Chase in a World Full of Men

The work of Martha Chase primarily took place in the 1940s and 50s, with the Nobel Prize being awarded to Alfred Hershey in 1969. In this time in the middle of the twentieth century, the role of women in Western society was seen as primarily or solely domestic (Rossi 1965). Post-war, there was a societal push for women to continue working jobs society needed which of course led to more women seeking out or needing a more formal education. Despite this, by the year 1960, women made up only nine percent of employed natural scientists (Rossi 1965). This is due to societal connotations of the time, the time and resources women are disproportionately required to put in for childbearing and rearing, and extreme socialization that was often expected of women in science.