The International Day of Women and Girls in Science was celebrated earlier this year and was accompanied by a report from UNESCO entitled ”Closing the Gender Gap in Science: Accelerating Action.” This report once again is calling for action to reduce the gender gap in the sciences.
Today, just one in three scientists is a woman. The world needs more scientists to face the global challenges of climate change, the threat of new diseases such as Covid, poverty and hunger and the many more threats to our planet’s survival. The only way to achieve this is to recruit and train more women in science and for them to become scientists in all the disciplines.
Achieving parity of the sexes in science starts at school which means from the start girls need equal access to education, which is still not the case in some countries. It will take the whole global community, not just individual countries, to achieve the right environment for women to train in science. This means a multitude of stakeholders such as policymakers and decision-makers in government, educational institutions, schools and universities, funding organisations and the private sector, must have the determination and structures to encourage more women to take up science. It is essential to ensure that girls are never discouraged from pursuing their hopes to become scientist and to assure them that their goals can be achievable.
According to the latest data from the UNESCO Institute of Statistics, the gender gap varies across scientific disciplines, with some fields such as physics underrepresented by women, whereas in life sciences and health disciplines, the numbers are equal and, in some countries, women are in the majority in these fields. The biggest gender gap is in engineering and computer science where women represent 28% of engineering graduates and 40% of computer science, and at higher levels of education, the lowest proportion of researchers is made up of women.
Numerous factors have been identified as to the cause of these discrepancies and perhaps surprisingly none are a product or correlate with a country’s level of economic development. The barriers include social, cultural and gender norms which influence the expectations of women who do not see role models to reflect their own aspirations.
Gender stereotypes in the field of science are deeply ingrained and originate early in life from societal norms of behaviour. For instance, advantageous characteristics for scientists are regarded in some societies to be objectivity and rationality, and these are often regarded to be male traits. Women are stereotyped as lacking the characteristics of pursuing a career as a research scientist, or indeed in other science-related occupations. All these factors contribute to the glass ceiling which women have to break through in order to achieve equal success with their male colleagues.
Gender biases against women can manifest themselves in letters of reference (from male bosses), unfair peer review processes, research papers not accepted in prestigious journals and fewer invitations to scientific conferences. These factors affect women’s self-perception and retention in the field of science. Fortunately, with determination, these gender stereotypes can be dismantled by specific targeted actions, and particularly those actions aimed at the younger generation.
For instance, some recommended actions from UNESCO are as follows:
Include more female images and stories in school textbooks.
Encourage more women scientists to appear in the media to describe their own career paths.
Allow women scientists to share their experiences in science formally and informally in educational settings.
Establish an environment of equal opportunity in science education for both girls and boys.
Beyond the educational environment, there are various means to create workplaces that attract and retain women scientists. First though, in a predominantly male environment, women should feel physically safe and secure in carrying out their daily scientific research. All scientific research organisations should have an easy-to-access reporting system whereby women can report any infringements of that security. Scientific organisations should foster a system of collaboration and accountability in order to reduce the dominance of male power too often present.
It is also important for management administrators to collect and analyse gender-related data so that discrepancies can be identified and corrected. They should act in a variety of ways to enhance the professional development of women scientists by, for example, including more women in panel events and committees, and allowing them to collaborate more in mentorship, sponsorship and networking programs.
These ambitious aims are only the start of a process that will take years to complete. For women to participate more in science there has to be a complete paradigm shift with respect to society's attitudes to women in science and the scientific organisations in which they work. Many countries have initiated gender equality-specific policies in science, indicating a growing commitment to the cause. With concerted efforts, we can be optimistic about a future in which science knows no gender boundaries.
by Ian Smith
April 2024
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