The Long, Forgotten History of Australian Women in Science:
Recovering histories of ‘pioneering’ women in a settler-colonial context

Science is widely (if erroneously) understood as an area that until recently was entirely devoid of women. This is far from true. Challenging the dominant narrative that women have historically been absent from science, this lecture will address the long, significant, and yet largely forgotten contributions of Australian women to scientific research, education, and social reform. Women were not marginal anomalies in science, but active and vital participants.

At the same time, this is not a simple story of progressive development or a celebration of unsung, ‘pioneering’ heroines. The impact of Western science has not been uniformly positive and women were certainly associated with some of its darker episodes.

This lecture recognises women’s contributions without eliding the settler-colonial context in which they lived and worked. In doing so, it reflects on wider questions about the writing of women’s histories and indeed Australian history at large.

About the Speaker

Dr Jane Carey is an Associate Professor of History at the University of Wollongong. Her work spans across women’s and settler colonial histories with a focus on race, gender, science, and reproduction in British settler societies from the mid-nineteenth century. Her most recent book, Taking to the Field: A History of Australian Women in Science (2023), was awarded the 2025 Ernest Scott prize for Australian history.

About the Ernest Scott Prize
The Ernest Scott prize is awarded annually to the book judged to be the most distinguished contribution to the history of Australia or New Zealand or to the history of colonisation.

Emily Scott established the Prize in memory of her husband, Emeritus Professor Sir Ernest Scott Knight Bachelor, Professor of History at the University from 1913 to 1936, to commemorate his interest in the development of Australian historical studies.

Enquiries
Please contact Dr James Keating, Assistant Lecturer, History at james.keating@unimelb.edu.au