, but I think that is optimistic. Women are squeezed out of exciting research projects. It certainly isn’t a level playing field, you just have to look at the statistics. It is tough for women.”

3. Julia Higgins Professor of polymer science, Imperial College London
“Even now women in science are rather invisible. It is a cultural thing. When people talk about Newton and Darwin, we want them to remember the women who did amazing things, too.”

4. Uta Frith Emeritus professor of cognitive development, University of London
“We still have a long way to go. Women had a late start in the profession. I’m privileged to be one of the few women recognised in science, but there are so many talented women who will do great things.”

5. Sunetra Gupta Professor of theoretical epidemiology, Oxford University
“It is only since I undertook to write a children’s book on women scientists that I have come to know their lives in any detail – which is embarrassing, but also makes me realise how much of a need there is for the book.”

6. Maggie Aderin-Pocock Royal Society university research fellow and a space scientist for Astrium Ltd
“My career has been great up until now, but I’m due to give birth to my first child in three weeks time, so that might pose more of a problem. Career breaks are a problem in science, as you aren’t keeping up with the cutting-edge research.”

7. Athene Donald Deputy head, department of physics, Cambridge University
“There is an unconscious bias. The number of women science professors is only about 11 per cent. It is improving, pathetically slowly. I think the Royal Society is working really hard over the gender issue. That they put their hands up and say ‘mea culpa’ is a positive message.”

8. Helen Mason Solar physicist, Cambridge University
“Research grants have been cut and universities are suffering financially; people are being made redundant. My fear is that the young women scientists will be hit hardest by this. Indeed, I know that this is happening, and I feel powerless to stop it.”

9. Ottoline Leyser Professor of biology, University of York
“The list highlights how tremendously recent it has been that we’ve had the equality we are now enjoying, and how frustrating it is that things are not moving faster.”

10. Nancy Rothwell MRC research professor, University of Manchester
“I’m often asked how I manage in a male dominated profession. I just don’t recognise this description. I have experienced nothing but support from all my male colleagues.”

It is heartening to see that at least some of the women haven’t faced discrimination because of their gender, but it is disturbing to see just how many are conscious of it. I am also particularly interested in Maggie Aderin-Pocock’s concern about how taking maternity leave may affect her work.

Thank you, Ada Lovelace Day, for providing a world-wide opportunity to highlight the achievements of women in science. I hope that awareness can start to chip away at the inequality that women in science appear to be facing.

If anyone else is posting for Ada Lovelace Day, do let me know in the comments below. Oh, and if I may be permitted a small work-related plug, Patricia Fara will be at the Oxford Literary Festival, speaking about her latest book, at 2pm this afternoon. I’ll be there, so give me a wave!

It’s fitting, though, that we should have spent all of yesterday talking about two such iconic women as Virginia Woolf and Vanessa Bell when today is International Women’s Day. Unlike many ‘days’, though, this is a truly global affair, with events happening all over the globe. You can see a full list on the IWD website.

Oxford is, as it does every year, celebrating International Women’s Day. The theme this year is ‘Grassroots and Glass Ceilings’, with events including an art exhibition running at The Jam Factory until Sunday 14 March, and another art show, ‘A Celebration of the Female Form: 100 Portraits of Women’ at the North Wall Art Centre until Saturday 13 March.

Today’s major event is one I wish I was able to go to: ‘Aung San Suu Kyi: Breaking the Glass Ceiling in Burma’ at Oxford Town Hall. It starts at 6.30pm with a sale of Burmese cuisine, with the main event following at 7.30pm:

A celebration in recognition and support of Aung San Suu Kyi: iconic first lady of Burma , described as  “a stunning beacon of non-violent struggles for democracy and human rights.”

Aung San Suu Kyi, a graduate of St Hugh’s College, Oxford, 1969, was elected as the Leader of the National League for Democracy in her home country Burma in 1988, and has since 1989 spent fourteen years under house arrest. In 1991 she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in recognition of her non-violent struggle.

The evening combines Burmese culture with politics; providing an insight into the forces that have inspired AungSan Suu Kyi’s passionate commitment to the peaceful pathway to freedom and democracy in her country.

Treat yourself to an early supper: A flavour of delicious authentic Burmese cuisine on sale from 6.30-7.30pm. Meet the people of Burma, learn about their traditions, beliefs, customs and politics through: speakers, film, costume, traditional dance and presentations: 7.30–9.30pm

Proceeds from the sale of tickets will be shared between the Oxford Burmese Benefit Fund and the Oxford International Women’s Festival. Collection during the interval for the Oxford Burmese Benefit Fund; proceeds will go directly to support relief projects in Burma.

Over the coming days there is also an event celebrating Dorothy Hodgkin, a crystallographer, ‘Creative Women, Creative Children’, and open afternoon with Redbridge Traveller’s Women’s Group, an evening of Latin American music and dance, Women Reaching Women Water Day, a joint feminist/Trade Union event about the fashion industry, and a Women in Business seminar. Phew! Something for everyone and no mistake.

Happy International Women’s Day from Other Stories, to you, wherever you are. Me, before I go out today, I’m going to get back to reading Letters from a Fainthearted Feminist by the late feminist writer Jill Tweedie.

While the Oxbridge universities were founded in the 11th century (Oxford) and 13th century (Cambridge), women in England were only first allowed to attend lectures at ANY higher education institution in 1830, when Birkbeck College – then known as the London Mechanics’ Institute – let them in. Girton College, Cambridge was founded in 1869, although was not an official part of the university. It had five students, and would be the first women’s college in Oxbridge. The first female college in Oxford was the Society for Home Students, founded in 1878, the year before Lady Margaret Hall and Somerville. The Society for Home Students, by the way, became St Anne’s College in 1952.  In 1881, women were allowed to sit the Cambridge Tripos (but not to officially graduate). In Oxford, it was 1884 before women could sit degree exams. They could sit them, but no certificate or official recognition was given to those who passed. Indeed, if I’ve understood the chronology in the book, it was Durham University who first awarded women degrees, in 1895.  It was 1920 before women were awarded degrees by Oxford University, and 1948 when Cambridge women can finally graduate. That said, in Oxford, it was, shockingly, only in 1959 that the five women’s ’societies’ – Somerville, LMH, St Hugh’s, St Hilda’s, and St Anne’s - became full members of the university.

These dates have an impact, but not as much impact as reading about the real lives of the women who went to the universities. Take Trixie Pearson, for example. She was a very bright girl from an impoverished background, whose mother recognised her cleverness. Mrs Pearson managed to keep Trixie at school, despite the fact that it made financial sense for Trixie to leave and get work, and eventually in 1932 Trixie was encouraged to try for university – St Hilda’s College, Oxford to be precise. Everyone in the family was delighted when she was accepted. While Trixie was at college, the family became so poverty-stricken that they had to go onto poor relief, but Mrs Pearson insisted that Trixie stay at university so that she could get a good job and help the family out of the mess they were in. The college itself  ‘discreetly, with infinite sensitivity’ invented bursaries to help. Trixie later discovered that some of these ‘grants’ came out of the personal pockets of her tutors. Finally, Trixie graduated, and Mrs Pearson scrimped the money to get to Oxford for the ceremony. The Dean of St Hilda’s spotted Mrs Pearson sitting with all the other proud parents, pulled her out, and sat her in the VIP seats amongst the college academics and dignitaries. I feel misty-eyed just typing that.

Robinson has split the book into chapters that each concentrate on a particular aspect of women getting to, and staying at, university. She traces the educational opportunities open to women right from Bathsua Makin’s An Essay to Revive the Antient Education of Gentlewomen in 1673, through the 18th century Bluestockings, up to the mid-twentieth century. In another chapter she examines the vociferous opposition to women getting to university and the fears – vocalised by Henry Maudsley among others – that if women spent too much energy on education and intellectural pursuits, then they would not have enough energy to care for their troublesome reproductive systems and would, eventually, become sterile. She also describes the 1897 Cambridge riots, which happened when there was a vote on whether women should be awarded degrees or not. Cambridge alumni (all men, obviously) were shipped in from all over the place to protest against it, with the girls of Newnham College being locked in from 11am for their own safety. The protesters even strung up an effigy of a New Woman, riding a bicycle, from  the side of a tall building, and after the votes were counted and it was revealed that the women lost, the effigy was torn down by the men and ripped to pieces in celebration. Amusingly, though, one wag who thought it would be a good idea to stick his placard declaring ‘Down With Women’ or something similar in a tree in Newnham’s grounds came a cropper thanks to the gardener’s boy kicking out his ladder while he was still up the tree.

Other chapters look at the actual academic life of the girls, how they spent their spare time at university, and the opportunities they had once they left university. It really is a fascinating and awe-inspiring book that, without wishing to come over all Oprah Winfrey, made me incredibly thankful that these ordinary women from ordinary backgrounds were brave enough to overcome societal pressure to stay and home and be a good wife or daughter. If it wasn’t for these women, I would not be where I am today.

If I may just be very pernickity for a moment, while the human stories were what really made this book for me, I would also liked to have read more about the politics behind establishing higher education for women. Was it debated in parliament, or not considered important enough to warrant discussion? I would also have liked to read more about how the movement for women’s education fed into, or was fed by, the concurrent rise of the more general women’s rights or feminist movement(s). That really is me nit-picking though, because apart from those niggles, I cannot sing this book’s praises high enough, and I will certainly be keeping an eye out for more of Jane Robinson’s books.

This book makes up part of the Women Unbound reading challenge.