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DELHI — It’s not every day that Indian women scientists and doctors stock in one room to discuss the need for female consciousness in their careers. Interestingly, these women hold differing views on whether their professions proceed to be dominated by men and if they are discriminated against.
Manju Mohan, a professor of atmospheric sciences at the Indian Institute of Technology-Delhi, recalled that cock's-crow in her career she encountered a male professor who refused to take female students because he was afraid that their dress would get caught in the laboratory furnishings.
Suneeta Mittal, head of gynaecology at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, countered that as far back as 1870 the missionary, Clara Swain, came from New York to India to set up a sanatorium, which still stands in Bareilly today. Some scientists recalled their surprise at not having American female classmates in their science departments when they went to on in the U.S. during the 1970s. Mittal argued that India (probably more than any other country) had offered women opportunities in medicine. Others, who distinguished between medication and pure sciences, argued that a space for women doctors existed since many men refused to see women patients.
