Female Scientists at Risk

Cora Z. Övermann

Female Scientists at Risk. The Representation of Career Challenges in Contemporary U.S. American Science Novels

ISBN 978-3-98940-085-6, 274 S., kt., € 36,50 (2025)

(CAT - Cultures in America in Transition, Bd. 14)

erscheint voraussichtlich 25.07.2025

To date, women are underrepresented in the natural sciences in real life, as well as in most science-related media. Through the emergent genre of science novels, readers can enter the world of science and come to understand its mechanisms of knowledge production, inclusion, and exclusion. This thesis examines the representation of the ever-evolving challenges for female scientists in contemporary U.S. American fiction. Specifically, it seeks to ascertain in how far the presented risks are gender- and career-specific. For this purpose, the study operates with a corpus of eight science novels published between 1993 and 2019 by authors with and without a background in science. It further draws on sociological theories of risk and science, as well as a methodological framework of feminist postclassical narratology, which is amended by the concept of containment strategies. Five categories of risk are employed in the analyses: financial, mental, ethical, physical, and social risk. In applying these concepts, it comes to light that science continues to produce hazards for all persons not traditionally associated with the field. Nevertheless, it is also shown that women in science, despite a range of well-known to less apparent risks, persist.

Buchvorschau / Inhaltsverzeichnis (pdf)