Cernoises and horrible cernettes : a history of women at CERN 1954–2017
Abstract
The European Organisation for Nuclear Research (CERN) was founded in 1954 by a group of men seeking to explore the fundamental building blocks of our Universe. Since then, they and a host of international scholars have succeeded, exemplified by the discovery of the Higgs Boson in 2012 and numerous Nobel Prize awards. But running parallel to the 'great men' of high-energy physics, is the untold story of the women of CERN. The organisation is an elite institution, and can thus provide insight into why numbers of women remain low in all facets of its work (except professional administrative). This viewpoint explores the role of women at CERN, both scientists and non-scientists, drawing on archival research from the organisation's collection in Geneva and interviews, providing an analysis of why gender diversity is still one of the puzzles left for this elite space to solve.
Citation
Røstvik , C M 2018 , ' Cernoises and horrible cernettes : a history of women at CERN 1954–2017 ' , Women's History Review , vol. 27 , no. 5 , pp. 858-865 . https://doi.org/10.1080/09612025.2017.1335850
Publication
Women's History Review
Status
Peer reviewed
ISSN
0961-2025Type
Journal article
Rights
© 2017 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. This work has been made available online in accordance with the publisher’s policies. This is the author created, accepted version manuscript following peer review and may differ slightly from the final published version. The final published version of this work is available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/09612025.2017.1335850
Description
This research was supported by doctoral funding from the School of Arts, Literature and Cultures at the University of Manchester.Collections
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