A survey released last month found just 13 percent of women are members at the National Academy of Sciences, a private, non-profit founded in 1863. Throughout the world, less than one-eighth of women are members of scientific academies. Dorothy Ngila, a researcher who worked on the study, said scientific bodies should reflect the diverse amount of people in the world. “They should make sure their panels and reports are reflective of the diversity of our world,” Ngila said. “You cannot provide advice to government using only half the team.” At Queens College, women interested in the hard sciences face a field where the lack of diversity may cause problems, such…
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Questioning ethics in science tests
Scientists are viewed as objective researchers seeking out the truth without taking shortcuts. But that is being questioned. Last month, a research team at Stanford University, after reviewing 500 reports, found two-thirds of animal experiments did not say if their subjects were dropped. Moreover, only 30 percent of experiments reported it. This is important because dropping animals affects data in reports. When humans are involved, scientists say who dropped out, died or left the study. But if the same is not applied with animals, then no one can trust the data. For some Queens College students, this is not a surprise. Students studying the natural sciences work as associates in…