Women and Science
Scientific research in Canada has been dominated by men. Although women in the 19th century pursued their own research interests, especially in the biological sciences, the profession was very unwelcoming to women. And while the majority of public school teachers were women by the middle of the 19th century, women have had much more difficulty achieving careers in universities, and even in the 1990s constitute considerably less than half the professors in Canada.

Carrie Derick 1862-1941
Carrie Derick was a geneticist who gained international recognition for her research on heredity. Women scientists had a difficult time establishing careers in Canada. When McGill University in Montreal appointed her as full professor in 1912 she was the first woman to receive this status in Canada. Derick's importance in Canadian history rests on more than her career as a distinguished scientist, however. She was an important leader in the first wave of feminism, fighting for greater educational and professional opportunities for women, for better social conditions and for women's right to vote.

Carrie Matilda Derick was born in Clarenceville, in the Eastern Townships of Quebec in 1862. After completing her early education at the Clarenceville Academy and her teaching training at the McGill Normal School, she began a career as a school teacher, first in Clarenceville and later in a private girls' school in Montreal. In 1889 Derick enrolled in the McGill University faculty of arts, just four years after McGill had begun admitting women as students. She received her BA from McGill University in 1890, earning the highest marks in her class and winning prizes in zoology and classics and the Logan Gold Medal in natural science.

For the next several years Derick juggled many activities as she studied for a Master's degree at McGill, continued to teach school, and worked part-time as a botany demonstrator at McGill. When Derick received her M.A. from McGill in 1896, her professor, David Penhallow, recommended her as a full-time lecturer at the university, but the Board of Governors was not ready to accept the idea of a woman in such a senior position. Instead the university offered her a lower ranking position as a full-time demonstrator at $750 a year -- the amount men were paid with just a bachelor's degree. When Derick did not accept these terms, Canadian financier Sir Donald Smith, who had earlier donated money to McGill to make it possible for women to attend the university, provided extra funds so that Derick could be paid $1000 a year. She accepted the job at a $1000 a year and went eight years without a raise.

During those years, she worked closely with Professor Penhallow, continuing her own research and studies as well as teaching. In 1901 she went to the University of Bonn for further study. Although she completed the research required for a PhD, she was not awarded the degree because the University of Bonn did not grant PhDs to women. Undeterred, Derick persisted in her research. She spent three summers at Harvard University and seven more at the Woods Hole Biological Station in Massachusetts.

The discrimination Derick experienced as a woman scientist continued to create obstacles for her throughout her career. When she returned to McGill, she wrote to the principal complaining about the lack of advancement in her career. Although she was promoted to assistant professor and paid an extra $250 a year, she was expected to teach extra summer courses which would, of course, interfere with her research. In 1909, when Penhallow became ill, Derick assumed responsibility for the botany department, and when he died a year later she continued in that role. In February 1912 Derick was dismayed when McGill advertised her job. She was not hired, nor even formally interviewed for the job. Instead, McGill appointed U.S. botanist Francis Lloyd without even being formally interviewed for the job. In compensation the Board of Governors appointed her a full professor, making Carrie Derick the first woman ever appointed to a full professorship at a Canadian university. However, the change in her status was more honorary than real. She did not get a seat on faculty or a raise in salary.

Although Lloyd and Derick eventually worked out their difficulties, their relationship was initially a difficult one. Lloyd wanted to assert his authority over Derick and assigned her work she considered appropriate to a demonstrator, not to a full professor. She had greater autonomy as an assistant professor working with Penhallow. The university administration intervened and appointed a new demonstrator to help Lloyd, leaving Derick to teach and do research.

Despite her difficulties at McGill, Derick's research papers on heredity were read by scientists around the world and paved the way for the future study of genetics. She also wrote and gave public lecture aimed at non-scientists. In 1910 she was one of the few women listed in American Men of Science. She belonged to many professional organizations, including the Botanical Society of America, the American Genetics Association, and the Canadian Public Health Association, which were only just opening their membership to women. She wrote for their publications, breaking more new ground for women. She was widely consulted on a range of topics including juvenile delinquency and mental deficiency. She publicly supported birth control, which was illegal in Canada from 1891 to 1969. She even dared to lecture Quebec's premier Sir Jean-Lomer Gouin on birth control, after which he reported complained "How she makes me blush, that old maid from McGill!"

The struggles Derick faced in her own career led her to become an active feminist. She worked to open wider professional and occupational opportunities for women, to improve the social conditions of women's lives, and to gain political rights. She believed that "[t]he professions should be open to men and women alike." Working with other women graduates of McGill to improve opportunities and facilities for women students, she supported Annie Langstaff, the first woman to graduate in law at McGill, in her unsuccessful bid to be admitted to the bar in Quebec. She held office in the Montreal Local Council of Women, a coalition of women's organizations involved in a multitude of reforms, and was active in the suffrage movement in Montreal.

Carrie Derick retired from McGill in 1929 because of poor health, and the university awarded her the honorary title of 'Professor Emerita'. She died in 1941. Her work as a scientist, teacher and reformer has earned her an enduring place in Canadian history.