Election to the National Academy of Sciences is one of the highest honors for a scientist. In the latest induction, only 9 of 72 new members were women. As women make up more of the Ph.D. recipients in the sciences, their representation in prestigious awards should also go up.
The Association for Women in Science has depicted a different trend. As this graph shows, the NAS is not keeping pace with the proportion of women scientists.
It’s hopeful that women in engineering and applied sciences have reached parity, but gaps still exist in other fields. Part of the cause may be that only Academy members can nominate new members, thereby perpetuating a male dominance. Making the club more open might increase the diversity of its membership.