The Women of Fluid Mechanics: Personal Stories and Practical Advice

Last month's issue of APS News featured an article by Otani & Hu, titled "The Women of Fluid Mechanics:  Personal Stories and Practical Advice".  The article was a commentary based on a panel session at last year's annual APS Division of Fluid Dynamics (APS-DFD) meeting, which featured four female professionals in the field (3 faculty members, and the fourth the founder of a very popular blog and miniature social media empire, FYFD).  (Disclosure:  I am a "patron" of FYFD through the Patreon website.)

Among other things, the authors write that "In spite of their intellect, work ethic, and accomplishments, all of these women have faced and witnessed disrespect and scrutiny based on their gender."  It is indeed disappointing that this still happens at the end of the second decade of the 21st century.   I myself witnessed inappropriate behavior by male physics faculty in the late 1990s, as I wrote about here, though that episode was not related to fluid mechanics. 

DTLR supports efforts to reduce the barriers for women in fluid mechanics research.  One female fluid dynamicst (whom I have never met) certainly has had a key influence, through her published work, on my brief years of research in fluid mechanics.  She is cited in every fluid dynamics paper I have co-authored, and her name appears in the abstract of 3 of the 4 refereed papers of mine in the field.  Hopefully more women's names will appear in the reference lists of fluid dynamics research papers as time goes on.

Reference

Courtney Otani and David Hu, 2020:  The women of fluid mechanics:  personal stories and practical advice.  APS News, 29 (3):  8.