This book begins with an examination of the numbers of women in physics in English-speaking countries, moving on to examine factors that affect girls and their decision to continue in science, right through to education and on into the problems that women in physics careers face. Looking at all of these topics with one eye on the progress that the field has made in the past few years, and another on those things that we have yet to address, the book surveys the most current research as it tries to identify strategies and topics that have significant impact on issues that women have in the field.

Laura McCullough is a Professor of Physics at the University of Wisconsin-Stout. She has a BA in physics from Hamline University, and a MS in physics from the University of Minnesota. Her PhD from the University of Minnesota is in Science Education with a focus on Physics Education Research. Her primary research area is gender in science and surrounding issues, a topic on which she is frequently asked to speak, especially on gender and context issues in assessment. She has also done significant work on women in leadership, and on students with disabilities, where she was involved with a major grant from the NSF. She has had articles published in the Journal of College Science Teaching, the Journal of International Women's Studies, and The Physics Teacher, among others.