Thanks to @AnneOsterreider for an already excellent post. I'm not going to go on about the statistics or anything like that. I've done that before - for example in the series I ran on the Galaxy Zoo blog about the Women of Galaxy Zoo.
Alice Roberts does make a good point though....
I also totally agree with Anne that the Royal Society publication Mothers in Science: 64 Ways to Have it All is a good one to remember.
So what am I adding to the conversation. Well a couple of pictures and quotes. Here's Cecilia-Payne Gaposhkin with her husband and two of her children.
Prof. Payne-Gaposhkin had an incredibly difficult career path and was a real early pioneer for women in science. My favourite quote of hers is
"I simply went on plodding, rewarded by the beauty of the scenery towards an unexpected goal."Vera Rubin is another personal favourite woman in astronomy (and a mother of a woman in astronomy too which I think is fun).
Here she is observing
and a quote (from "Brainy Quote")
"Science progresses best when observations force us to alter our preconceptions."(seems appropriate for the woman whose data first demonstrated that galaxies must have dark matter).
That's it. This woman has got to get on with some science! ;)
