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Science policies in the European Union
On average in the EU, percentages of women professors seem to be
increasing at a rate of 0.5 -1.0% per year. Clearly, waiting for a gender
balance among the professoriat in European universities is not a particularly
effective strategy.
Fig 2.3: Women professors over time: Percentage of professors who are
women in different Member States (1980-98)
The leaky pipeline
Women are lost from the academic pipeline at a greater rate than their male
counterparts.  This is amply documented in Figures 2.4 to 2.6.  Currently,
the proportion of men and women among undergraduate students is
broadly similar for the six Member States for which data are shown (Figure
2.4).  However, the proportion of women declines markedly at the post-
doctorate level, where career tracks begin.  In those Member States that
offer tenured positions, for example, this is where the drop in the numbers
of women occurs begins.  For each step up the ladder hereafter, the
proportion of women declines.  The drop in women both at the post doc
level and after it has been attributed to a ‘leaky pipeline’.
German universities (C4)
Spain universities
Finland universities
Sweden universities
UK universities
Netherlands universities
German research
institutes
(Leiter + C4)
x
x
18
16
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
20
% f
emales
1980
1982
1984
1986
1988
1990
1992
1994
1996
1998
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
Source for data see page 137
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Source of data:  BMBF
Women in science today
Male-Belgium
Male-France
Male-Germany
Male-Netherlands
Male-Spain
Male-United Kingdom
Female-Belgium
Female-France
Female-Germany
Female-Netherlands
Female-Spain
Female-United Kingdom
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
% Men or Women at each level
Students
PhD Students
Assistant Professors
Associate Professors
Full Professors
Actual percentage of men in academia
at different levels
Actual percentage of women in
academia
at different levels
Expected percentage of men at different levels
calculated from the percentage of men in the
appropriate undergraduate year
Expected percentage of women at different
levels calculated from the percentage of
women in the appropriate undergraduate year
*1995
**1996
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
100
Men
Women
School-lea
vers fr
om general schools with
univ
ersity entrance qualification
N
e
w entrants
at univ
ersities
Students at
univ
ersities*
Final examinations at univ
ersities
(Diploma and First State examination)**
Doctor’
s degr
ee**
Academic staff at univ
ersities
(without Pr
of
essors)**
Habilitation*
C2-Pr
of
essors total*
C3-Pr
of
essors total*
C4-Pr
of
essors total*
% male and f
emale
Figure 2.4: Women and men in science in six Member States (1997)
Figure 2.5: Women and men in science in Germany:  The scissors diagram
Figure 2.4 shows the proportion of men and women at each stage of the
academic career in 1997.  It compares them to the proportion that one
would expect to find given the numbers of men and women
undergraduates in prior years, based on the assumption that men and
women were equally likely to stay in the system and to progress through at
equal rates.  It shows clearly that the lack of women at the top levels cannot
be explained by a lack of women in the corresponding undergraduate
classes.  Indeed, Figures 2.4 and 2.5 both indicate for a range of Member
States (where data were available) the astonishing impact of gender on the
outcome of scientific careers.  To ignore these patterns is to accept
discrimination in the sciences.
Source for data see page 137
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Science policies in the European Union
The cohort data presented in Figure 2.4, and for Germany in Figure 2.5,
show the shape of a pair of scissors.  Women are the majority of students in
the subjects shown, but men comprise the vast majority of senior post
holders.
Variations by discipline
There are of course differences between disciplines and among countries.
Cross-country comparisons are difficult since only some countries provide
data broken down by discipline, and in any case disciplines are grouped
differently in different countries (see Chapter 8 and Appendix III).
Nevertheless, it is clear that women are more likely to be found among
social scientists and biological scientists than among chemists, physicists and
engineers (see box on left).  Hence, the percentage of full professors who are
female is much smaller when specific disciplines such as natural sciences or
engineering are considered.  For natural sciences, estimates range from 9.3%
in France, to 1% in Austria.  For engineering, the figures vary from 4.6% in
Italy to 2.1% in the UK (1997/8).  Yet percentages do not tell the whole
story.  For instance, we get a more vivid impression from the fact that for
engineering in the UK in 1994/5 there were 886 male professors but only 7
female professors! Currently there are only three women professors of
chemistry in the UK and not one female professor of civil engineering.
The decrease in women’s representation with increasing rank is a pattern
that emerges across all disciplines.  Figure 2.6 uses data from the UK to
document this for all scientific disciplines.  Nevertheless, there are huge
variations in the percentage of faculty that are female when different
universities are studied, even within a single Member State.
Figure 2.6: Percentages of women in science, engineering and technology in
UK universities by field and level (1996-97)
Biological sciences
Chemistry
Mathematical sciences
IT and Systems sciences
Physics
Engineering and Technology
x
x
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Undergraduate
Postgraduate
Lecturer
Senior Lecturer
Professor
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
%
Medicine and Dentistry (non-clinical)
It is often said that the gender
imbalance among scientists in
universities is due to the fact
that women entered the career
relatively recently.  However,
these figures from Italy show
that even among younger age
cohorts, gender still makes a
powerful difference.
T
otal
Other
Social sciences
Ar
ts
T
echnolog
y
Biomedicine
100
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Full professors less than 40
years old, by disciplinary
groups, Italy, 1994
T
otal
Ar
ts
T
echnolog
y
Biomedicine
100
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Social sciences
Associate professors less than
35 years old, by disciplinary
groups, Italy, 1994
T
otal
Other
Ar
ts
T
echnolog
y
Biomedicine
100
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Social sciences
University Researchers less
than 30 years old, by
disciplinary groups, Italy,
1994
Women
Men
Women
Men
Women
Men
Source: Rossella Palomba
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