2017-ASIA

Essay

MaketimetotakethepracticeEssay.

It’soneofthebestwaystogetready

fortheSATEssay.

Forinformationonscoringyouressay,viewtheSATEssayscoringrubricat/essay.

Asyoureadthepassagebelow,considerhowMeredithWadmanuses

?evidence,suchasfactsorexamples,tosupportclaims.

?reasoningtodevelopideasandtoconnectclaimsandevidence.

?stylisticorpersuasiveelements,suchaswordchoiceorappealstoemotion,

toaddpowertotheideasexpressed.

AdaptedfromMeredithWadman"HowtoIncreasetheNumberofWomenWinningNobelPrice".?2013byTimeInc.OriginallypublishedOctober24,2013.

1Themotheroftweenswasfoldinglaundryat5a.m.beforegoingtoanearlyspinning

classwhenthephonerang.ItwasOctober2009andCarolGreider,abiologistat

JohnsHopkinsUniversity,pickedupandheardavoicefromStockholm.Shehad

wonthatyear’sNobelPrizeinmedicine.

2Unfortunately,GreiderremainsararityinthepantheonofNobelscientists.Andthat’s

partlybecausewehaven’tdoneenoughtohelpyoungfemalescientistsbalancethe

demandsofacademicresearchwiththepulloffamilyresponsibility.Thatneedsto

change.

3Admittedly,today’ssituationisbetterthanitwaswhenGreiderenteredgradschool

intheearly80s,nevermindinthedarkdaysoftheprecedingdecades.Then,when

womenwerescarcelytobefoundatundergraduatelabbenches,theresultsinthe

rarefiedreachesofStockholmcouldn’thelpbutbedismal.Sincetheawardswere

launchedin1901,twophysicslaureateshavebeenwomen:MarieCuriein1903and

MariaGoeppertMayerin1963.Inchemistry,fourofthe165winnershavebeen

women.(MarieCuriewasoneofthem,in1911;sheistheonlywomantohavewon

twoNobels.)Womenhavewon5percentofthecovetedawardsinphysiologyor

medicine.Anditwas2009beforeElinorOstrom,ofIndianaUniversityand

ArizonaStateUniversity,becamethefirst-everfemalelaureateineconomics.

4Infact,2009wassomethingofabanneryearforwomen—Greidersharedheraward

withhermentor,ElizabethBlackburn,oftheUniversityofCaliforniaatSan

Francisco;andIsrael’sAdaYonathsharedtheprizeinchemistry.Sincethen,men

havecontinuedtosweepthescienceawards.

5TobeafemaleNobelwinnerhasnotonlyrequiredbrilliance,butalsopreternatural

determinationinthefaceofcultural,socialandpoliticalobstacles.TheItalian

neurologistRitaLevi-Montalcinisecretlyconductedexperimentsinherbedroom

inMussolini’sItaly.FrancoiseBarre-Sinoussi,theParisianwhoco-discoveredthe

AIDSvirus–andwhosefatherthoughtawomen’splacewasinthehome–wasin

thelabonherweddingday.Herfiancéhadtocallhertoremindhertoturnupat

theceremony.BarbaraMcClintock,theU.S.geneticistwhowontheprizein1983,

wasnearlypreventedfromattendingcollegebyhermother.Shewasafraidhigher

educationwouldmakeherdaughterunmarriageable.

6Allofthiswasdecadesago,beforerecentcampaignstoencouragemoreyoung

womentochooseSTEM(science,technology,engineeringandmath)careers;and,in

theUS,beforetheCivilRightsAct,affirmativeactionandTitleIX.What’stheexcuse

in2013?

7What,specifically,shouldinstitutionsdotooffersuchsupport?Universitiescanmake

meaningfulpolicychanges,suchasallowingwomenwithyoungchildrentostopthe

tenureclockforaperiodoftime—anoptionavailableatsomebutnotallacademic

centers.Theyshouldensurethatyoungfemalescientistshavededicated,top-notch

mentors.Andtheycanguaranteepaidmaternitylandparentalleave—something

that’swoefullylackingforjuniorscientistsatmostU.S.institutions.

8Federalagenciesalsohavearoletoplay.Bigfunders,ledbytheNationalInstitutes

ofHealth(NIH)havealreadyimplementedpolicieslikeno-costgrantextensionsthat

allowscientistswithfamilyobligationsextratimetocompleteaproject,andothers

thatallowfellowshipperiodstobeextendedordeferredforchildcarepurposes.But

agenciescan,andshould,domore.Onetaskthegovernmentisespeciallysuitedtois

longitudinaldatacollectiononthosefamily-friendlypolicies.Suchdataisn’tbeing

collectedsystematically,andwithoutitwecan’tknowwhatpolicychangesare

working,andwhichonesaren’t.

9Ifwewanttop-drawerwomentostayinsciencecareers—andthiscountry,besetby

daunting,andgrowing,globalsciencecompetition,couldcertainlyusethem–

institutionsofallstripesneedtoshowafarmoreseriouscommitmenttosupporting

them.

10Toputitanotherway,ifwewanttoseemorewomencelebratinginStockholm,we

shouldstrivetobuildaworldinwhichthelikesofCarolGreiderarehardlyeverto

befoundfoldingthelaundryat5inthemorning.

WriteanessayinwhichyouexplainhowMeredithWadmanbuildsan

argumenttopersuadehisaudiencethatNobelPrizeshouldbemore

achieveableforwomen.Inyouressay,analyzehowWadmanusesoneor

moreofthefeatureslistedintheboxabove(orfeaturesofyourownchoice)

tostrengthenth