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Worth a read: Contributions of pioneering women in indoor environment and health

Worth checking this out I think.

Source: Contributions of pioneering women in indoor environment and health – Nazaroff – 2016 – Indoor Air – Wiley Online Library

From the introduction:

On occasion, this journal has recounted historical achievements in the indoor air sciences. Sundell[1] provided a broad-ranging overview. I have written about the history of the ISIAQ and its Academy of Fellows,[2] and about Max von Pettenkofer, for whom the Academy’s highest award is named.[3] Notably, absent in these histories is any explicit discussion of the contribution of women.

These circumstances conform to a broader pattern. In fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, there has been a lesser representation in leadership by women than their overall participation. In the indoor air community, one observes a moderately high proportion of women participants in conferences and as authors of published research. However, women only comprise 10% of Academy membership. For this journal, similar proportions apply: women hold 2 of the 13 editor positions and comprise five of the 30 editorial board members. Considering scientific awards in the indoor air sciences, three of eight recipients of the early career Yaglou Award are women; however, none of the first seven Pettenkofer award winners is a woman.

Many of the underlying causes for these disparities are structural; however, I do not propose to debate that matter here. Rather, a brief account is presented of some historical contributions of women to the field of indoor environment and health. The examples are all drawn from the United States, in part, because I decided not to highlight some more famous contributors, such as Florence Nightingale. The geographic focus also reflects my limitations with any language other than English, constraining my ability to access historical documents from other countries. With those caveats, and with the following sketches presented in chronological order, let’s proceed.

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