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"If we’re going to out-innovate and out-educate the rest of the world, we’ve got to open doors for everyone. We need all hands on deck, and that means clearing hurdles for women and girls as they navigate careers in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM).” -- First Lady Michelle Obama, September 26, 2011

Christian Women in Science

Christian Women in Science (CWIS) is an affiliate group of the American Scientific Affiliation (ASA). Founded in 1941, ASA is an international network of Christians in the sciences. The mission of CWIS is to encourage Christian women of all ages to pursue, sustain, and grow in a career in science, technology, engineering or math, and to encourage women in these endeavors to pursue, sustain, and grow in the Christian faith.

Why CWIS?

Some people are skeptical that we need an organization like CWIS today; however, evidence continues to support the notion that there is a lack of women in the sciences. The American Association of University Professors (aaup) reported from a National Science Foundation (NSF) funded study that fewer than a third of the PhDs in computer sciences, earth, atmospheric, and ocean sciences; mathematics and statistics; physical sciences; and engineering.1

The National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) study, "Nevertheless She Persisted? Gender Peer Effects in Doctoral STEM Programs" from October 2018 collected data on the effects of peer gender composition in STEM doctoral programs on persistence and degree completion. Their findings included evidence that women entering cohorts with no female peers are 11.9% less likely to graduate within six years than their male counterparts. They also found these gender peer effects function primarily through changes in the likelihood of dropping out in the first year of a Ph.D. program and are most extensive in programs that are more likely to be male-dominated.2,3 Furthermore, many women that do persist to complete a STEM Ph.D.'s find themselves leaving the workforce or academia soon after they begin employment.4,5

Therefore, the core of CWiS establishment is two-fold:

1.  Support fellow sisters in Christ and encourage them to pursue and stay engaged in STEM-related fields

2.  Educate fellow sisters in science -- who are not Christians -- that many Christian viewpoints are not in conflict with science and with support from one another women can continue to make even more of an impact in the scientific community.

This is why CWiS.

How to Become a CWiS member?

1. Join American Scientific Affiliation, here, and in the options make sure to choose CWIS as one of the groups included in your membership. All membership donations help support both ASA and CWiS!

2.  If you are already an ASA member, log into their ASA account, and directly "join group" on the CWiS website home page, here.

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