EMBO Reports, Vol. 2, no. 8, 2001
A synopsis of the editorial and feature article article women in
science.
Anna Robinson
I met the Editor of EMBO Reports, Frank Gannon, at the recent Frank Fenner Conference held at the Academy of Science here in Canberra and he said he would be very interested in hearing how their analysis compares to the Australian experience. If WISENET want to accept this challangeing task - EMBO would like to hear what we have to say.
From the Editorial: "Data from many sources show that the overall gender distribution in the life sciences starts with equal numbers at the level of the first degree, but that the percentage of women at each of subsequent rungs in the career ladder diminishes. Eventually it ends with a situation where only 10% or even less of the most senior positions in the life sciences are held by women. Nobody would argue that women scientists are less capable than men, so there is a challenge to understand how this situation arises and – more importantly – how to correct it." The editor goes on to ask whether it is decision or discrimination and if the former, why are those decisions made. Frank Gannon identifies complex and individual reasons for women’s choices. Some find the male dominated world is too aggressive, competitive, self-promoting with an excessive focus on work and opt for something else. Others who stay find that subtle forms of discrimination appear, such as male domination in all areas of scientific research which, by definition, tends to exclude women. Then “The needs, possibilities and benefits of research in the life sciences are expanding rapidly at a time when there is a trend among young people to choose not to start their careers in this area. This is not restricted to women but the subsequent fall-off in the number of women in science adds an extra dimension to the problem.” This is an impressive attempt by an international scientific journal to look at the problem distinct from gender bias and Frank Gannon is to be congratulated for presenting such a factual and sensitive appraisal.
An additional article is published in the Journal: Losing them is not an option which presents a summary of the proceedings of a meeting organised by EMBO entitled ‘The glass ceiling for women in the life sciences’ held in Heidelberg Germany in June 2001. More that 100 women, most in leading positions in the European and United States scientific environment, and ten men met and discussed the gender debate. The results are rather depressing. In contrast to anecdotal evidence that suggest women are achieving well, and there are some outstanding examples, the facts and figures tell a different story. But some of the observations reflect progressive change:
· "We lose a lot of power at the highest echelons where the critical decisions are being made." – Wanda Ward, US National Science Foundation
· American scientific women decided not to support any conferences or meetings that did not have women speakers; the policy has now also been adopted by the NIH.
· On lower funding - women scientists in general actually ask for less research money when they apply for grants; of those eligible, fewer apply.
· ...female scientists tend to be more modest about their career options
· ...women are often not aware that many funding agencies provide additional money for female scientists with children... "the greatest discrimination that I can see is self-discrimination" – Elena Conti, EMBO Laboratory, Heidelberg on the experience of younger scientists in middle positions.
· The notably high number of female professors in Turkey and many other Mediterranean countries is due to scientists being paid relatively low salaries which turns many men away from a career in academic science (Aslihan Tohum for Bogazici University in Istanbul, Turkey).
· ...Nowadays women are in general regarded as equal professionals... a greater awareness of gender issues as well as more support for young women have removed many of the obstacles that older women had to face in their careers.
Very interesting.