Women do science - difficulties forever

Why are the rates of women getting doctoral degrees in math and science less than men? This question still does not have a full explanation. Will women be treated fairly in the field of men thought to be math and science?

Research by the US National Science Foundation says that today, the women retained as teaching assistants at universities often have a better chance of getting a job than their male counterparts.

Compared to the number of people doing the doctoral thesis directly, the number of teaching assistants is less. For example, in the chemistry industry, from 1999 to 2003, the proportion of women doctoral students was 32% and the proportion of female teaching assistants was only 18%.

A survey was conducted at 89 research institutes to statistic on the number of PhDs and contributions in the fields of biology, chemistry, construction, electricity, math and physics.

The results show that, although only a small number in mathematics and science, the number of highly educated women has increased over the years. In 1995, the proportion of women teaching tutors for mathematics professors was 18.7% and 7.6% were professors as women. By 2003, these figures had increased with 26.5% of teaching assistants and 9.7% of professors.

Only a small percentage of women have achieved a doctorate in natural science in university institutes.(Photo: Scientificamerican.com)

The amount of a female professor earns 8% less than a male colleague. ' Women still face many problems when they work in the fields of science, technology, technology ,' Phoebe Leboy, chairman of the Association of Women in Science (AWIS), said. Phoebe Leboy is also a professor of biochemistry and has taught at the University of Pennsylvania. Ms Leboy knows a lot of women interviewed have said that research is not for them.

If so, what jobs will they do? Government investigations do not include the question: what will women do when they give up their studies or be retained as assistant professors, Professor Sally Shaywitz said. She is currently the Chair of the Center for children with dyslexia and creativity in Yale, USA. Shaywitz criticized: ' This is a half-hearted government study .'

Based on the AWIS study, Ms. Leboy stressed that among women with a doctorate in science, very few people find work in research institutes. Most of them have to do other things like writing, editing or public relations.

With difficulties such as tight financial, time-consuming and pressure to complete soon, it seems that research is not an attractive choice. Ms. Shaywitz suggested that universities should speed up the process of recognizing teaching assistants to become doctors, because if this process lasts as long as it will make many people have financial difficulties, even some. People may have to give up to earn money.

She also said that she needed to change her mind: ' A woman who wants to marry is a weak person '. And emphasize that universities and research institutes must be a pioneer in this.

Ms. Leboy agrees with the point of ' having to change the thinking about women in the field of scientific research '. She also emphasized that we should vote for women in leadership positions in science, to create motivation and role models for young girls.