Socio-cultural developments of women in science

Introduction

At a symposium on women in science, conducted by the Israeli Academy of Sciences and Humanities on April 23^rd, 2003, Professor Ruth Arnon, a biochemist from the Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel, and co-developer of the multiple sclerosis drug, Copaxone, claimed [1]:

After all, scientific research is an occupation that relies on personal skills (talent, perseverance, executive ability, etc.) and does not depend on the gender of the practitioner. And therefore, why dedicate the discussion to women scientists only? But it turns out that what is true in theory is not always true in reality. For ages, female scientists were not given the right of an equal among their fellow male scientists.

At the same symposium (Symposium on Women in Science, conducted by the Israeli Academy of Sciences and Humanities, 2003), Dr. Pnina Abir-Am, from Rockefeller University [2], gave a historical overview about women’s participation in science, since the Scientific Revolution in the 17^th century. According to her, women only participated as collectors, illustrators, translators, or assistants of scientist family members. The establishment of women’s colleges in the last third of the 19^th century enabled science education for women (e.g., Marie Curie). Even today, despite various improvements and a rise in the number of women science students, women still constitute a minority in many science fields; more specifically, they are underrepresented in positions of leadership in universities, scientific societies, and in industry.

In 2005, Blickenstaff [3] claimed that women were not represented enough in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines in not only the United States, but also in most other countries around the world, despite the advancements in science and technology. Women continue to represent a small proportion of faculty members in science and technology fields, especially at more prestigious research institutions. For STEM women faculty, for example, their academic tenure often coincides with their child-bearing years; women scientists often have decreased lab space, inadequate resources, lower salaries, and fewer prestigious opportunities. These adverse conditions make the early stages of an academic career particularly difficult. Unfortunately, women still need to cope with discrimination, with an unconscious bias, as well as with family demands and obligations. Similar arguments were mentioned in the Meta-analysis of gender and science research, a synthesis report, conducted by the European Commission in 2012 [4].

Makarova et al. [5] conducted a study in which they investigated the impact of the masculinity image of three school subjects – chemistry, mathematics, and physics – on secondary students’ career aspirations in STEM fields. The data were collected from a cross-sectional study among 1364 Swiss secondary school students who were close to obtaining their matriculation diploma. The findings suggest that gender-science stereotypes in math and science may positively or negatively affect young women and men’s aspirations to enroll in a STEM major in college.

According to the UNESCO Institute for Statistics [6], fewer than 30 % of the world’s researchers are women. A three-year global project (2017–2019): “A Global Approach to the Gender Gap in Mathematical, Computing, and Natural Sciences, How to measure it? How to reduce it?” was funded by the International Science Council; it involved 11 scientific partner organizations [7]. The main goal of the project was to investigate the gender gap in STEM disciplines from different angles, globally and across disciplines. The project consisted of (i) a global survey of scientists with more than 32 000 responses; (ii) an investigation on how gender affected the millions of scientific gaps in the Mathematical, Computing, and Natural Sciences at various levels.

Chiu and Ceca [8] analyzed the results of a global survey disseminated to 32 000 scientists, of which 50 % were male and 50 % female. They showed how it contributed to understanding the gender gap, and to identifying the various factors that cause it. The results confirm that the gender gap in science is very real: it exists across all regions, disciplines, and development levels. Women’s experiences in both educational and employment settings are consistently less positive than men’s. Recommendations for improving the situation were based on the survey’s findings. The recommendations address a variety of groups: (1) instructors and parents of girls in primary, secondary, and higher education, e.g., to avoid books and social media that reinforce the gender gap in science; (2) educational organizations, e.g., to avoid books and social media that reinforce the gender gap in science; (3) scientific unions and other worldwide organizations, e.g., to encourage the presence of women in editorial boards of journals in your discipline and publish reports on the proportion of papers published by women.

The discrimination can be also found in the publication data [9]. A survey conducted by Ginther and Hayes [10] about doctorate recipients as well as the National Study of Postsecondary Faculty (NSOPF) [11] deal with questions about career progression, such as self-reports regarding faculty members and their number of publications, a measure of productivity. The findings show that women are less likely to be promoted with tenure, even after controlling for the number of publications, e.g., Ginther and Hayes [10].

Katherine Weisshaar [12] claimed that publication measures show gender biases, expressed through work on self-citations. Publication data were retrieved from Google Scholar using a Python script. She created multiple variables to measure both the quantity and quality of the research productivity: the number of journal articles, books by type (research monographs, textbooks, and edited volumes), book chapters, and (for Computer Science) conference presentations. She measured the quality/visibility of research productivity using three measures: (1) a binary variable coded as 1 if the researchers published in the highest-prestige journals in their discipline, (2) a variable that reflects the cumulative percentage of first-authored and single-authored publications. Each of the above productivity variables were measured at three time periods: (1) the five years prior to beginning an assistant professorship; (2) the years in which the person served as an assistant professor; and (3) the year after a tenure decision is made.

The following will deal with the situation of women scientists in Israel, with examples of chemistry women in academia.

Science and chemistry women in Israel

Prof. Hagit Messer-Yaron, an electrical engineer from Tel Aviv University, who is the chairwoman of the Council for the Advancement of Women in Science and Technology, established by a government decision in 2000 [13], and Prof. Hadassah Degani, from the faculty of biology at the Weizmann Institute of Science [14], who participated in a symposium on women in science, conducted by the Israeli Academy of Sciences and Humanities in 2003, focused on interesting aspects of women in science in Israel. Messer-Yaron [13] stated that the percentage of women currently engaged in science and technology in Israel does not exceed 25 %, although women constitute about 45 % of the labor population in Israel, and about 55 % of the university graduates. Women who choose to work in scientific fields might encounter a “glass ceiling”; in academia as well as in industry, the percentage of women has decreased. In the highest ranks) full professor), it is slightly less than 10 %. In order to improve this situation, the Council for the Advancement of Women in Science and Technology has conducted national activities on this issue in coordination and cooperation with the European Community.

Degani [14] referred to the situation of women in science in Israel; she indicated that there is huge progress in women’s science education, but still, women are not eager to serve as the chairwomen of science and biotechnology faculties in academia or industry. Most women with a PhD struggle in sharing their time between their family and a career, and they often compromise about their career concessions at the professional level. Table 1 refers to women in chemistry in academic positions in four major academic institutions in Israel.

Summary

Despite marked advances towards gender equality and the empowerment of women, especially during the last century, progress has been slow and disparities persist around the world. Unfortunately, science is not immune to such inequalities, with women representing only a third of researchers globally; they often face gender-based discrimination and a lack of equal opportunities. In order to change this dreadful situation, it is necessary to act at both the educational and the economic levels [20].

Barnard et al. [21] suggest that women have to be able to adopt strategies of survival, and to conform to their environment. Otherwise, they may be isolated and be forced to accept lower paying positions. They suggest creating social networking groups in order to support women in becoming accepted into the science community. In addition, women should promote themselves and their research on a broader spectrum, and enhance their collaboration and informal mentorship.

At the educational level, there should be a change in the belief that having a family interferes with pursuing a career, as suggested by Wolfensberger [22]. There must also be a significant change in attitudes regarding the family members’ responsibility. The educational process should begin at an early age in order to encourage women who decide to combine family life and a scientific career. Women who succeed in this process, and who receive support from their families, may serve as a role model to other women. Moreover, supporting young women scientists in their career development is crucial in professional, economic, and personal levels. The Nordic countries serve as prime examples of family policy; they aim at a gender-equal division of economic responsibility, and focus on the fathers’ participation in childcare [23].

In summary, the gender gap is a problem of society as a whole (regarding both women and men). Reducing the gender gap is a major challenge for the entire scientific community, in developed as well as developing countries, and it concerns everyone, both men and women. From 2017 to 2019 the International Science Council (ISC) funded a unique three-year project called, “A Global Approach to the Gender Gap in Mathematical, Computing and Natural Sciences: How to measure it, how to reduce it?” It provided a wide-ranging view of the issues women face in the sciences and how these issues may be overcome [24]. As previously mentioned, a survey by Chiu and Ceca [8] led to a few recommendations, which can be summarized as follows: (1) We should actively promote gender balance at every level of any organization, including its leadership, its committees, and also institutional events, and (2) We should raise awareness about the gender gap and include specific actions that aim at reducing it, in all outreach and educational programs and products.