Louisiana State University Is a Mecca for Women Chemists

A new study by researchers at the University of Colorado, ranks the nation’s 50 leading chemistry departments by the percentage of all Ph.D. recipients who are women.

Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge leads the nation in achieving the highest percentage of women among Ph.D. recipients in chemistry. From 2005 to 2009, 49 percent of all Ph.D.s awarded in chemistry at LSU were earned by women. This was the largest percentage of any of the top 50 university chemistry departments in the country. In comparison, 20 percent of all chemistry degrees granted at Harvard University during the period went to women.

“At LSU we strive for a diverse student population in all academic areas, and we applaud the hard work of our faculty, staff and students in chemistry for this recognition,” said LSU President and Chancellor F. King Alexander. “This shows that LSU is not only recruiting students from all populations at both the undergraduate and graduate level, but strives to retain and see those students complete their degree programs. There is a need for high quality students studying the STEM fields.”

Other universities where a large percentage of Ph.D. graduates in chemistry are women include Michigan State University, the University of Washington, the University of Florida, and Emory University. In addition to Harvard, the universities were women were the smallest percentage of chemistry Ph.D. recipients were the University of Chicago and Columbia University.

The study, “Trends in Ph.D. Productivity and Diversity in the Top-50 Chemistry Departments,” appeared in The Journal of Chemical Education, an official publication of the American Chemical Society. It may be downloaded by clicking here.