Publisher's Synopsis
Women have made important contributions to research and innovation in OECD countries, but their potential remains largely untapped. While women account for more than half of university graduates in several OECD countries, they receive only 30% of tertiary degrees granted in science and engineering fields. Not suprisingly, women account for only 25% to 35% of researchers in most OECD countries. The gender gap in science is greatest in Japan, Korea, Austria and Switzerland. The researcher gender gap is smaller in countries such as the Slovak Republic, Greece, Portugal, Spain and New Zealand. When women do conduct research, they tend to be concentrated in fields and industries such as biology, health, agriculture or pharmaceuticals, with low representation in physics, computing and engineering. This publication presents the proceedings of a recent international workshop to assess the underlying causes behind the low participation of women in scientific careers, especially at senior levels, and to identify good practice policies to attract, recruit and retain women in scientific careers in public and private research.
