| Summary: | 博士 === 國立臺灣師範大學 === 特殊教育研究所 === 92 === Career Development and Support Factors
of Eminent Women in Science
Shu-Min Wu
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to explore the career development and support factors of eminent women in science. In-depth interview was used to acquire rich data from seven eminent women in Taiwan who are professors or researchers in science. A semi-structured outline was used to serve as a reminder or guide to the researcher during interviewing. Their career development and support factors in their professional fields were analyzed. The major findings were as follows:
A. Career development
Most parents of the subjects had no gender-difference attitudes on them. The parents supported their daughters’ scientific studies, although they themselves were not in the same fields.
The subjects showed excellent academic achievement in high school; they dedicated to scientific studies and claimed credits for remarkable performance in college. The majority, six of them, completed their doctorate abroad.
According to Super’s career development theory, all the subjects in this study belonged to the style of “stable career development”.
B. Support factors
The career development of these seven eminent women in science appeared to be affected by significant others, unique personalities, family support and environment factors.
Concerning significant others, parents and teachers were mentioned most frequently. Their personalities were characterized by being creative, determined, motivated, energetic, independent, enjoying work, and persistent in their fields. In addition to their parents, for those who married, their husbands also encouraged their academic work, no matter what research fields the husbands were in.On their career, they experienced a lot of positive interactions with their peer groups and the appreciation or promotion from their higher-up. These made them pioneers of specific academic fields.
In this study, the informants agreed that in Taiwan, women were not restricted on their academic studies. In high school, the population of female students was similar to that of male ones, while there were no significant differences between their academic performances. Even in some specific fields, women did better than men on academic performance. But women were usually not encouraged to study further. Even when they finished their doctorate and became famous scholars, they had to overcome the difficulties in allocating their time on research and family in their tight schedule.
In summary, the researcher has tried to construct a career development profile of the eminent women in science. Finally, based on the findings of this study, the researcher makes some suggestions for school, family, women interested in science, and future studies.
Key words: eminent woman, female scientist, career development, support factor, gender issue
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