Computational Chemistry: A Rising Tide of Women

The authors were inspired to explore the topic of gender diversity in computational chemistry on the basis of similar recent publications in the related fields of medicinal chemistry ( Huryn, D. M. ; et al. ACS Med. Chem. Lett. 2017, 8, 900 ) and computational biology ( Bonham, K. S. ; Stefan, M. I. PLoS Comput. Biol. 2017, 13, e1005134 ). To do so, we examined historical demographics in two different professional settings, i.e., attendance/participation at the Gordon Research Conferences on Computer-Aided Drug Design and Computational Chemistry and membership in the Computers in Chemistry Division of the American Chemical Society. We conclude that female representation in computational chemistry has risen steadily over the last 40 years and likely stands at around 25%, which appears to slightly exceed that of the neighboring fields of computer science and medicinal chemistry. In accordance with the old slogan that “a rising tide lifts all boats”, here a rising tide of women scientists is having an impact on the field of computational chemistry. Tactics to ensure that this number continues to improve are highlighted.