In the United Kingdom, it's computer science. In Australia, it's information and communications technology. And for South Korea, it's science and engineering in general. While the particular focus may vary from country to country, the concern is the same: the underrepresentation of women in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). And the goal is universal: to advance society and fuel greater innovation by increasing women's participation in these areas—a goal that MentorNet supports 100 percent.
MentorNet is dedicated to empowering women and others underrepresented in the STEM fields—globally—and works with many international organizations to facilitate broader participation. In 2004-05:
- 91 nationalities were represented by MentorNet protégés and 59 were represented by mentors
- 43 countries were represented by mentors' locations and 10 were represented by protégés
- There were 100 participating campuses across Canada, France, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States
The Status Quo: Taking Stock
Despite regional or national differences, a review of the existing research on women in science and engineering suggests that there are many commonalities. According to Catherine Didion, former Executive Director of the Association for Women in Science (AWIS), "Women in science and engineering (WISE) share many characteristics, from a global perspective. For example, the dearth of women at senior levels is a consistent problem throughout the world. That's not to say there aren't regional differences, but many women face the same challenges regardless of geographical location. Therefore, it's in our best interest to work on WISE issues in a larger framework and reach out to potential partners and collaborators throughout the world."
Australia
According to an article by Lisa Macnamara ("Women Decide IT's a Boy Thing," Australian IT), far more Australian men than women choose to pursue information and communications technology degrees. "It's really been a progressive decline with a couple of troughs over the past 20 years," said Sue Lewis, leader of the team that conducted the Swinburne's Institute for Social Research report. "There are now less than 15 percent of women in many ICT courses in Australian universities," Lewis states. And the number of women choosing technology as a first preference has dropped 65 percent since 2001.
Europe
A report prepared for the Helsinki Group ("National Policies on Women and Science in Europe") describes the "growing concern at the European Union (EU) level about the issue of women and science, and more specifically, the under-representation of women in scientific careers. There is considerable wastage of women's skills and knowledge as a result of the 'leaky pipeline,' whereby women drop out of scientific careers in disproportionate numbers at every level."
As Farnaz Moser a MentorNet representative at the EPFL Swiss Federal Institute of Technology at Lausanne, explains, "The national statistical profiles of Helsinki Group members are rich data sources on the position of women in science in all 30 countries."
- Sex segregation is a feature of scientific careers in all the countries, although there are variations in the specificity of patterns
- Women now constitute the majority of undergraduates overall
- Although a minority in some science subjects and in engineering, women are the majority in medical and biological sciences
- The nearer to the top of the academic hierarchy, the fewer the women
- There's a lack of gender balance in decision making about science policy and among those who determine what constitutes "good" science
Claudia Morrell, Executive Director, Center for Women and Information Technology (CWIT), states that in some countries, "women rarely become engineering or IT professionals because of a series of challenges, and when they do, they tend to cluster into entry-level positions or areas deemed okay for women, like data entry. For instance, in Eastern Europe and the Baltic States, which have claimed equity success in the technology workforce, the data shows there's still work to be done in supporting women's advancement once in the workplace."
South Africa
The South African Reference Group on Women in Science and Technology (SARG), now known as Science, Engineering, and Technology for Women (SET4W), website describes how:
- Human resource disaggregated data in science, engineering, and technology (SET) from 1996 shows only 26.8% are women
- In the last decade, the rate of women publishing scientific reports has dropped from 15% to 14% since 1990
- Women account for 52% of the national population but aren't proportionately represented in academia or industry
United Kingdom
Esther Haines, MentorNet representative for The University of Cambridge and manager of its Women in Science, Engineering, and Technology Initiative (WiSETI), explains that in the United Kingdom, "more women are in life sciences than physical sciences and engineering." For example, of those individuals completing first degrees in 2002/2003, the percentage of women earning degrees was:
- 65% in the biological sciences
- 22% in computer science
- 17% in engineering and technology
- 42% in mathematical sciences
- 42% in physical sciences
In the same year, women made up 47.5% of the researchers in the biosciences, 27.2% in chemistry, 15.4% in physics, and 18.2% in mathematics. Overall, Haines characterizes the environment in the UK "as one that involves a lot of goodwill from the university departments and professional associations, especially in physics. But there's also some bewilderment as to why the number of women participating remains so low, particularly in physics and engineering."
A Common Goal: Increasing Participation
Countries and organizations across the globe are implementing programs or pushing for legislation to increase the participation of women in the STEM fields.
Europe
Many countries have instituted positive action measures to support women in science, such as:
- Creating support networks for women in science
- Encouraging the development of role model and mentoring schemes
- Establishing targets and quotas, in some cases
- Using gender mainstreaming, the integration of the gender perspective into every stage of policy processes with a view to promoting equality between men and women (Nordic countries in particular, but most countries are using at least some gender mainstreaming tools)
- Enacting legislation to ensure gender balance on public bodies, such as funding councils
- Implementing the European Platform of Women Scientists
- Working to establish that at least 40% of all EU committees are women
In Switzerland in particular, "The Swiss Federal Institutes of Technology have specific programs aimed at promoting scientific and engineering fields to secondary school female students and encouraging academic careers at all levels," explains Moser. "The Swiss National Research Foundation also has a program with various measures in place to encourage women in research. And the first federal four-year program aimed at increasing the percentage of women professors in Swiss universities took place between 2000 and 2003. At the beginning of the program, only four universities had equal opportunity offices. At the end of 2002, every university had one."
South Korea and South Africa
According to Didion, "the number of women participating in science and engineering in South Korea is relatively low. However, the South Korean government recognizes that innovation is the country's engine for growth, and that the full participation of women is necessary for success. Therefore, the government is tackling the problem head on with an intensive and extensive federal campaign to encourage women to study science and technology."
"In South Africa after apartheid, the government realized that human capital development was the most important item on their agenda and made special note of the lack of participation by black women," continues Didion. "As a result, there's been a great deal of effort to engage students at an early level in science and technology." In fact, according to the SARG website, "gender equality is a fundamental tenet under the Bill of Rights of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa…," and the Beijing +5 Report declared that ensuring women equal access to science and technology is a necessary component of development.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom has a number of projects and programs in place to address the full participation of women in science and engineering-related fields, including the Athena Project, Athena SWAN Charter Project, and United Resource Center for Women in SET.
Available Resources
- The Digital Divide to Digital Opportunities: Women in the Information Society (Chapter 6, pages 135 - 196)
- "National Policies on Women and Science in Europe," prepared by Professor Teresa Rees, Cardiff University, for the Helsinki Group
- She Figures: Women and Science Statistics and Indicators," European Commission Directorate-General for Research, 2003
- "Women Decide IT's a Boy Thing," Australian IT, February 1, 2006
- The Athena Project
- The Athena SWAN Charter Project
- AWIS
- CWIT
- European Commission web site on gender equality
- European Commission web site on women and science research
- European Commission CORDIS web site on women and science
- European Commission ENWISE web site
- European Platform of Women Scientists
- Global Alliance for Diversifying the Science & Engineering Workforce
- Institute of Physics Diversity in Physics web site
- INWES (International Network of Women Engineers and Scientists)
- Royal Society of Chemistry's Women Members Network
- Royal Society of Chemistry's Women in Science articles
- SARG (South African Reference Group on Women in Science and Technology)
- UK Resource Centre for Women in SET
- WEPAN
- WiSETI (The University of Cambridge Women in Science, Engineering, and Technology Initiative)
- WSIS (World Summit on the Information Society)