Overview of situation in 2013 Women in science

1 overview of situation in 2013

1.1 women in decision-making
1.2 women in life sciences
1.3 women in engineering , related fields

overview of situation in 2013

the leaky pipeline, share of women in higher education , research worldwide, 2013. source: unesco science report: towards 2030, figure 3.3, data unesco institute statistics

in 2013, women accounted 53% of world’s graduates @ bachelor s , master s level , 43% of successful phd candidates 28% of researchers. women graduates consistently highly represented in life sciences, @ on 50%. however, representation in other fields inconsistent. in north america , of europe, few women graduate in physics, mathematics , computer science but, in other regions, proportion of women may close parity in physics or mathematics. in engineering , computer sciences, women consistently trail men, situation particularly acute in many high-income countries.

share of women in selected south african institutions in 2011. source: unesco science report: towards 2030, based on 2011 study academy of sciences of south africa on participation of girls , women in national sti system in south africa.


women in decision-making

each step ladder of scientific research system sees drop in female participation until, @ highest echelons of scientific research , decision-making, there few women left. in 2015, eu commissioner research, science , innovation carlos moedas called attention phenomenon, adding majority of entrepreneurs in science , engineering tended men. in germany, coalition agreement signed in 2013 introduces 30% quota women on company boards of directors.

although data countries limited, know women made 14% of university chancellors , vice-chancellors @ brazilian public universities in 2010 , 17% of in south africa in 2011. in argentina, women make 16% of directors , vice-directors of national research centres and, in mexico, 10% of directors of scientific research institutes @ national autonomous university of mexico. in usa, numbers higher @ 23%. in eu, less 16% of tertiary institutions headed woman in 2010 , 10% of universities. @ main tertiary institution english-speaking caribbean, university of west indies, women represented 51% of lecturers 32% of senior lecturers , 26% of full professors in 2011. 2 reviews of national academies of science produce low numbers, women accounting more 25% of members in handful of countries, including cuba, panama , south africa. figure indonesia 17%.

women in life sciences

in life sciences, women researchers have achieved parity (45–55% of researchers) in many countries. in some, balance tips in favour. 6 out of ten researchers women in both medical , agricultural sciences in belarus , new zealand, instance. more two-thirds of researchers in medical sciences women in el salvador, estonia, kazakhstan, latvia, philippines, tajikistan, ukraine , venezuela.

there has been steady increase in female graduates in agricultural sciences since turn of century. in sub-saharan africa, instance, numbers of female graduates in agricultural science have been increasing steadily, 8 countries reporting share of women graduates of 40% or more: lesotho, madagascar, mozambique, namibia, sierra leone, south africa, swaziland , zimbabwe. reasons surge unclear, although 1 explanation may lie in growing emphasis on national food security , food industry. possible explanation women highly represented in biotechnology. example, in south africa, women underrepresented in engineering (16%) in 2004 , in ‘natural scientific professions’ (16%) in 2006 made 52% of employees working in biotechnology-related companies.

women in engineering , related fields

women consistently underrepresented in engineering , related fields. in israel, instance, 28% of senior academic staff women, there proportionately many fewer in engineering (14%), physical sciences (11%), mathematics , computer sciences (10%) dominate education (52%) , paramedical occupations (63%). in japan , republic of korea, women represent 5% , 10% of engineers.

in europe , north america, number of female graduates in engineering, physics, mathematics , computer science low. women make 19% of engineers in canada, germany , usa , 22% in finland, example. however, 50% of engineering graduates women in cyprus, 38% in denmark , 36% in russian federation, instance.

in many cases, engineering has lost ground other sciences, including agriculture. case of new zealand typical. here, women jumped representing 39% 70% of agricultural graduates between 2000 , 2012, continued dominate health (80–78%) ceded ground in science (43–39%) , engineering (33–27%).

in number of developing countries, there sizeable proportion of women engineers. @ least 3 out of ten engineers women, instance, in costa rica, viet nam , united arab emirates (31%), algeria (32%), mozambique (34%), tunisia (41%) , brunei darussalam (42%). in malaysia (50%) , oman (53%), women on par men. of 13 sub-saharan countries reporting data, 7 have observed substantial increases (more 5%) in women engineers since 2000, namely: benin, burundi, eritrea, ethiopia, madagascar, mozambique , namibia.

of 7 arab countries reporting data, 4 observe steady percentage or increase in female engineers (morocco, oman, palestine , saudi arabia). in united arab emirates, government has made priority develop knowledge economy, having recognized need strong human resource base in science, technology , engineering. 1% of labour force being emirati, concerned low percentage of emirati citizens employed in key industries. result, has introduced policies promoting training , employment of emirati citizens, greater participation of emirati women in labour force. emirati female engineering students have said attracted career in engineering reasons of financial independence, high social status associated field, opportunity engage in creative , challenging projects , wide range of career opportunities.

an analysis of computer science shows steady decrease in female graduates since 2000 particularly marked in high-income countries. between 2000 , 2012, share of women graduates in computer science slipped in australia, new zealand, republic of korea , usa. in latin america , caribbean, share of women graduates in computer science dropped between 2 , 13 percentage points on period countries reporting data.

there exceptions. in denmark, proportion of female graduates in computer science increased 15% 24% between 2000 , 2012 , germany saw increase 10% 17%. these still low levels. figures higher in many emerging economies. in turkey, instance, proportion of women graduating in computer science rose relatively high 29% 33% between 2000 , 2012.

the malaysian information technology (it) sector made equally of women , men, large numbers of women employed university professors , in private sector. product of 2 historical trends: predominance of women in malay electronics industry, precursor industry, , national push achieve ‘pan-malayan’ culture beyond 3 ethnic groups of indian, chinese , malay. government support education of 3 groups available on quota basis and, since few malay men interested in it, leaves more room women. additionally, families tend supportive of daughters’ entry prestigious , highly remunerated industry, in interests of upward social mobility. malaysia s push develop endogenous research culture should deepen trend.

in india, substantial increase in women undergraduates in engineering may indicative of change in ‘masculine’ perception of engineering in country. product of interest on part of parents, since daughters assured of employment field expands, advantageous marriage. other factors include ‘friendly’ image of engineering in india , easy access engineering education resulting increase in number of women’s engineering colleges on last 2 decades.

share of female researchers country, 2013 or closest year. source: unesco science report: towards 2030, data unesco institute statistics