Women in Science

The era of globalization and rapid technological development has changed people’s lives
dramatically. Science and technology play an extremely important role in the
contemporary society. Government in developed and developing countries recognize the
importance of the development of S&T sphere. The roles of men and women have changed
dramatically in the contemporary society. Women constitute 50% of the human
resources, thus, contributing a major strength in the socio-economic development of the
country. Women have got more freedom to express themselves and take active part in the
development of technologies, despite the fact that there are still problems in this
sphere. Gender inequality, parity, inclusiveness of women in major developmental
activities and getting more women in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and
Mathematics) are the issues discussed since 1970 all over the world under the auspices of
UN Conferences and other national and international events. Government departments,
Academies and NGOs have played a major role in the sensitization of the population
especially, authorities regarding the involvement of women in S&T.
As stated in the report by the United Nations (2011) called Applying a Gender Lens to
Science, Technology and Innovation: “There is also need for recognition of the importance of
applying a “gender lens” to STI for development. Indeed, STI policies and programmes
will not be effective, equitable and sustainable unless the gender lens is applied so as to
reflect the aims, concerns, situation and abilities of both women and men”. People realize
the gender equality is one of the components of healthy society and true development is
impossible without it. Only understanding of contribution women can make to the
development of science and technology can bring positive impact on the development of
this sphere.

At the present moment all over the world, with small exceptions, women take an active
social role and demonstrate their abilities in a lot of spheres. Nowadays women are active
in good production industry, natural-resources management, educational sphere,
community management. Women occupy different positions in these spheres and
professions in the spheres mentioned above are mostly considered to be female ones. Big
percentage of women work in the medical industry, as well. In the developing countries
women are also often involved in agricultural sphere and take part in the production of
food, selling it and farming. In addition, most of women have additional burden, such as
homework and care about the members of the family.

Despite the growing temps of technological development and popularity of feminism,

women do not still possess equal position in the society. “Although women and girls
make up approximately 50 per cent of the global population, they have access to much
less than half of the resources in terms of technology, financing, land, training and
education, and information” (Applying a Gender Lens to Science, Technology and
Innovation). Many specialists believe that true progress and development are not possible
without women’s active participation in these processes. The gender lens would be an
essential contribution to the development of S&T sphere and would enable people to meet
the global changes. “UNESCO figures reveal that in 121 countries with available data,
women comprise 29 percent of researchers but there were big disparities among regions.
For example, in Latin America and the Caribbean, 46 percent of researchers are female
and Argentina, Cuba, Brazil, Paraguay and Venezuela have achieved gender parity. In
Asia, women constitute only 18 percent of researchers overall. India and Japan have 13
percent female researchers and South Korea has 15 percent. In Africa women comprised
about 33 percent of researchers” (UNESCO 2009). These numbers show that women’s
participation in STI is very low. Even in the countries with comparatively high rates,
women’s participation does not make even 50 per cent. These results show that gender
inequality still exists in this sphere and it is necessary to pay scrupulous attention to this
problem. The Baltic countries show the best results in this sphere. Women’s engagement
in S&T is comparatively high and is often higher than 50 percent. Among such countries
are Lithuania (68.3 %), Estonia, Estonia (63.9%), Bulgaria (63.8 %), and Latvia (63.2 %)
(Human Resources in Science and Technology). The experience of these countries can
become a valuable help for other countries which want to establish gender equality in the
sphere of science and technology.

The history shows a lot of examples of great input made by women to the development of
S&T. It is hard to overestimate the role of women in the development of different sphere.
Scientific and industrial field, as well as other technological industries are influenced and
dominated by men. Despite the fact that there are women who have played an important
role in the development of STI industry, their names are rarely mentioned. For example,
Ada Byron King, the daughter of the famous Lord Byron, became the first computer
programmer. She also was a prominent mathematician. Unfortunately, her name is rarely
mentioned in the history of the development of the computer industry and when people
speak about this sphere, they remember the names of famous male specialists. Earlier
history also contains data about the famous female specialists in science and technology,
but their names are even less remembered than Ada Byron King’s name. Hypatia, a
Egyptian mathematician who lived in 400s made great contribution to the development of
science. Maria Gaetana Agnesi made a great contribution to the science by her work in
differential calculus in 1700s. Sofia Kovalevskaya worked in 1800s in Russia. Her
contribution to the development of astronomy and mathematics is hard to overestimate.
In contrast to men, who think about complicated schemas and complex technologies,
women take into account the sphere of application and use technology more available for
people. “Recent research has found that men are seduced by the technology itself. They
tend to get into the faster-race-car syndrome, bragging about the size or the speed of their
microprocessors. Women tend to take a more practical approach. They generally think
that machines are meant to be used, and don’t really care about what’s inside the box.
They just want it to work, and to get things done”.

In the interesting study performed by the Centre for Children and Technology, USA
specialists tried to find the difference between male and female approaches to
technological advances. The participants of the experiment, both – men and women –
were asked to described the perfect machine of the future. Results showed that machines
proposed by men were designed in order to get their owners to expand control and to
become more powerful. The machines designed by women had an intention to help people
and to make their life easier.

These differences in approaches to technological innovations show basic difference

between male and female approaches in life. Men want to expand their influence and
women are ready to adapt technologies and make their use easier and more comfortable
for people. That is the reason men are more likely to invent new things and women are
more likely to improve things which already exist. This division does not make men
superior to women nor vice versa. It means that men and women possess different types
of knowledge and skills and best results can be achieved in their combination.

Generally, women who try to enter science & technology profession experience same
difficulties as women trying to enter other fields. These difficulties include gender
prejudgments, lack of female role models, difficulties in brining into line professional and
personal responsibilities. In addition, economic status and political power also play an
important role in female parity in science and technology.

The problems with gender inequality and lack of professional opportunities for women in
S&T sphere are especially evident in the developing countries. There are different steps
which may help to resolve the problem. Informational policy is very important. Giving
men and women necessary information concerning the problem can help to resolve it.
Education should become another strong factor which influences the distribution of social
roles and positions. It is necessary to make sure that women in the developing countries
have equal with men access to quality education. Boys and girls have usually equal access
to primary and secondary education, but the situation changes when it comes to higher
education. Some changes in the curriculum would be useful to help girls and women to
get more information about the STI sphere and create necessary conditions for their further
employment in this sphere. In a lot of developing countries women have less access to
higher education and it is necessary to put all possible effort to change the situation for
better. As mentioned above, good healthcare and mother care become those factors which
help to create better career opportunities for women. So, the development of healthcare
and mother care systems will also contribute to the creating of better career opportunities
for women.

Reasons for women being left out of careers in science:

(i)Social conditioning: It is the most acute problem throughout one’s childhood and
adolescence. The dangerous spin off brought about by social conditioning of children in
when they develop cognitive biases as adults.

(ii) Caregivers: For centuries it has been assumed that women will stay at home and take
care of children and family. Laws and institutional policies concerning maternity and
paternity leave often reinforce their role. We need to look into these caregivers and care-
giving policies.

(iii) Marginalization: Women in STEM fields face constant biased against them. This
marginalization is likely to be the result of an inherent biased. A number of different
factors, such as systematic gender discrimination and biased in career review processes
have contributed to this discrepancy, suggesting that there is not one easy solution, but
that a combination of cultural and institutional reform will be necessary to effect the
change.

(iv) Work Environment: Apart from commonly perceived reasons such as dual
responsibilities, lack of gender sensitivity and support for gender diversity in the work
environment seem to be an important reason in India for this out flux.

Indian scenario:
Gender issues have figured in important ways in shaping the career of women scientists
for centuries. Ideologies of gender, culture and traditions have developed over different
eras have resulted in the exclusion of women from science for a long time all over the
world. Women in fact, were barred initially from education itself. Later on, they were
allowed education, but, were barred entry to universities. The idea prevailed that the
education would distract women from their natural roles and family responsibilities
including care providers. Women in science comprise only small percentage of total
number of working women in India. Despite the overall quantitative improvement in
numbers of women in science, the under representation, particularly at senior levels of
teaching and research in India is still very significant.

In India, campaign for Women’s Education and their rights begun around 1845-1850 and
one of the earliest schools for women was started in Maharashtra in 1848. The first Indian
women to receive a medical degree was Mrs. Anandibai Joshi who travelled to US for
studies and was awarded the degree in 1886.

In India the literacy rate for women is 65.46% as against 82.14% in men as per 2011 census.
The ratio of female to male in different level of school education has steadily gone up since
1991-92. The percentage of female students to total number of students at primary, middle
and upper primary level has gone up but there has been a decrease in the ratio from one
level to another which indicates the female drop out at each level.

Among states/UTs, the female literacy rate is highest in Kerala at 92.0% followed by
Mizoram at 89.4%.

Women comprise about 40% of undergraduate students in science, in Engineering it is

30% and in medical it is 45%, but the percentage is much less in prestigious institutes. The
reason attributed is because the parents, on average, tend not to spend this for a girl child.

In universities teaching positions women percentage is nearly fair but again in prestigious
institute it is only 10-12%.

Govt’s initiatives: The DST has presently a division called "Knowledge involvement in
Research Advancement through Nurturing" (KIRAN) Various program for women
scientists through KIRAN have been introduced with a view to provide an enabling and
supportive framework for gender mainstreaming of women in science, Technology and
Innovation. KIRAN has the following components:

(a) S&T for Women: It is aimed to improve the living condition of women by reducing
their drudgery, improving health and environment and providing opportunity for income
generation through application of science and Technology.

(b) Women scientist scheme (WoS): The WoS has three components:

(i) Basic research fellowship

(ii) Societal Research fellowship; (scholarship for research in S&T based societal
Programs.
 (iii) Intellectual Property Right: to train women having qualification in Science/
engineering/ medicines or allied subjects in the area of IPR and their management for a
period of one year.

(c) Capacity/Orientation Building

(d) Institutional Support/Development and

(e) Mobility: through this scheme, women can continue involvement in science even if the
family requires them to relocate within the country.

A special one year “Internship Programme” has been introduced by DST in 2013 under
WoS/SoRF in order to train women scientists having no prior experience in writing and
implementing projects.

Besides DST other institutes like NASI, DRDO, ISRO, DBT, TWAS and many
Universities have multitudes of programmes for supporting women who are interested in
STEM.

In 2009 a special programme “Consolidation of University Research for Innovation and

Excellence in Women Universities (CURIE)” under the institutional support was initiated
for women Universities to strengthen their R&D infrastructure.

New Suggestions:

(a) Menteoring: Mentoring has to be for:

(i) Confidence building

(ii) Choosing and sustaining career

(iii) Employment opportunities

(iv) Administrative and social responsibilities

(b) Work-life balance: When work and personal life are out of balance, one’s stress
level are likely to soar. Therefore, it is important to promote a healthy work-life
balance that enable scientists to effectively navigate competing and conflicting
demands at professional and personal level.

(c) Flexi-timing: Women are skilled at multitasking, and they tend to a large share of
responsibility where ever they are. Exploring suitable opportunities with flexi
hours will trap in the enormous potential of women professionals.

(d) Leadership and career advancement: Leadership positions have been generally
held by men and therefor, they were stereotyped as more effective leaders,
However, for women to be successful leaders and have career advancement, they
need to be high on both femininity and masculinity. It is thus imperative that these
psychological barriers to be removed and help women advance in their career.
 (e) Achieving recognition: It is important that women be recognized for their
contribution to the nation’s STEM enterprise through nominations for awards, and
leadership positions.

Women play an important role in a lot of spheres in the contemporary society. They make
great contribution to the development and improvement of life in a lot of spheres.
Unfortunately, science and technology are the spheres where women do not have equal
possibilities with men. There are a lot of possible explanations of this inequality, but
gender bios, prejudices and unequal distribution of resources are among the main ones.
Gender inequality in STI is more common in the developing countries. There are different
ways to deal with the problem. Proper monitoring, proper informing and creating
necessary work conditions should improve the situation in this field. Gender equality and
normal work conditions for both, men and women are the characteristics of any normal
society and it is necessary to pay attention to the problem of gender inequality in science
and technology because this can be beneficial for the development of these spheres.

“Life is not easy for any of us. But, what of that? We must have perseverance and above
all confidence in ourselves. We must believe that we are gifted for something and that this
thing must be attained”- Marie Curie