History, one of many tools towards new practices for gender equality in the history of science

Résumé En

History of science is a promising tool to help narrow the gender gap in STEM. Far from just adding to the list of women pioneers in scientific disciplines, it has brought out hundreds of women scientists, forgotten by the history of the institutions or of the “great men” written prior to the 1970s. From Nobel laureates to female technicians in laboratories, their trajectories not only provide role models for future generations of scientists, but also challenge the categories of the received historical narrative, highlighting its gendered character. The history of science, even over the longue durée, reveals a form of continuity in the negative social representations and discourses associated with women in science. These contributions can provide tools to fight gender inequalities in scientific careers. However, history and philosophy of science themselves, as shown by the Gender Gap in Science project, are far from being free of these inequalities, which are very sensitive to national contexts. What can we do as historians and philosophers of science to overcome these inequalities in our own discipline? Gender Gap studies, social and neuro sciences (Rossiter, 1982, 1998, 2012; Steele and Aronson, 1995; Charles and Thébaud, 2018; Rippon, 2019…) give us many hints on how to implement new policies to promote gender equality.