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Suggested Citation:"APPENDIX D: Data on Women Researchers in Science." National Research Council. 2012. Blueprint for the Future: Framing the Issues of Women in Science in a Global Context: Summary of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13306.
×

APPENDIX D

Data on Women Researchers in Science (Workshop Handout)

TABLE D-1. Women Researchers, As a Percentage of Total Researchers (head count) 2001-2008

  2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008
Country                
Austria .. 20.7 .. 23.6 .. 25.3 26.4 ..
Belgium .. 27.7 28.1 28.8 29.6 30.7 31.1 ..
Czech Republic 28.8 29.5 28.3 28.5 28.8 28.5 28.3 28.5
Denmark 28.0 26.2 28.1 .. 29.7 .. 30.2 ..
Finland 29.1 29.9 29.8 29.0 30.2 31.6 31.5 30.7
France 27.5 27.8 27.8 27.8 28.0 27.4 .. ..
Germany .. .. 19.5 .. 21.4 .. 23.2 ..
Greece 35.3 .. 37.1 .. 36.4 .. .. ..
Hungary 33.0 33.7 35.1 34.5 34.2 33.5 33.5 33.0
Iceland 34.7 .. 39.4 .. 39.3 38.6 37.8 37.8
Ireland .. 30.2 30.2 30.0 30.3 31.2 32.0 (p) ..
Italy 28.1 28.7 29.3 29.9 32.4 33.3 33.2 ..
Japan 10.7 11.2 11.6 11.9 11.9 12.4 13.0 13.0
Korea 11.1 11.6 11.4 12.0 12.9 13.1 14.9 15.6
Luxembourg .. .. 17.4 (c) .. 18.2 .. 24.1 (c) ..
Mexico .. .. 31.6 (c) .. .. .. .. ..
Netherlands .. .. 17.2 .. 18.0 (c) .. 23.0 ..
New Zealand 39.3 .. .. .. .. .. .. ..
Norway 28.3 .. 29.4 .. 31.7 .. 33.3 33.9
Poland .. .. 39.3 38.9 39.3 39.5 39.9 39.5
Portugal 43.6 44.0 (c) 44.3 44.4 (c) 44.4 43.8 (c) 43.4 ..
Slovak Republic .. 39.6 40.6 41.2 41.5 41.8 42.3 42.3
Slovenia 35.36 35.09 32.20 32.52 34.79 35.28 34.88 35.08
Spain 35.4 35.2 36.3 36.1 36.7 36.7 37.0 ..
Sweden .. .. .. .. 35.8 .. 34.5 ..
Switzerland .. .. .. 26.7 .. .. .. 30.2
Turkey 35.2 35.6 35.9 36.4 36.1 36.3 36.7 ..
United Kingdom .. .. .. .. 35.7 (c) .. 36.6 (c) ..

NOTE: The notation (c) indicates that this is a national estimate or projection adjusted if necessary by the Secretariat to meet Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), norms and (p) indicates that this is provisional data.

SOURCE: Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, Main Science and Technology Indicators, Science, Technology and R&D Statistics, 2010.

Suggested Citation:"APPENDIX D: Data on Women Researchers in Science." National Research Council. 2012. Blueprint for the Future: Framing the Issues of Women in Science in a Global Context: Summary of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13306.
×

TABLE D-2. Women Researchers by Sector of Employment, As a Percentage of Total Researchers, 2008

Country Business
Enterprises
Government Higher Education Private non-Profit
Argentina 2.55 13.62 33.38 0.90
Portugal 4.33 8.39 26.54 5.11
Romania 10.85 9.70 22.54 0.18
Russian Federation 22.87 16.19 3.04 0.06
Slovak Republic 4.03 6.71 30.99 0.01
South Africa 5.60 2.67 31.17 0.28
Iceland 12.14 11.67 14.21 1.25
New Zealand 1.89 1.97 27.54 7.87
Poland 3.09 5.81 30.30 0.05
Spain 6.47 7.26 22.86 0.11
Greece 5.33 3.56 27.27 0.21
Turkey 3.67 1.78 30.82 0.00
Sweden 12.97 2.15 20.46 0.16
Slovenia 8.28 10.45 16.56 0.07
Hungary 5.12 7.22 21.13 0.00
Italy 5.09 5.97 19.37 1.92
Norway 7.89 4.59 19.25 0.00
Mexico 5.99 4.83 19.02 1.72
Finland 9.10 4.59 17.32 0.54
Ireland 8.38 1.10 20.76 0.06
Denmark 13.92 2.60 12.86 0.32
Belgium 8.75 1.62 19.36 -0.16
Czech Republic 5.20 8.20 14.99 0.08
France 9.03 3.60 14.51 0.70
Singapore 14.02 2.22 10.85 0.00
Switzerland 6.80 0.65 19.37 -0.08
Austria 5.87 1.90 15.50 0.35
Germany 5.27 3.11 12.99 0.00
Chinese Taipei 8.02 2.79 9.47 0.18
Luxembourg 10.60 5.40 2.21 0.00
Netherlands 5.90 4.61 7.20 0.31
Korea 7.01 0.77 5.08 0.27
Japan 4.11 0.55 7.61 0.14

SOURCE: Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, Main Science and Technology Indicators Database, April 2008.

Suggested Citation:"APPENDIX D: Data on Women Researchers in Science." National Research Council. 2012. Blueprint for the Future: Framing the Issues of Women in Science in a Global Context: Summary of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13306.
×

TABLE D-3. Employed Female Scientists and Engineers in the United States, by Occupations, Highest Degree Level, As a Percentage of Total Scientists and Engineers, 2006

Occupation All Degrees Bachelor’s Master’s Doctorate
  Both sexes Female
(percent)
Both sexes Female
(percent)
Both sexes Female
(percent)
Both
sexes
Female
(percent)
All occupations 18,927,000 44 10,886,000 45 5,384,000 47 883,000 30
  S&E occupations 5,024,000 26 2,911,000 24 1,497,000 29 566,000 28
   Scientist 3,403,000 33 1,865,000 31 1,023,000 37 467,000 33

Biological/life
scientist

487,000 44 203,000 51 113,000 47 154,000 34

Agricultural/food scientist

57,000 32 32,000 38 15,000 27 10,000 20

Biological/medical scientist

336,000 49 137,000 59 76,000 55 107,000 36

Forestry and conservation scientist

35,000 14 22,000 14 11,000 9 2,000 N/A

Postsecondary teacher

60,000 40 13,000 54 11,000 55 34,000 29

   Computer and Information Scientist

1,963,000

26

1,350,000

25

557,000

26

50,000

16

Computer/information scientist

1,938,000 25 1,345,000 25 546,000 27 41,000 15

Postsecondary teacher

25,000 32 5,000 20 11,000 45 9,000 22

   Mathematical Scientist

149,000

39

44,000

41

70,000

43

33,000

27

Mathematical scientist

85,000 38 32,000 41 39,000 41 12,000 25

Postsecondary teacher

64,000 39 12,000 42 31,000 48 21,000 24
   Physical Scientist 334,000 28 159,000 33 84,000 32 89,000 17

      Chemist, except biochemist

134,000

35

79,000

39

26,000

42

28,000

18

Earth scientist / geologist / oceanographer

80,000 20 39,000 21 30,000 20 11,000 18

Physicist/astronomer

29,000 14 6,000 17 7,000 14 16,000 13

Other physical scientist

39,000 31 25,000 32 10,000 30 3,000 33

Postsecondary teacher

52,000 29 9,000 44 11,000 45 31,000 19
   Psychologist 211,000 65 22,000 73 98,000 69 76,000 55
   Social scientist 259,000 46 86,000 51 102,000 44 66,000 39

SOURCE: National Science Foundation, Division of Science Resources Statistics, Scientists and Engineers Statistical Data System.

Suggested Citation:"APPENDIX D: Data on Women Researchers in Science." National Research Council. 2012. Blueprint for the Future: Framing the Issues of Women in Science in a Global Context: Summary of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13306.
×

images

FIGURE D-1. Percentage of Women Graduates1 by Field of Study, 2005

SOURCE: Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development Education Database, 2011. Figure created by Wei Jing.

__________________

1 Graduates from tertiary type A and advanced research programs.

Suggested Citation:"APPENDIX D: Data on Women Researchers in Science." National Research Council. 2012. Blueprint for the Future: Framing the Issues of Women in Science in a Global Context: Summary of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13306.
×

images

FIGURE D-2. Percentage of Women Among First Tertiary Degrees in Mathematics, 2008

SOURCE: Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, StatExtracts, 2011. Figure created by Lisa M. Frehill.

Suggested Citation:"APPENDIX D: Data on Women Researchers in Science." National Research Council. 2012. Blueprint for the Future: Framing the Issues of Women in Science in a Global Context: Summary of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13306.
×

images

FIGURE D-3. Women’s Representation in Computing Varies Across Countries

SOURCE: Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development StatExtracts, 2011. Figure created by Lisa M. Frehill and J. McGrath Cohoon.

Suggested Citation:"APPENDIX D: Data on Women Researchers in Science." National Research Council. 2012. Blueprint for the Future: Framing the Issues of Women in Science in a Global Context: Summary of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13306.
×

images

FIGURE D-4. Women’s Share of Tertiary Computing Degrees as Deviation Below Mean Discipline, 2006-2007

SOURCE: Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, StatExtracts, 2011. Calculations and figure created by J. McGrath Cohoon, Sergey Nigai, and Rachna Maheshwari.


Suggested Citation:"APPENDIX D: Data on Women Researchers in Science." National Research Council. 2012. Blueprint for the Future: Framing the Issues of Women in Science in a Global Context: Summary of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13306.
×

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Suggested Citation:"APPENDIX D: Data on Women Researchers in Science." National Research Council. 2012. Blueprint for the Future: Framing the Issues of Women in Science in a Global Context: Summary of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13306.
×
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Suggested Citation:"APPENDIX D: Data on Women Researchers in Science." National Research Council. 2012. Blueprint for the Future: Framing the Issues of Women in Science in a Global Context: Summary of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13306.
×
Page 60
Suggested Citation:"APPENDIX D: Data on Women Researchers in Science." National Research Council. 2012. Blueprint for the Future: Framing the Issues of Women in Science in a Global Context: Summary of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13306.
×
Page 61
Suggested Citation:"APPENDIX D: Data on Women Researchers in Science." National Research Council. 2012. Blueprint for the Future: Framing the Issues of Women in Science in a Global Context: Summary of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13306.
×
Page 62
Suggested Citation:"APPENDIX D: Data on Women Researchers in Science." National Research Council. 2012. Blueprint for the Future: Framing the Issues of Women in Science in a Global Context: Summary of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13306.
×
Page 63
Suggested Citation:"APPENDIX D: Data on Women Researchers in Science." National Research Council. 2012. Blueprint for the Future: Framing the Issues of Women in Science in a Global Context: Summary of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13306.
×
Page 64
Suggested Citation:"APPENDIX D: Data on Women Researchers in Science." National Research Council. 2012. Blueprint for the Future: Framing the Issues of Women in Science in a Global Context: Summary of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13306.
×
Page 65
Suggested Citation:"APPENDIX D: Data on Women Researchers in Science." National Research Council. 2012. Blueprint for the Future: Framing the Issues of Women in Science in a Global Context: Summary of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13306.
×
Page 66
Next: APPENDIX E-1: A Snapshot of Gender Differences in Education--Angelica Salvi Del Pero »
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The scientific work of women is often viewed through a national or regional lens, but given the growing worldwide connectivity of most, if not all, scientific disciplines, there needs to be recognition of how different social, political, and economic mechanisms impact women's participation in the global scientific enterprise. Although these complex sociocultural factors often operate in different ways in various countries and regions, studies within and across nations consistently show inverse correlations between levels in the scientific and technical career hierarchy and the number of women in science: the higher the positions, the fewer the number of women. Understanding these complex patterns requires interdisciplinary and international approaches. In April 2011, a committee overseen by the National Academies' standing Committee on Women in Science, Engineering, and Medicine (CWSEM) convened a workshop entitled, "Blueprint for the Future: Framing the Issues of Women in Science in a Global Context" in Washington, D.C.

CWSEM's goals are to coordinate, monitor, and advocate action to increase the participation of women in science, engineering, and medicine. The scope of the workshop was limited to women's participation in three scientific disciplines: chemistry, computer science, mathematics, and statistics. The workshop presentations came from a group of scholars and professionals who have been working for several years on documenting, analyzing, and interpreting the status of women in selected technical fields around the world. Examination of the three disciplines-chemistry, computer science, and mathematics and statistics-can be considered a first foray into collecting and analyzing information that can be replicated in other fields.

The complexity of studying science internationally cannot be underestimated, and the presentations demonstrate some of the evidentiary and epistemological challenges that scholars and professionals face in collecting and analyzing data from many different countries and regions. Blueprint for the Future: Framing the Issues of Women in Science in a Global Context summarizes the workshop presentations, which provided an opportunity for dialogue about the issues that the authors have been pursuing in their work to date.

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