Women in Science at the MBL and Beyond

Every February 11, the United Nations celebrates the International Day of Women and Girls in Science. Take a moment to celebrate the women in science at the MBL. 

The Marine Biological Laboratory has always been a unique institution—it’s part of the “MBL magic” that many scientists and students talk about every year. Its founding was no exception. When the MBL was founded in 1888, it was unusual for its time in that it encouraged women students of science to apply on an equal footing with their male peers.

In the more than a century since, the MBL has had some ups and downs regarding women in science—the years between 1910 and 1970 saw a lull in female admissions—but has made great strides in the last 60 years in making the institution a place where everyone can study and thrive, regardless of gender.

In a world where fewer than 30% of science jobs are filled by women, we’re proud that 52.8% of MBL employees (and 50% of our resident scientists) are women.

Of the 463 graduate and post-graduate students who attended one of MBL’s 2022 Advanced Research Training Courses, 276 (60%) were women.

The MBL's undergraduate and high school programs also skewed strongly female—83% of the students in the Semester in Environmental Science (SES) program identified as women as did 66% of the University of Chicago's Spring Quarter.