Question: Why is there many more men scientists than there are female scientists?

Nadine Mirza answered on 15 Nov 2018: last edited 15 Nov 2018 2:45 pm

This is a very good and important question that really has it’s roots in history. I’ve actually been reading a book that talks about this – Inferior by Angela Saini. the answer is a bit long (I’m so sorry!!!!) but I hope informative!
it starts with the fact that in the history of science women were excluded. the only opportunity that women got to contribute were if they were married to a scientist (like Albert Einsteins wife) and even then they werent credited. They werent allowed entry into instituions, even when they met the criteria and often applied under male names to get a chance.
they were excluded in other ways too. it wasn’t until 1945 that the royal society, which is one of the oldest scientific institutions based in London since 1660, let women in. Marie Curie, who won two Nobel Prizes, was rejected entry to the academy of sciences for being a woman. Lise Meitner who contributed to nuclear fission was denied a Nobel Prize for being a woman and was forced to have a basement office in the university because she wasn’t allowed to be on the same floor as the male scientists. Rosalind Franklin discovered parts of the DNA structure but was not acknowlged alongside James Watson, Francis Crick and Maurice Wilkins when they shared the Nobel.
Because of this young girls missed out on the role models and higher female scientists who would then guide them, the way young boys had.
bias also plays a role. children hear from  a very young age for e.g. that girls are worse in maths than boys even though this has been repeatedly disproven. the image of a scientist has been perceived as male in young ages with studies done with very young children showing that the significant majority, when asked to draw “a scientist” will draw a white man.
As girls get older, if they manage to get past this pressure and become science graduates, going up the job ladder is also a challenge.
A study conducted in 2012 in Yale showed  that when identical resumes were presented for a job as a lab manager, with only the names changed at the top to show male or female, scientists rated the females with lower competency and wanted to offer lower salaries. this bias shows that even when women graduate with science degrees and do the base jobs a lot prevents them from moving up.
other issues also contribute such as how family life and pregnancy stall women’s careers far more than men’s, as well as the rise in harassment experienced by female scientists in the work place. all of this, when added together really explains why there are so few women scientists in comparison to men.
however (ray of sunshine here!) this gap is slowly slowly closing with more and more women pushing their way up on merit and hard work!