Doc. 8332

17 February 1999

Role of women in the field of science and technology

Report

Committee on Science and Technology

Rapporteur: Mrs Ana Guirado, Spain, Socialist Group

Summary

      Throughout Europe, increasing numbers of women are gaining and using academic qualifications and working in occupations which, for a long time, were a male preserve. However, while this demonstrates that the gender-orientation of research and occupations can change, the positions occupied by women within them still tend to be more junior than those of men. What is more, male hegemony persists, at all levels, especially in mathematics and physics, and in pure research and in the field of industrial applications. The fact that women are kept away from knowledge and occupations which play a key role in modern society, such as those related to science and technology, is unfair and harmful both for women and for society as a whole which deprives itself of their skills. The Committee on Science and Technology proposes three main sets of recommendations to rectify this situation: firstly, to improve our information on the place women occupy in science and technology; secondly, to improve girls’ access to scientific and technological studies and careers and thirdly, to achieve greater equality in the relations between men and women throughout society.

I.       Draft resolution

1.       The Assembly considers that an overview of the current science and technology scene reveals a number of inequalities concerning the participation of men and women in scientific and technological development.

2.       These inequalities should not be interpreted as being derived from deliberate action by male scientists towards women, but as the consequence of historical development.

3.       The fact is that a whole range of prejudices has prevented the full participation of women in science and technology and relegated a pool of talent to the sidelines. Girls and women face considerable obstacles to pursuing scientific and technological studies and careers. There are relatively few women in the decision-making and consultative bodies in the field of science and technology.

4.       Seeking to achieve a balanced participation of men and women in science and technology is a valid enterprise not only on moral and social grounds but also, and especially, because of the benefits which would accrue to the scientific and technical world. The introduction of diverse points of view and different priorities and styles of working as well as the input of women’s skills would contribute a great deal to science. Moreover, in this way the science and technology sectors would be better adapted to social needs and would more closely reflect the interests of all members of society.

5.       The Assembly emphasises the perennial validity of the principles established by the Declaration on equality of women and men of the Committee of Ministers (16 November 1988) and notes that the Final Declaration of the 2nd Summit of the Council of Europe (10-11 October 1997) stressed “the importance of a more balanced representation of men and women in all sectors of society” and called for "continued progress with a view to achieving effective equality of opportunities between men and women”.

6.       The Assembly supports the Declaration on equality between women and men as a fundamental criterion of democracy, adopted by the 4th European Conference of Ministers on Equality between Women and Men (Istanbul, 13-14 November 1997) and backs the measures advocated.

7.       Accordingly, the Assembly invites the governments of the Council of Europe member states and the European Union to:

      i.       work to improve the collection and publication of statistics by gender and field of study, in national and standardised European surveys (school statistics and surveys on subsequent career paths of science and technology students);

      ii.       encourage the establishment — and support the activities — of non-governmental organisations seeking to promote the interests of women working in the field of science and technology, including their rights to professional and personal development;

      iii.       provide financial backing for the organisation of meetings, colloquies and networks of women graduates and scientists which could make possible fruitful comparison of women’s experiences in different countries;

      iv.       take appropriate steps to remedy the situation in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) whereby, following the reduction in funding for the scientific and technological fields, the number of scientists has decreased, affecting more women than men;

      v.       take steps to provide financial incentives for girls wishing to take science subjects, by ensuring that the allocation of available grants between boys and girls is as fair as possible;

      vi.       institute measures - from primary school onwards, particularly at the crucial period when pupils choose their subject orientation (during adolescence, between the ages of twelve and eighteen) - designed to make both boys and girls aware of the gender differences in study, employment and family roles. This might include group discussions on their aspirations and assessment of their aptitude for science and technology, introductory sessions to explain how technology works and can be used (using computers, audiovisual equipment, taking apart equipment used in daily life, etc). The latter kind of activity would be particularly useful for reassuring girls about their aptitude for science and technology;

      vii.       ensure that girls are not left out of the new information technology revolution and that programmes are devised specifically to familiarise girls with computers;

      viii.       popularise female role models in the sciences, drawing on women with different backgrounds: academics, engineers and managers, young and not-so-young, occupying high-ranking or more ordinary positions, mothers, single women, etc. so that girls can identify with them;

      ix.       encourage teachers to invite parents to information meetings aimed at overcoming the prejudices often found in families which tend to discourage girls from choosing a career in science and technology;

      x.       promote the introduction into university curricula for teachers of special training on equal opportunities between men and women, including historical and social data on education, vocational training and the work of men and women, emphasising gender-specific features as well as positive developments, with a view to adapting teachers’ approaches to girls and boys in class to the new realities;

      xi.       promote teacher training for a mixed audience, bearing in mind the different behaviour of girls and boys with regard to different disciplines, particularly the sciences, and career opportunities;

      xii.       encourage analysis of sexist representations in school textbooks and the media and eliminate all such stereotypes, in parallel with consideration of a less sexist and more attractive reflection of sciences that highlights their impact on developments in society, the environment and health;

      xiii.       ensure a greater male/female balance on examination boards, recruitment panels for teachers and university researchers and, where applicants are of equal merit, ensure preferential treatment for the under-represented sex;

      xiv.       ensure favourable conditions for career development and equal promotion opportunities for women in science and technology (vocational training courses, participation in high priority projects, fair assessment of professional competence, etc.);

      xv.       seek to heighten male scientists’ awareness and provide training for them on issues of equality between women and men;

      xvi.       take measures to encourage industry to clarify and publicise their recruitment and mobility procedures for each sex.

II.       Draft recommendation

1.       As in Resolution … (1999), the Assembly believes that, notwithstanding the considerable progress observed recently, several inequalities concerning the participation of men and women in scientific and technological development continue to exist in Europe.

2.       In that text, it pointed out that girls and women continue to face considerable obstacles in pursuing studies and careers in the field of science and technology and that there are relatively few women in decision-making and consultative bodies in the science and technology sectors.

3.       The Assembly notes that the Final Declaration of the 2nd Summit of the Council of Europe (10-11 October 1997) stressed “the importance of a more balanced representation of men and women in all sectors of society” and called for "continued progress with a view to achieving effective equality of opportunities between men and women”.

4.       It supports the Declaration on equality between women and men as a fundamental criterion of democracy, adopted by the 4th European Ministerial Conference on Equality between Women and Men (Istanbul, 13-14 November 1997) and backs the measures advocated.

5.       Observing the active role played by the Council of Europe in the process of change in education systems throughout Europe, the Assembly recommends that the Committee of Ministers include the following in its intergovernmental work programme:

      i.       a study on equality between women and men, focusing on women’s participation in scientific and technological activities in Europe, to be carried out by the Steering Committee for Equality between Women and Men (CDEG), with particular stress on the countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), where the decrease in the number of posts in the field of science and technology has mainly affected women;

      ii.       a study on methods to attract girls to, and prepare them for, careers in science and technology, to be carried out by the Education Committee (CC-ED) of the Council for Cultural Co-operation (CDCC), in conjunction with the CDEG;

      iii.       a study on the measures to be taken to provide the same opportunities for women and men who have chosen to study science and technology at university, to be carried out by the Higher Education and Research Committee (CC-HER);

      iv.       a study on the measures to be taken to promote the development of out-of-school science and technology education for women, to be carried out by the School and Out-of-School Education Section of the Directorate on Education, Culture and Sport (DECS).

III.       Draft order

1.       Bearing in mind its Resolution … (1999) and Recommendation … (1999) on the role of women in the field of science and technology, the Parliamentary Assembly instructs its Committee on Science and Technology to monitor the evolution of the situation with regard to women scientists.

IV.       Explanatory memorandum by Mrs Guirado

Contents

paragraphs

1.       Introduction       1

2. The still limited role of women in science and technology:

a fairly constant and universal fact, but non unavoidable       2-5

3. Improving the position of women in science and technology:

aiming at justice and equality between the sexes       6-10

4. Assessment of the situation and gaps in the statistics, studies and

research on the position of women in science and technology       11

      4.1 The gaps in the statistics       12-18

      4.2 Discussion of the interpretations       19-29

      4.3 The value of cross-country comparisons       30

5. Measures to be taken

1. Introduction

1. The Science and Technology Committee of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe held a hearing in Paris on 26 November 1997 on the role of women in science and technology in Europe, the conclusions of which have formed the basis of this report. The rapporteur would like to thank all those women experts who took part in the hearing (see appendix) and supplied documents and, in particular, Ms Catherine Marry, sociologist at the CNRS (LASMAS-IRESCO, Paris), who acted as moderator during the hearing and who later made a substantial contribution to the drafting of this report.

2. The still limited role of women in science and technology: a fairly constant and universal fact, but not unavoidable!

2.       Despite an unprecedented increase over the past thirty years in the number of women in higher education and in employment in all European countries, women still occupy a very minor place in higher level scientific and technical studies and occupations. Within this field they have progressed considerably in the life sciences (biology, medicine, pharmacy, etc.), in subject areas close to these (chemistry, agronomy etc.) and in architecture. Male hegemony still remains on the other hand in the “hard” sciences: maths, physics and engineering, which still account for the majority of male scientists. This dominance is particularly marked in the private sector (industry, services to enterprises, etc.) but does not spare the public sector, supposed to be egalitarian (higher education and research). This gender-based segregation of academic and occupational fields (or “horizontal” segregation) is partly connected with another form of segregation clearly demonstrated by studies on the careers of women graduates: that of their progressive elimination from the most selective educational and vocational programmes leading to positions of power ( “vertical” segregation). In all countries and in all fields, in fact, including those with the highest proportion of women “at the base”, women graduates accede rarely, if ever, to the highest echelons: they constitute a very great majority of primary teachers, nurses, laboratory assistants, half of the secondary teachers (often less in maths, physics and above all technology), 10 to 30% of the young engineers, less than 10% of university professors and researchers of the highest rank, and only exceptionally occupy the “presidential chair”, whether in universities, scientific bodies or big enterprises. In the European Space Agency, for example, women in supervisory scientific and administrative posts represent a little less than 5% of the total staff (70 out of 1700) (S. Cheli, 1997).

3.       These two forms of gender-based segregation do not overlap completely. In many European countries, the fields of engineering and building and public works have even less women among the unskilled workers and technicians than among the engineers. “Scientific and technical” occupations seem in fact to be all the more closed to women the more “technical” they are, and the more they are connected with professional experience in the enterprise. Women’s access to the profession of engineer is a little easier through the direct path of higher education than through continuing education and promotion within the enterprise.

4.       Moreover, the role of women in the sciences in the different European countries is not explained solely by the degree of prestige of these disciplines and professions. The engineering sciences and the profession of engineer, for example, are particularly highly regarded in France, a little less so in Germany and much less in the United Kingdom than professions in law, economics and finance. The fact is that French women scientists, both academics and engineers, are more numerous and have better careers than their British or German counterparts. These differences are due in fact to the more general position of women in these societies: their position in science and technology is all the better assured if professional work and the career of wife and mother are better recognised and supported by public policies and scientific institutions.

5.       The question of the role of women scientists thus cannot be dissociated from that of the social position of women in general, and also that of men! The substantial changes in these positions over the past thirty years show that there is no field which is “by nature” and for all time reserved for one sex or the other. For all this however, the sciences and technologies are strongly resisting the general tendency for the breakdown of frontiers and inequalities between men and women. Political actions to overcome this resistance have already been instituted in recent years in many European countries, and have met with a favourable response. UNESCO has launched an international project on “women, science and technology” with a planned duration of six years and is preparing a world conference on science in 1998 (R. Clair, 1997). The Council of Europe recommendation can help give fresh impetus to these actions.

3.       Improving the position of women in science and technology:aiming at justice and equality between the sexes

6.       These actions are desirable for women in the first place: in most countries the scientific professions bring security, prestige, interest, varied responsibilities; they are also desirable for improving their influence in everyday life, increasingly governed by new technologies (information and communications technologies, etc.). These arguments of justice and of equality are the first to be put forward.

7.       There are also other arguments, such as the beneficial nature of this better participation of women for society as a whole, notably in terms of economic performance. While it is admitted that women are just as capable as men of acquiring and exercising scientific and technical skills, we can but deplore the waste of resources represented by their being sidelined and their numbers being eroded throughout academic and professional programmes leading to higher positions.

8.       The experts of certain countries, in particular German-speaking (former FRG, Switzerland, Austria) highlight the negative role played by the predominance of male values in the world of science and technology to explain the limited access of women to this world and the strong pressures to exclude those who do enter it - domination rather than collaboration, quantity of work rather than quality, technical performance objectives rather than improvement of the quality of life and of the environment. A greater presence of women and their specific values would thus make it possible to improve the social utility of the sciences. These arguments are treated with greater circumspection by other experts, such as the French. Feminist research has clearly shown in fact that women’s reference to their specificity or to their “nature”, whether it is a matter of denigrating them or extolling them, makes it possible to perpetuate their situation of being dominated by legitimising it! To escape from this trap of the “naturalisation” of gender-based differences, it may be useful to add to the analysis of the inequalities between men and women that of the diversity of the places occupied by women and men in the world of science and technology and the changes that have taken place in them between the generation of women pioneers and the young women of today. The educational, family and professional careers of the latter have incontestably got closer to those of men: many more of them than in the past are able to use their qualifications in the pursuit of engineering or management careers, rather than just in teaching, without for all that having to forego the role of wife and mother (C. Marry, 1992, P. Lutse, 1997).

9.       But this progress of the egalitarian ideal in representations and to some extent in practice is making its limits even more apparent. At the present rate of change, parity in the world of science or politics will be achieved only in the very distant future. In particular it comes up against men’s resistance to a more equal sharing of domestic chores - the “conciliation” of family and professional life should not be a matter for women alone! This resistance and the temptation to confine women to their traditional housekeeping role is particularly strong when the competition for jobs intensifies: this is the case with management jobs, few in number by definition, and the most sought after; but also with first jobs when these become scarce. In all European countries, the recruitment crisis no longer spares young graduates, including those in sciences and technology, and women are the first to be eliminated.

10.       The issue does not concern only women, but also men. Scientific and technical studies and occupations are undoubtedly marked even more than any others by a history of male construction, competition and intense personal investment, starting early (secondary schooling) and continuing (in the career) leaving little room for investment in family or leisure activities. The entry of women into these male-dominated areas and their co-operation with men, at work but also in their personal relationships (many women scientists marry male scientists!) means that this model is being called into question. When it comes to the debate on a more equitable sharing of the work, this challenge to the status quo may be beneficial to both women and men.

4. Assessment of the situation and gaps in the statistics, studies and research on the position of women in science and technology

11.       The aim of the report and the recommendation being to improve the position of women in science and technology, the analysis will focus on the core areas from which they have been lastingly excluded in all countries: the “hard” sciences (maths and physics) and industrial technologies, as well as positions of power in enterprises, universities and research institutions.

4.1        The gaps in the statistics

12.       A considerable body of work on this theme and more generally on women’s education and work now exists and continues to develop, but there are few comprehensive studies, especially ones making cross-country comparisons. The difficulties inherent in such comparisons are compounded by a major problem basic to any policy debate and decision making: the absence of statistics systematically distinguishing between men and women.

- Absence of a breakdown by sex in the findings published by the major national statistical institutes;

- Absence or unsatisfactory nature of the classifications for specialisms in studies and qualifications used in national and international surveys, which do not always make it possible to distinguish, between life sciences and natural sciences and which may or may not, depending on the country, include architecture and agronomy with engineering;

- Variations over time in the definitions of these specialisms, which makes the precise measurement of trends difficult1.

13.       Another major problem with these statistics is precisely what we are concerned with here, i.e. the very small number of women in science and technology. This makes statistical processing very difficult. Women respondents to national sample surveys are often the only ones in their category, and therefore have to be included in larger groups which are not always relevant because they lump together all women of a given educational level (all higher qualifications) or all fields (all sciences and technologies) and often both together.

14.       It therefore seems to us important to develop, alongside the statistical surveys, cross-country comparisons based on qualitative surveys, using interviews and monographs. These biographical approaches are necessary to be able to apprehend the subjective elements: pleasure or pain at work, the disparities between expectations and actual situations, the representations and practices of the occupation and the career or those of the masculine and feminine roles in the family, etc. They would also permit progress in the understanding of the mechanisms and processes that lead to this situation of apparently limited opportunities for women in science and technology. One of these mechanisms, frequently mentioned, is that of self-selection or the self-exclusion of women from scientific studies and careers. Girls are successful in and enjoy maths just as much as boys do before adolescence, but when it comes to choosing programmes focused on the sciences (and hence giving up others) they are less inclined to commit themselves, are more quickly discouraged and more easily dissuaded by their family and friends. This erosion continues in the job: women emerge more frequently than men from scientific and technical functions, turning to fields more or less distant from their initial training in the sciences. This is the case for example of engineering graduates who become science teachers or specialists in cultural organisations, or even primary teachers, etc., or sociologists!

15.       Those who do not abandon science and technology remain for a long time, even all their working life, restricted to the more “basic” positions. It is much more difficult for them to move on to more varied management positions.

16.       Women’s career paths may be the result of positive choices which work out well: a choice of “occupation” rather than “career”, a choice of lifestyle which gives more free time for the family and also for themselves. But such choices are usually the result of their exclusion from the most visible and most highly paid positions of power which often go hand-in-hand with the most intense relational activities and opportunities for all kinds of mobility (geographical, professional, etc.).

17.       To better identify what stems from self-selection (lack of confidence, anticipation of difficulties, etc.) or positive choices in favour of other careers, and what is due to exclusion (more or less explicit barriers or prohibitions), we need to be able to distinguish the key phases in this elimination - entry to studies, entry to professional life, evolution throughout the career - and to determine, for each of these phases, the personal, family or professional context likely to explain the different orientations according to sex. This aim implies developing research which takes account of the temporal dimension of the phenomenon through comparing different generations or cohorts of men and women, scientists and non-scientists. More generally, recent changes in the role of women in society require more systematic use of dynamic analyses in terms of paths.

18.       Summarising, the are two ways in which improvements could be made to the studies carried out in this field:

4.2       Discussion of the interpretations

19.       Analyses of the position of women in science and technology put particular emphasis on the obstacles to the entry of women to these fields despite their better educational success. Some point out girls’ refusal to embark on studies perceived as “masculine” or their apprehension if they do so. They in fact exaggerate the qualities of abstraction, rigour or even dryness, a pronounced taste for competition and even hostility, as opposed to the qualities imputed to women of intuition, a taste for the concrete, attention to others, docility, spirit of co-operation, etc.

20.       Within the sciences themselves, we find the same oppositions in the representations of the feminine and of the masculine. Chemistry is perceived as more feminine than physics because it requires less rigour, more meticulousness, patience, taste for the concrete. Some commentators even speak of its similarity to cooking! Similarly, architecture is supposed to suit women because it calls upon girls’ aesthetic inclinations, their love of arranging the house. Biology is said to attract them because it deals with the “living” and reproduction and is close to the health professions (medicine, pharmacy, etc.) but also because it is a science considered to be less theoretical than maths.

21.       Without denying the force of these representations and their interiorisation by women, they are open to criticism. There is in fact a strong tendency to impute to a speciality or to a field the qualities of those working in it, and the discourse changes when these fields change sex. Thus it was said for a long time that commercial and financial studies and careers were not for women because they were too emotional or even frivolous to manage budgets. Their large-scale entry into these fields today is explained by the relational qualities that these occupations require!

22.       More generally, we need to fight against the tendency to always belittle the “feminine” with respect to the “masculine” even when it is a matter of pointing to the success of women, or attributing specific “qualities” to them: this is the case, it seems, when their seriousness and application is compared with the talent and brio of men, etc.

23.       It is clear however that these “qualities” expected of each sex are inculcated and reinforced by education, right from infancy: early initiation of boys (by their father) to taking things to bits, fixing things, construction kits; initiation of girls to their future role of mother (dolls, nurse’s outfit, helping the mother with domestic chores, etc.) (M.N. Barton, 1997). These differences continue to the threshold of adult life. A recent survey carried out in France on students’ budgets showed that parents gave more aid to boys than to girls and above all that this aid was different in nature: boys received more calculators, computers and sports equipment, while girls received clothes, food and affective support.

24.       This gender-based education, both in the family and at school, also tends to reinforce the tendency for girls to underestimate themselves, in particular in the scientific and technical fields, and conversely to overestimate boys. Many surveys, in different countries, show that with equivalent results in school girls consider themselves to be less “gifted” in maths (in France, the “50 lycées, les maths et vous” project). This lack of confidence in their capacities (self-selection) is reinforced by the gender-based expectations, representations and concrete practices of evaluation and orientation of all actors in the education system, leading to the exclusion of girls from the sciences:

- Parents have lower expectations regarding the success of girls, especially in the sciences;

- Teachers call on boys more than girls in mixed classes. They tend to overestimate the boys and underestimate the girls;

- Career guidance advisers (mainly women) know little about technical careers and do not encourage girls to go in this direction.

25.       These actors in education are for the most part unaware of this gender-based discrimination: they have an egalitarian and meritocratic view of the school. British and French studies have demonstrated the perverse effects of mixed education (cf. Demain la Parité). Girls succeed better in girls’ schools than in mixed schools. The fact of opening the Ecole Polytechnique in France to girls (in 1972) permitted them to accede to the most prestigious engineering qualification in France but their progression remains very slow (14% of the student body in 1996) and barely compensated for the sharp fall in the number of girls in the other highly reputed scientific Grande Ecole, the Ecole Normale Supérieure, linked to the merging of two single-sex institutions. This does not mean that we should advocate a return to single-sex education, which would be perceived as very negative by the girls themselves, but rather that governments need to be made aware of the “false appearances” of mixed education, i.e. to all the subtle forms of sex discrimination (Delavault, 1997).

26.       Research also shows that girls anticipate greater difficulty in the world of science in reconciling their professional and family lives: they thus tend to make reasonable and reasoned choices rather than less ambitious choices (Duru-Bellat, 1990). Recent studies carried out in France show that girls’ fears of this kind as to the “cost of transgression” are not as well-founded as they (and researchers) might imagine, at least where higher qualifications are concerned (CEREQ): graduates in the “hard” sciences and engineers may experience greater difficulty in finding a job than their male counterparts, but much better conditions than those encountered by girls trained in fields which already have a large proportion of women (life sciences, social sciences, arts subjects, etc.). Career problems do not seem to be any worse than those encountered in fields with large numbers of women either. We do not have similar studies on other countries, but it would be interesting to know the situation elsewhere in order to dispel girls’ fears.

27.       We must not for all that minimise the specific difficulties encountered by women in the particularly masculine world of science, in industry but also in universities and research institutes. This world is in particular little inclined to make allowance for the specific constraints which still weigh upon women – having to play the roles of wives and mothers, attentive to the day-to-day well-being of the household. In an equivalent post, they have to perform better than the men in order to remove the suspicion that they are less available and less committed to the job.

28.       While it is important to continue to uncover and denounce all forms of gender-based discrimination, which may be more or less subtle and covert, in the family, at school and at work, it would be interesting to pursue two other strategies, even though their practical consequences are not immediately clear, by identifying:

- family, economic and social circumstances which have made it possible to eliminate incompatibility between women and science;

- national historic circumstances which seem to have been most favourable towards the attenuation of gender-based segregation.

29.       Research on successful women scientists and higher level technicians in industry (in France, Germany and the United Kingdom) provides information on some of these factors.

In the family

- The importance of the support of both parents in atypical choices by girls, linked to non-sexist education;

- The importance of women scientists (especially the mother) in the family circle. British experiments on convincing mothers of the value of maths have proved their effectiveness.

In educational establishments

- The importance of the support of teachers;

- Changing the syllabus to reflect girls’ interests: greater emphasis on the social sciences and efforts to maintain greater scientific variety (maths no longer given top priority);

- Changing teaching methods and organisation: less obsession with competition and ranking, a lighter timetable, etc.

At work

- The attention paid to gender-based inequalities;

- Greater transparency in recruitment and promotion procedures: co-opting (by men) is more unfavourable to women than entrance examinations; the public sector, though far from being free of gender-based discrimination, seems to be more open to women than big business;

- Greater acceptance of the constraints of private life, for women but above all for men: this implies allowing parental leave and flexible working hours for fathers as well as mothers, better arrangements for couples where both partners have careers (problems of geographical mobility), etc.

4.3       The value of cross-country comparisons

30.       The history of the position of women scientists in different European countries is also connected with the position of girls in education and women on the labour market in general. Their position is all the more secure if there is a fairly long-standing tradition of equality for girls in access to education and of continuing full-time employment of mothers, supported by public policy (crèches, full-time schools, tax incentives, etc.). This tradition has been perpetuated wherever there has been a need for skilled female labour due to a shortage of men: wars, demographic problems, recurrent shortage of engineers and scientists. In France, for example, the recruitment of women into the research laboratories of the chemical and pharmaceutical industries and even in more “masculine” industries (energy, armaments) during the first and second world wars no doubt facilitated their access in greater numbers after the war to the more elevated post of engineer or researcher. The biographies of women pioneers show that they were often women who had taken the place of “missing men”: single girls or widows of well-known scientists: Marie Curie, appointed professor at the Sorbonne on the death of Pierre Curie in 1906, took over her husband’s courses (C. Hermann, 1997). Today young women can become engineers or university teachers without taking the place of an absent or dead man, but it must be remembered that as soon as the employment situation deteriorates women tend to be the first to go. This is the case, for example, of young women graduates of the schools of engineers in France since the beginning of the 90s and of women engineers in the Eastern European countries.

5. Measures to be taken

5.1 Measures aimed at improving the position of women in scientific and technological studies

a)       To national governments and European bodies

31.       Improve the collection and publication of statistics by sex and field of study in the national surveys – school statistics, surveys on the what becomes of students etc. and in the harmonised European surveys, for example those of Eurostat on the labour force or the Panel européen of ménages;

32.       Create ministries of women’s rights or improve of their means of action;

33.       Finance meetings, colloquies, networks of women graduates and scientists. The British Council meeting in Paris in July 1996 on the role of women in science and technology is one example: it permitted a fruitful comparison of experiments carried out in the United Kingdom and France and led to a project for their extension to other European countries and financing by the European Union;

34.       Provide financial incentives for girls who want to study science (grants, etc.).

b.       To school actors (pupils and their parents, teachers, career advisers, etc.)

Pupils

35.       These activities are intended to make boys and girls aware of gender-based differences in studies, employment and roles within the family. They should be introduced at primary school level and reinforced in crucial stage when choices of subject orientation have to be made during adolescence (12-18). They are useful for girls, but also for boys: the opening up of possibilities and the revelation of hidden tastes and talents concern boys too, and some of them may be unwilling scientists or suppressed artists!

36.       They may take different and non-exclusive forms of group discussion based on clarification of their aspirations and the evaluation of their competence in science and technology or of initiation into the operation and use of technologies (manipulation of computers, audio-visual equipment, taking apart of appliances used in everyday life, etc.). The latter type of activity is particularly useful for reassuring girls about their scientific and technical skills. Experiments carried out among pupils of 14-15 in Irish and French schools have shown that these manipulations are more effective than words in changing their attitudes (V. Aebbisher and C. Valabrègue, 1995, p. 163-176). The transition from mainframes to microcomputers in the 80s did not lead to any very marked increase in the involvement of women in the design of these tools. We need to take particular care to ensure that they are not excluded from participation in the revolution of the 90s: that of the new information technologies (Internet, multimedia).

37.       It also appears that these methods of awareness raising are all the more effective if they are based on recreational modes of transmission (role-playing, visits to museums, laboratories, factories etc.) and take into account the girls’ specific interests, such as for example: astronomy, the environment, health, travel, foreign languages, etc. (M.N. Barton, 1997).

38.       This information should also be presented by science and technology professionals, especially women, who can demonstrate from their own experience that it is not only possible but satisfying for a girl to enter these fields (C. Hermann, H. Delavault, 1997). All the studies on women scientists have shown the importance of for girls entering upon a male path to have female role models in the sciences. As Patricia Lutse, President of the French Association of Women Engineers (Paris, 1997), points out, these women “models” should have varied profiles – academics, but also engineers and managers, young and not so young, occupying prestigious and less exceptional posts, wives and mothers and single women, etc., etc. Young girls can then certainly find some to identify with.

Parents

39.       Parents could be invited to some of the information meetings held in the schools. Experiments carried our directly with them have also shown their effectiveness. One in the United Kingdom involved training mothers in maths, which brought a significant improvement in their daughters’ results in this subject.

Teachers

40.       One interesting proposal which does not involve very much expenditure would be to introduce into university courses for teachers a real training in equality of opportunity for men and women (Delavault p.3). This would include:

-       Historical and social information on the education, vocational training and work of men and women, pointing out both their specificity (later access for girls to higher education, maintenance of segregation by fields and levels connected with the gender-based division of roles in the family and at work) but also the positive evolutions. Research on careers in fact shows that the access of women to academic knowledge has helped reduce wage inequality with men and improve the whole range of their resources: networks of friends, associative links, participation in cultural activities, politics etc. This is particularly true of the scientific and technical graduates, often better appreciated in enterprises than young women with qualifications in more “feminine” fields (health, teaching, secretarial work, commerce, etc.). In most countries, for example, the title of engineer is protected by legislation.

- Raising awareness of different behaviour patterns by girls and boys in mixed classes which may be unknown to teachers and lead them to unwittingly discriminate against girls, such as by more frequent interactions with the boys in the classes, resulting in reinforcement of the boys’ self-esteem to the detriment of the girls (cf. La formation scientifique des filles, UNESCO-LIRIS, 1995).

- Training science teachers to provide a less sexist and more attractive presentation of science, emphasising its impact on the development of society, the environment and health (cf. Demain la Parité, 1997 – 1998).

- Analysis of sexist representations in school textbooks and the media.

- Examination of the influence of selection criteria: analysis of the functioning of orientation centres, the influence of the sex of the examiners (and the candidates) on the results. Care should be taken to ensure greater variety in the composition of examination juries and recruitment boards for university teachers and researchers.

41.       Other less generalised measures have proved their worth, such as the organisation of meetings in schools with women scientists and engineers to make these occupations better known to girls and also to boys (cf. for example the experiments carried out in Switzerland by Katharina von Salis, 1997).

5.2 Measures aimed at improving the careers of women (recommendations to governments and employers, both private and public)

42.       Aid for couples where both partners have careers which imply geographic mobility within and beyond the national territory: information on jobs for the spouse obliged to give up his or her employment, flexible working arrangements and financial aid for the partner who has to travel a long way to see the spouse who works elsewhere, etc..

43.       Assistance in moving into permanent posts in higher education and research at about the age of 30. In the Germanic countries, the requirement to be mobile and the fact that access to a permanent post in higher education or research becomes possible about the age of 40 (compared to about 30 in France) is very damaging to women and families.

44.       Measures to encourage enterprises to be more aware of and publicise their recruitment procedures and mobility according to sex. Example: annual publication of gender-based employment statistics (by category, function, wage level, etc.)

45.       Support by public policies (and enterprises) for working mothers. The labour force participation rates of mothers are higher and career interruptions less frequent in those countries which have the most developed public child-minding facilities (crèches, state-registered child minders, tax incentives, school canteens, etc.).

46.       Re-organisation of work by joint labour-management teams in all sectors of public administration or companies. Certain experts (Germany, Austria) recommend increased possibilities for part-time work for women scientists, in particular for those who are engineers and managers in the private sector. The constraints of time, not just the weekly working hours, but also the way they are distributed (late meetings, travel, unpredictable timetable, etc.) in fact play a very important role in gender-based career inequalities. Management posts are the most demanding as regards time. Part-time work, as it is applied today, hinders women’s careers and it would be fairer to rethink the whole question of the sharing of work between men and women. Men should be encouraged to participate more in domestic chores, but also to enjoy the pleasures of fatherhood. The “presenteeism” of men at the place of work is no doubt more open to criticism than the so-called absenteeism of women. Studies show that women scientists and managers work a little less than the men on average, but that they work just as effectively (if not more so) through managing their time more strictly. If work is to be carried out more effectively, it is essential that labour and management committees re-think how it is organised for men and women.

Some statistics on the position of women

in science and technology

Women in scientific studies in France in 1995

 

% of women

Pharmacy

67,5

Medicine

59,4

Maths, physics

32,7

Science and technology

20,8

Natural and life sciences

53,9

STAPS (Sport)

34,2

Preparatory classes

25,0

Grandes Ecoles for engineers

22,4

Ecole Polytechnique

13,0

University Institutes of Technology, mechanical and

electrical engineering

6,0

Total university

56,0

Science graduates in France according to the speciality of the establishment

% of women in the Grandes Ecoles according to speciality

    
 

1975

1978

1983

1985

1989

1995

Multiple disciplines

7,6

14,0

12,1

18,4

19,4

22,1

National defence

0,0

0,0

1,4

1,2

5,1

7,1

Aeronautics

3,7

7,1

11,0

10,2

11,8

5,6

Agriculture and agrifood

12,0

24,0

27,2

32,0

41,0

43,2

Civil engineering, Mining

2,5

5,4

9,1

10,5

14,3

18,6

Informatics

9,1

17,0

20,3

18,1

13,7

10,1

Electricity, telecoms

4,1

9,3

10,5

12,4

13,2

17,5

Mechanical engineering

1,4

2,4

4,9

4,0

6,3

7,8

Physics and chemistry

12,6

11,1

22,9

22,1

31,9

36,8

Textiles

9,1

4,9

19,5

13,6

19,4

24,7

Other

6,0

10,4

18,7

18,6

13,0

27,9

Total

7,4

11,1

14,2

16,6

19,5

20,4

% of women researchers in France (in the CNRS) according to grade in 1993

 

Researchers

Directors

Total

Nuclear physics

21,8

8,6

15,5

Physics of matter

21,8

13,8

18,5

Engineering sciences

15,6

7,3

13,4

Chemistry

35,8

16,3

27,9

Universal sciences

30,7

18,3

25,9

Life sciences

46,4

30,7

40,6

Human sciences

41,7

29,1

37,5

TOTAL

34,2

20,8

29,3

Career situation of graduates of the Grandes Ecoles in France by sex and age as at 1/01/1993

 

Men

Women

 

< 40

>40

Total

< 40

> 40

Total

Self-employed

1,1

4,6

2,8

0,6

2,1

1,0

Senior managers

9,4

41,3

24,7

1,7

8,8

3,5

Heads of service

26,0

34,4

30,0

13,5

32,8

20,3

Engineers

60,4

15,9

39,0

77,0

39,8

87,1

Teachers and researchers (public)

3,1

3,4

3,4

7,2

16,5

10,6

Total %

Total number

100

12015

100

11021

100

23036

100

2471

100

466

100

2397

Source: CNISF survey on science graduates of 1993. Secondary processing: C. Marry, Lasmas-CNRS

Percentage of men and women with diplomas in natural and engineering sciences in France and Germany by birth cohorts

1) University diplomas

Years of birth

1947-56

1957-61

1962-66

Women/France

12,5

16,9

17,0

Men/France

31,2

35,4

33,8

Women/Germany

7,4

8,9

14,6

Men/Germany

26,7

32,1

39,9

Source: France: INSEE, 1991 Employment Survey; Germany: 1991 Microcensus, secondary exploitation by C. Marry and A. Kieffer (CNRS Paris), H. Brauns and S. Steinmann (MZES, University of Mannheim).

2) All higher education diplomas (universities + technical colleges)

Years of birth

1947-56

1957-61

1962-66

Women/France

10,8

13,8

13,1

Men/France

35,5

38,9

41,5

Women/Germany

8,6

9,8

15,7

Men/Germany

35,2

41,5

48,8

Source: France: INSEE, 1991 Employment Survey; Germany: 1991 Microcensus, secondary exploitation by C. Marry and A. Kieffer (CNRS Paris), H. Brauns and S. Steinmann (MZES, University of Mannheim).

Percentage of women with higher education diplomas (all subjects), by subject and generation in France and Germany (in 1991)

 

France

Allemagne

Years of birth

1947-56

1957-61

1962-66

1947-56

1957-61

1962-66

Math. Physics, Chem

22,9

29,1

27,0

15,3

17,9

24,5

Biology, Medecine

60,3

65,5

72,9

37,7

43,2

55,5

Economics, Management, law

43,1

53,9

57,4

17,9

33,0

37,0

Humanities and others

73,1

74,8

76,7

57,2

64,4

73,4

Source: France: INSEE, 1991 Employment Survey; Germany: 1991 Microcensus, secondary exploitation by C. Marry and A. Kieffer (CNRS Paris), H. Brauns and S. Steinmann (MZES, University of Mannheim).

Select bibliography

La formation scientifique des filles. Editions LIRIS-UNESCO, 1995.

Baudelot C., Establet R. (1992) « Succès féminins : un phénomène international » in E. Plaisance, Permanence et renouvellement en sociologie de l'éducation, 1950-1990, pp 149-167.

Ferrand M., Imbert F., Marry C. (1996) « Femmes et sciences : une équation improbable?

L’exemple des normaliennes scientifiques et des polytechniciennes », Formation-Emploi, n°55, juillet-septembre, p.3-18.

Le sexe des sciences, les femmes en plus, (1992) Revue Autrement, n°6, oct, pp 143-155.

Janshen J., Rudolph H. et al. (1987), Ingenieurinnen, Frauen für die Zukunft. Berlin; New-York: de Gruyter

Lasvergnas I. (1988) Contexte de socialisation primaire et choix d’une carrière scientifique chez les femmes. Recherches féministes, vol. 1, n°1, p. 32-45.

Marry C. (1992) "Femmes et ingénieurs : la fin d'une incompatibilité? », la Recherche n°241.

Smeaton D., Glover J. and Fieling J. (1997), Recent trends in Women’s Representation in Science, Engineering and Technology, Journal of Women and Minorities in Science and Engineering, 3, 1.

Reskin B.F, 1978, Scientific Productivity, Sex and Location in the Institution of Science, American Journal of Sociology, Vol. 83, pp. 1235-1243.

Terlon C. (1985) "Filles et garçons devant l'enseignement scientifique et technique. Recherches anglo-saxonnes". Revue française de pédagogie, N°72, pp 51-59.

Cole J.R., 1979, Fair Scienc : Women in the scientific Community, The Free Press, New-York.

Whyte, J. (1986) Girls into science and technology. London, Rowtledge and Kegan Paul.

APPENDIX

List of experts who took part in or contributed to the Hearing

of the Council of Europe on 26 November 1997

- Claudia Ambrosch-Draxl, University of Graz, Austria

- Alice Aureli, UNESCO, Paris

- Marie-Noëlle Barton, The Engineering Council, Manager of the WISE Campaign (Women into Science and Engineering), United Kingdom

- Nicole Bécarud, Chairman of the "Association française des femmes diplômées des Universités"

- Gerda Bodenseher, Austrian Physics Society, Vienna

- Simonetta Cheli, European Space Agency, Paris

- Renée Clair, UNESCO, Paris

- Huguette Delavault, university lecturer, former Deputy-Principal of the Ecole Normale Supérieure in Fontenay-aux-Roses, AFFDU (Association Française des Femmes Diplômées de l’Université) representative to Demain la parité

- Claudine Hermann, Professor, Department of Physics, Ecole Polytechnique, Deputy Director of the Condensed Matter Laboratory (Palaiseau, France)

- Mary Horkan, Président of University Women of Europe, Ireland

- Murielle Joye, Secretary General, "Fédération Internationale des Femmes diplomées des Universités", Genève

- Sybille Krummacher, German Association of University Women and Research Centre Jülich, Germany

- Natasha Loder, Euroscience, United Kingdom

- Patricia Lutse, President of the French Association of Women Engineers

- Magda Maroczy, President of the "Fédération des femmes diplômées des Universités", Hungary

- Ursula Mättig, University of Bonn, Germany

- Catherine Marry, LASMAS-IRESCO-CNRS, Paris

- Brigitte Mühlenbruch, University of Bonn, Germany

- Ursula Paravicini, Institut für Architektur- und Planungstheorie, Hannover, Germany

- Margit Pohl, Technology University of Vienna

- Monika Ritsch-Marte, Institut de Physique Théorique de l'Université d'Innsbrück, Austria

- Katharina Von Salis, Federal Institute of Technology, Zürich, Switzerland.

- Margaret B. Sutherland, University of Leeds, United Kingdom

- Nicole Towler, Consultant Engineering, The British Council.

Reporting committee: Committee on Science and Technology.

Budgetary implications for the Assembly: None.

Reference to committee: Doc. 7698 and Reference No. 2146 of 27 January 1997.

Draft recommendation, draft resolution and draft order unanimously adopted by the committee on 29 January 1999.

Members of the committee: MM. Melnikov (Chairman), Birraux (Vice-Chairman), Tiuri (Vice-Chairman), Lekberg (Vice-Chairman), MM. About, Asciak, Bartos, Bauer, Beaufays, Brunhart, Cherribi (Alternate: Dees), Cioni (Alternate: Rigo), Cunliffe, Duka-Zolyomi (Alternate: Osvath), von der Esch, Mrs Faldet, MM. Felici, Fernandez Aguilar, Frey, Gligoroski, Ivanov, Kitov, Kittis, Kolb, Kurucsai, Mrs Langthaler, MM. Leers, Lengagne, Liiv, Lorenzi, Maass, Marmazov, Mateju, Minarolli, Molnar (Alternate: Lotz), Mozgan, Naysmith, Niculescu, Niza, Lord Northesk, MM. Olrich, Onaindia (Alternate: Mrs Guirado), Pawlak (Alternate: Luczak), Plattner, Rakhansky (Alternate: Strizhko), Raskinis, Rokos, Roseta, Ryabov, Scheer (Alternate: Wodarg), Skaarup, Steolea, Sungur, Theis, Turini, Upton (Alternate: Aylward), Uroic, Weyts, Wittbrodt, Yürür, Zhebrovsky, Mrs Zissi.

N.B. The names of those members present at the meeting are printed in italics.

Secretaries of the committee: Mr Lervik, Mr Torcatoriu

1 In France, for example, the surveys by INSEE (National Insitute of Statistics and Economic Studies) assessed para-medical and social, technical and agriculture-agronomy specialisms separately from “higher education” specialisms until the mid-80s. The current requirement of the baccalaureate for entry to nursing or higher technical qualifications has led to their being designated “higher education” subjects. The same problem is found in Germany as regards the definition of engineers who studied in “Ingenieurschulen” rather than universities, who were only integrated into “higher education” in 1970.