09.25.15
At L'Oréal Foundation’s #ChangeTheNumbers press conference earlier this week, the group revealed results of an international collaborative study with OpinionWay that was conducted to help understand the causes of disparities affecting women in science and the obstacles they face in their professional progression.
According to David Macdonald, philanthropy director at For Women in Science, the public is not aware of the weight with which prejudices are still anchored in perceptions, at a time when only 30% of researchers are women.
Here are some of the takeaways from the survey:
In the study, “67% of Europeans think that women do not possess the required capabilities in order to access high-level scientific positions, and, according to Macdonald, only 10% of respondents believe that women possess the capabilities for science in particular."
Despite these preconceived ideas, it is interesting to note that respondents still think that women are much more numerous in science than they actually are.
Respondents to the survey estimated that women within scientific fields hold 28% of the highest academic functions within the European Union; the reality is that women within scientific fields hold only 11% of the highest academic positions.
When spontaneously citing scientific personalities, without any criteria for gender, 71% of respondents gave the names of men and 33% gave women's names.
Society is aware of the obstacles that women scientists face, obstacles that are independent of their abilities: 49% think they are obstructed by cultural factors, 43% think they are obstructed by men and 40% think they are obstructed by their management.
What is more, 59% of Europeans find that the evolution of women’s place in scientific research is too slow, this being an increase from 26% in 2000, and 29% in 2010.
Faced with the fact that 3% of scientific Nobel Prizes are awarded to women, 63% said would like to see an increase to 50/50.
With its For Women in Science movement, the L'Oréal Foundation encourages a scientific vocation in girls from secondary school age, encourages female researchers and rewards excellence in a field where women should be more numerous.
According to David Macdonald, philanthropy director at For Women in Science, the public is not aware of the weight with which prejudices are still anchored in perceptions, at a time when only 30% of researchers are women.
Here are some of the takeaways from the survey:
In the study, “67% of Europeans think that women do not possess the required capabilities in order to access high-level scientific positions, and, according to Macdonald, only 10% of respondents believe that women possess the capabilities for science in particular."
Despite these preconceived ideas, it is interesting to note that respondents still think that women are much more numerous in science than they actually are.
Respondents to the survey estimated that women within scientific fields hold 28% of the highest academic functions within the European Union; the reality is that women within scientific fields hold only 11% of the highest academic positions.
When spontaneously citing scientific personalities, without any criteria for gender, 71% of respondents gave the names of men and 33% gave women's names.
Society is aware of the obstacles that women scientists face, obstacles that are independent of their abilities: 49% think they are obstructed by cultural factors, 43% think they are obstructed by men and 40% think they are obstructed by their management.
What is more, 59% of Europeans find that the evolution of women’s place in scientific research is too slow, this being an increase from 26% in 2000, and 29% in 2010.
Faced with the fact that 3% of scientific Nobel Prizes are awarded to women, 63% said would like to see an increase to 50/50.
With its For Women in Science movement, the L'Oréal Foundation encourages a scientific vocation in girls from secondary school age, encourages female researchers and rewards excellence in a field where women should be more numerous.