Resources

Indian science academia has a dearth of women researchers at all levels. Not only are they under-represented, but they are also under-highlighted, under-mentored and overlooked for awards, grants and other career-advancing steps. To effectively address this problem and devise a solution for the inequity, we need data on the proportion of women faculty across multiple STEM institutions.

Feminist scholars have described various ways in which sexist bias might be present in neuroscientific research on sex/gender differences. In this context, they coined the term “neurosexism” to describe the entanglement between neuroscientific work and sexist ideology, and “neurofeminism” as a response to that.

The discrimination and harassment faced by women scientists in the West have been increasingly discussed and debated in recent years; however, the challenges faced by women researchers in non-Western contexts remain underexplored. This Science podcast episode examines how gender intersects with other identities and with social expectations in India’s scientific community.

A survey of thousands of US academics has found that the number one reason that women leave faculty positions is poor “workplace climate”, which can encompass discrimination, dysfunctional leadership, a feeling of not fitting in and other problems. Even work–life balance was less important than workplace climate for many respondents.

Results from this study quantify the systemic nature of gendered faculty retention; contextualize its relationship with career age, institutional prestige, and field; and highlight the importance of understanding the gendered reasons for attrition rather than focusing on rates alone.