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Women in STEM: A Research Guide

This guide provides sources and research strategies for critical analysis of women in STEM fields. 

Campus resources that focus on women, but are not STEM-specific:

Commission on the Status of Women
The COSW advises Wayne State University's Office of the President and the larger campus community on issues facing women students, staff, faculty, and alumni including gender equity and equality, social justice, and intersectionality. The Commission advocates for women through programming, university service, outreach, research, and policy recommendations.


Wayne Women LEAD
An affiliated chapter of the Michigan ACE Women's Network. They envision an open and just higher education environment in which women and men share their talents and voices equally in management and policymaking to improve the quality of higher education. 

Warrior Moms

Aims to provide a supportive community for moms. This employee engagement group offers programming and events for the entire campus, while also creating a safe space to share ideas, challenges, and wins for the enrichment and betterment of working moms at WSU.

GEARS: Gender Equity Advances Retention in STEM

The Gender Equity Advances Retention in STEM (GEARS) Project at Wayne State University works to "reduce inequities for diverse women faculty members in STEM disciplines through systemic change." They provide resources, special events, and networking opportunities. Explore their site.

See their Wayne Women in STEM profiles.

Marsha Richmond, Professor of History

Marsha Richmond is a historian of science and Emerita Professor in the department of history at Wayne State. Her research interests include women and gender in the life sciences. Featured here are some of her recent publications.

"Women as Public Scientists in the Atomic Age: Rachel Carson, Charlotte Auerbach, and Genetics,” Historical Studies in the Natural Sciences, 47, 3 (2017), pp. 349–388.

“Women as Mendelians and Geneticists,” Science and Education, 24, 1-2 (2015): 125-150.

“Women in Mutation Studies: The Role of Gender in the Methods, Practices, and Results of Early Twentieth-Century Genetics,” in Making Mutations: Objects, Practices, Contexts, ed. Louis Campos and Alexander von Schwerin. Preprint #393, (Berlin: Max-Planck-Institut für Wissenschaftsgeschichte, 2010), pp. 11-48.

2022-2023 Enrollment in STEM Disciplines by Self-Reported Gender (Female/Male)

  #Female %Female #Male %Male
Biological Sciences & Neuroscience 893 66% 458 34%
Chemistry 230 51% 216 49%
Computer Science 1 12% 7 88%
Engineering 811 24% 2526 76%
Environmental Science & Geology 60 57% 45 43%
Mathematics 63 44% 80 56%
Medicine 796 54% 684 46%
Nursing 686 82% 147 18%
Nutrition & Food Science 206 77% 62 23%
Pharmacy & Health Sciences 697 73% 251 27%
Physics & Astronomy 57 39% 90 61%
Public Health 601 77% 168 23%

Some of the above disciplines collect data on non-binary gender preferences by offering an option of "other."
Source: Office of Institutional Research and Analysis (OIRA)

Photo of Nerissa Viola

Nerissa Viola, School of Medicine

Nerissa Viola, Ph.D., associate professor of Oncology at the University School of Medicine and leader of the Molecular Imaging Research Program at the Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute, won the 2024 Drs. Anthony and Joyce Danielski Kales Endowment Faculty Award for Innovative Cancer Research. Dr. Viola received the award for her role as the principal investigator in a collaborative preclinical study that succeeded in finding a way to potentially suppress tumor growth for prostate cancer patients.


1947 at Wayne State University: During the College of Nursing's annual capping ceremony, students prepare for a class photo with Dean Katherine Faville. Source.