In 1944 the German chemist Otto Hahn was awarded a Noble Prize for his work on nuclear fission - the process that lies at the heart of nuclear bombs and power stations. The Austrian physicist Lise Meitner, who was the official leader of Hahn's team, and who also worked out the theoretical explanation of their experimental discoveries, was not even mentioned in the Noble committee's announcement. (Wertheim)

Lisa Meitner (http://cwp.library.ucla.edu/dev/photopage5.1.html)

Thirteen years later the Chinese-American particle physicist Chien-Shiung Wu would likewise be left out when the Nobel committee made its announcements.

Chien-Shiung Wu (http://cwp.library.ucla.edu/dev/photopage5.1.html)

Likewise English astronomer Jocelyn Bell, who discovered pulsars, would also be denied a share in the Nobel that went only to her (male) supervisor.

Reports in the past showed that the highest percentages of women among students awarded a doctorate in physics are 20 to 27 percent ( India, Australia, Poland and France) and the lowest percentages are 8-9 percent (Japan, South Korea, Netherlands and Germany).

An international survey of around 900 women physicists in more than 50 countries found that the factor most frequently contributing to their success was encouragement from their families (parents and husbands). Also mentioned were the support of high school teachers, advisors, and professors; their own determination, will power and hard work; and participation in important international projects.

The outcome of the survey showed somecultural differences from the countries represented, with family issues such as marriage and child care important factors in some countries, and less so in others. Women in developing countries are more likely than women in developed countries to be married (four out of five in the first case, compared to two out of three in the second). (Barbosa)

The problems that the women surveyed mentioned were problems with balancing family and career and defeating the commonly encountered bias that women cannot do physics. The women who responded shared a strong passion for physics, and three out of four said that they would choose physics again, despite any difficulties or barriers they had encountered.

A report from Japan stated that it takes women an average of ten years more to advance to the rank of professor than their male colleagues.

A study from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology found women professors consistently had less laboratory and office space and were paid less than their male colleagues.

"As of 1996, Princeton physics department had still not given tenure to a physicist not sporting the penile appendage" (Wertheim).