THE DISCOVERY of the DNA double helix structure in 1953 was one of the most important scientific discoveries of all time. In 1962, James Watson, Francis Crick and Maurice Wilkins shared the Nobel Prize for this discovery and today are renowned for their revolutionary contributions to modern science. The discovery of the molecular structure of DNA by these three men, however, would not have been possible without the efforts of a brilliant and previously unrecognized woman, Rosalind Franklin.
Franklin worked as a chemist and research associate at King's College in London alongside Wilkins. It was Franklin's photograph of DNA, taken by Wilkins and given to Watson without Franklin's knowledge or consent, that ultimately led to the discovery of DNA's double helix structure. Though Franklin died before she could have been awarded the Nobel Prize, her accomplishments and contributions to science have been belittled - not because her work was unimportant, but because of her sex.
During her career, Rosalind Franklin was marginalized and undervalued by her male peers despite her talents in using X-ray diffraction. In Franklin's time at King's College, women scientists were not permitted to lunch in the dining room with men and faced persistent and blatant prejudice in the lab. This discrimination has been well documented and was even evidenced explicitly in Watson's bestselling book, "The Double Helix," a first-person account of the discovery of DNA published in 1968. In his book, Watson trivializes Franklin's contributions, referring to her as "Wilkins' assistant" and characterizing her as a frumpy, de-feminized and uninspired woman. She either "had to go or be put in her place" because, according to Watson, "the best home for a feminist was in another person's lab." Though Franklin is now gaining recognition as a significant collaborator in the discovery of DNA's double helix, her story is representative of repeated and overt gender bias in the workplace.
Modern gender bias is no less egregious than the overt sexism Franklin faced in the 1950s - it only has changed form. Women from all professional fields continue to face disparities in wages, promotion and representation. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, full-time working women make 80 percent of what their male peers earn. In 2009, women also held only 36.5 percent of all managerial positions according to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Though debate has been fierce over the root causes of the gender gap in the American labor force, sex discrimination no doubt contributes to wage, managerial and representative disparities in the workplace. According to the American Association of University Women Educational Foundation, one-fourth of the gender gap remains unexplained and is most likely the result of sex discrimination.
Recently, sex discrimination in the workplace has once again come before the U.S. Supreme Court. Last Tuesday, the Supreme Court began reviewing arguments in a gender bias class action lawsuit filed in 2001 against Walmart. The case holds sweeping implications given that it could cover 1.5 million female employees employed at Walmart from 1996 to 2001. The suit contends that discriminatory practices of Walmart resulted in disparate wages and fewer promotions for the female employees. The plaintiffs reference 100 distinct instances of discrimination, including a store executive's permission to run management meetings at a Hooters restaurant. The suit finds that though women make up 65 percent of Walmart's hourly employees, they account for only around one-third of its management.
Gender bias also contributes to the underrepresentation of women in professional fields. For example, in the United States women routinely are underrepresented in the STEM fields - science, technology, engineering and mathematics. There are also fewer women in politics and business. Though women represent 51 percent of the American population, they hold less than 20 percent of elected government positions. Of the Fortune 500 CEOs, only 3 percent are women. Even in journalism, women hold less than 3 percent of the upper-level positions.
Though sexism may not be as overt as it was during Rosalind Franklin's era, it is nevertheless a widespread and persistent problem for modern women. Gender parity issues deserve our continued attention and more must be done to counter sex discrimination in the workplace.
To this day, women have no constitutional guarantees for equal protection or freedom from discrimination. The Nineteenth Amendment guaranteeing a woman's right to vote does not establish equal protection under the law, as some might believe. The Equal Rights Amendment, first proposed in 1923 and passed by Congress in 1972, failed to be ratified by a necessary three quarters of the state legislatures in 1982. The amendment, written by suffragist Alice Paul, would have guaranteed women equal protection under the law, safeguarding them from discrimination.
Women have made significant strides over the past century, but without a constitutional amendment guaranteeing equal protection under the law women cannot hope to gain full parity in terms of pay or promotion in the labor force. Women's equality depends on legislation and it is time this proposed legislation becomes law.
Ashley Chappo's column appears Wednesdays in The Cavalier Daily. She can be reached at a.chappo@cavalierdaily.com.
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