Cernoises and horrible cernettes: a history of women at CERN 1954–2017

Camilla Mørk Røstvik

doi:10.1080/09612025.2017.1335850

Cernoises and horrible cernettes: a history of women at CERN 1954–2017

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Abstract

The European Organisation for Nuclear Research (CERN) was founded in 1954 by a group of men seeking to explore the fundamental building blocks of our Universe. Since then, they and a host of international scholars have succeeded, exemplified by the discovery of the Higgs Boson in 2012 and numerous Nobel Prize awards. But running parallel to the 'great men' of high-energy physics, is the untold story of the women of CERN. The organisation is an elite institution, and can thus provide insight into why numbers of women remain low in all facets of its work (except professional administrative). This viewpoint explores the role of women at CERN, both scientists and non-scientists, drawing on archival research from the organisation's collection in Geneva and interviews, providing an analysis of why gender diversity is still one of the puzzles left for this elite space to solve.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	858-865
Number of pages	8
Journal	Women's History Review
Volume	27
Issue number	5
Early online date	30 Jun 2017
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1080/09612025.2017.1335850
Publication status	Published - 2018

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10.1080/09612025.2017.1335850

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© 2017 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. This work has been made available online in accordance with the publisher’s policies. This is the author created, accepted version manuscript following peer review and may differ slightly from the final published version. The final published version of this work is available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/09612025.2017.1335850
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title = "Cernoises and horrible cernettes: a history of women at CERN 1954–2017",

abstract = "The European Organisation for Nuclear Research (CERN) was founded in 1954 by a group of men seeking to explore the fundamental building blocks of our Universe. Since then, they and a host of international scholars have succeeded, exemplified by the discovery of the Higgs Boson in 2012 and numerous Nobel Prize awards. But running parallel to the 'great men' of high-energy physics, is the untold story of the women of CERN. The organisation is an elite institution, and can thus provide insight into why numbers of women remain low in all facets of its work (except professional administrative). This viewpoint explores the role of women at CERN, both scientists and non-scientists, drawing on archival research from the organisation's collection in Geneva and interviews, providing an analysis of why gender diversity is still one of the puzzles left for this elite space to solve.",

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Cernoises and horrible cernettes: a history of women at CERN 1954–2017

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