Math and science departments previously dominated by male professors nationwide are now experiencing some female influence.
Fairfield is participating in this trend with the hiring of two new female chemistry professors: Jessica Davis and Amanda Harper-Leatherman.
Davis, who received a Ph.D. from Yale University, said she believes that hiring women for Fairfield’s chemistry department is a great step forward for the College of Arts and Sciences. In doing so, she said, Fairfield is showing female science majors a world of possibilities.
Harper-Leatherman agreed with Davis, adding that she has encountered nothing but support from Fairfield faculty and staff.
“If science interests you, then pursue it. There’s nothing holding you back to pursue what you dream of,” said Harper-Leatherman, who received a doctorate from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
However, Matthew Kubasik, chair of the chemistry department, said that Davis and Harper-Leatherman were not hired on the basis of gender.
“At Fairfield we run nationwide, and indeed international, searches when the opportunity arises to bring new talent to the faculty,” Kubasik said. “Our new faculty in chemistry are, simply put, the best teacher-scholars of those that applied to Fairfield. There was no consideration of their gender when hiring these two new faculty members.”
Davis said that the majority of undergraduate students in the biology and chemistry departments are female, which shows that women can achieve significant gains in the sciences.
Though sexism has long been considered a problem in college math and science programs throughout history, Harper-Leatherman said she has never encountered sexism at Fairfield or while attending college – a sentiment shared by female science majors.
“I don’t think you experience sexism in this type of school,” said Kristen Visco ’09, who lives on the math and science floor of Gonzaga Hall. “As biology majors we hardly have any guys in our major. I think that a small school like this is geared towards women. At a bigger school you may encounter more guys and maybe more sexism.”
Davis, however, said that discrimination occurs in all academic fields, not just the sciences.
“In any field you’ll run into some type of discrimination,” said Davis, who said she has not experienced sexism at Fairfield. “It’s a mental thing that has to do with the person discriminating, not the career path.”
Fairfield students agreed that sexism is not an issue on campus and feel comfortable majoring in whatever they desire.
“I was interested in science; I wanted to be a dentist. I have never encountered sexism because of my major,” said Shannon Geln ’09.
“I find that, as a nursing major, there really is no sexism,” Anne Sawicki ’09 said, citing that most nursing majors are female students.
Harper-Leatherman, who completed her undergraduate studies at St. Olaf College in Minnesota, specializes in analytical chemistry.
Davis is a medicinal chemist who will be working in the biology and chemistry departments. She is also adjunct professor at Quinnipiac University and teaches at the Yale University summer session. She was an undergraduate at Marist College.
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