Question

A female scientist joins an all-male faculty at a college. What attribute is almost certain to be included in the female scientist's self-definition when she is at work?

a) She is a scientist
b) She is intelligent
c) She is a woman
d) She is a professor

Answer 1

In an all-male faculty, the female scientist would likely define herself significantly by her gender due to the prominence of women's underrepresentation in the sciences and academia; thus, she is almost certain to include that she is a woman in her self-definition at work.

Step-by-step explanation:

The attribute almost certain to be included in the female scientist's self-definition while at work, particularly in the context of joining an all-male faculty, would likely be c) She is a woman. This aspect of her identity would be salient in an environment where she is underrepresented. Her awareness of her gender might influence social dynamics, professional interactions, and could be a key part of her self-definition in this context, considering women's underrepresentation in tenure-track positions in academia and sciences.

Instances like the case of Tarter, who was often the only woman in her advanced science or math classes, further highlight the prominence of gender in self-identification in such environments. The societal and historical contexts, such as the discrediting of myths of women's intellectual inferiority, also show the importance of gender as an operative part of a woman scientist's identity.