Women scientists from the developing world gathered recently in
Beijing to discuss at the International Workshop on Women for
Science the obstacles and unfair treatment they face in their
careers.
There are some factors that unconsciously discriminate against
women during their entry and progress in sciences, according to Dr
Kaiser Jamil, president of the Third World Organization for Women
in Sciences and research director of Indo American Cancer Institute
and Research Center.
While women account for more than half of university graduates,
only 30 percent of them earn degrees in science and engineering
fields. Women account for only 25 to 35 percent of researchers in
most developing countries.
"For many girls, the low expectations from parents and teachers
for their performance in maths and sciences can result in
underachievement and a loss of interest in the sciences," says
Jamil.
There prevails the presumption for women that they cannot or do
not spend as much time in their work places as their male
colleagues do and are automatically regarded as less dedicated to
their scientific careers.
Women researchers tend to be concentrated in certain fields such
as biology, health, agriculture or pharmaceuticals, but with low
representation in physics, computing and engineering, Jamil
says.
According to her, the gender gap in science has been reported to
be the greatest in Japan, South Korea, Austria and Switzerland.
There is a great increase in the number of women engaged in
science in China during the past decade. Now there are about 10
million women worldwide working in the areas of science and
technology, accounting for one third of the total science workers,
according to Zhao Lanxiang, a research fellow from the Institute of
Policy and Management of Chinese Academy of Sciences.
According to a survey of female academics, researchers and
postgraduate students conducted between 2005 and 2006, the most
attractive factor for women choosing science is that they regard it
as a stable career.
The survey found 94 percent of respondents said they had met
various obstacles when engaging in science. For example, if the
applicants have similar education backgrounds, the agencies tend to
choose the male. Some organizations even state clearly that they
only want to recruit male candidates.
During their careers, many female scientists have to undertake
double roles as conventionally women are considered responsible for
household chores and raising children. About 78 percent of the
respondents said they took care of the bulk of domestic duties in
their families.
Also the survey found that female scientists in their 30s
encountered more problems as they tend to be less ambitious as they
get older.
Wu Ling'an from the Institute of Physics with Chinese Academy of
Sciences notices that the number of female scientists in her
institute is going down. She was particularly unsatisfied with the
compulsory retirement age for women at 55, five years earlier than
men. "Unfortunately, I lost the battle in my institute against this
unfair policy," she says.
In recent years, there has been an increase in the ratio of
female graduate students enrolling in physics, even reaching 40
percent in some instances. However, Wu believes that the reasons
for these phenomena are rather contentious: Women often perform
better than their male competitors in entrance examinations and
also they have to attain higher degrees in order to gain
employment.
"The choice of role models is largely linked with gender and is
very important in influencing change of gender impact. So we need
to encourage the nomination of women to top senior positions so as
to increase the number of role models for younger women," says
Jamil.
Among all 773 Nobel laureates, there are only 34 female
scientists.
"I believe it is not the correct figure to show women's
contributions to science, because lots of women have done hard work
but do not reach the senior position to win the prize," she
says.
(China Daily September 10, 2007)