Daughters of Invention, a teachers' manual and resource guide for organizing and running invention workshops ($10). What if? Women Inventors and Entrepreneurs, a video which profiles a diverse group of women and their inventions, from "high-tech" products like genetically engineered yeast and computer aids for the disabled to potato chips and make-up mirrors ($149.95 to buy, $50 to rent). .

The Book For Women Who Invent or Want To, a manual for inventors covering the steps involved in getting an idea on the market ($15).

Profiles of Women Inventors, a collection of one-page profiles covering a variety of women inventors of all ages (available this spring).

All materials can be ordered directly from
the Women Inventors Project:
P.O. Box 689, Waterloo, ant.,
N2J 4B8, (519) 746-3443.

The project has also helped to develop a portable exhibit, Women of Invention, which is traveling across Canada through the support of the National Museum of Science and Technology (Ottawa). Photocopies of the text and photos in the exhibit can be ordered at cost from the Project. Several now grace the wall of my daughter's classroom.

As "outsiders" to the educational system, one of the most difficult barriers we faced in organizing the first pilot workshop (held on a Saturday) was getting the cooperation of the local Board of Education. In the end, most of the students were recruited through two very committed teachers who had helped to develop the workshop originally. The general question of how parents and other concerned "outsiders" can help to bring about change in large, beaureaucratic and often indifferent educational systems is an important one. I think we need to start by building alliances with concerned "insiders" and perhaps CCLOW could somehow facilitate the process.

It is important to increase career options by facilitating the participation of young women in science, math and technology courses and their entry into related professions. I am convinced that the materials developed by the Women Inventors Project and other groups will help with such recruitment. But I think we would be negligent if we stopped there.

We also need to begin a fundamental restructuring of the teaching and practice of science, math, technology and engineering, as urged by Dr. Ursula Franklin, Sheila Tobias and other feminists (5). The fact remains that science, math and engineering, as they are I taught and practiced today, are demonstrably harmful to the mental health and self confidence of young women (6).

The Women Inventors Project's funders are gratefully acknowledged for their support of our program: Science Culture Canada, the Innovations Program of Employment and Immigration Canada, and the Ontario Women's Directorate.

Rachelle Sender Beauchamp, Ph.D., co- director of the Women Inventors Project, is a biologist with a background in molecular biology, occupational health, and technology transfer. She is the co-founder of the Canadian Association for Women in Science.

  1. Amram, Fred. "The Innovative Woman". New Scientist. Vol. 102, 1984, pp.10-14.

  2. Brooks, Carol and Rachelle S. Beauchamp. "The Women Inventors Project". Women's Education des femmes. Vol. 6 (4), 1988, pp.22-24.

  3. Buttons to Biotech: U.S. Patenting By Women, 1977 to 1988. Washington D.C.: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, 1990.

  4. For example, Small Inventions That Make a Big Difference Washington, D.C.: National Geographic Society, 1984; and Wyatt, Valerie. Inventions: An Amazing Investigation Toronto: Greey de Pencier Books, 1987.

  5. Franklin, Ursula, "Will Women Change Technology or Will Technology Change: Women?" The CRIAW Papers, No. 9,1985; . Tobias, Sheila, They're Not Dumb, They're Different: Stalking the Second Tier. Tucson, Arizona: Research Corporation, 1990; and Wylie, A., K. Okruhlik, S. Morton and L. Thielen-Wilson, "Philosophical Feminism: A Bibliographic Guide to Critiques of Science." Resources for Feminist Research, Vol. 19 (2), 1990, pp. 2-36.

  6. Widnall, Sheila E. "AAAS Presidential Lecture: Voices from the Pipeline, Science Vol. 241,1740 -1745,1988.


Back Contents Next