100 years: it’s a long wait
26 November 2011 in Interesting stuff
In the EU, only 41% of PhD graduates in science, maths, and computing are women, and only 25% in engineering. Liz Bolshaw, in the FT’s Women at the top blog, points out that:
The dearth of academically qualified female scientists at doctorate level simply fuels a downward spiral in numbers of women researchers in industry and in senior management. Of the FT’s top 50 women in global business this year, there are just two mechanical engineers: Ellen Kullman (chief executive of DuPont) and Ursula Burns (chief executive of Xerox). Li Xiaolin, chief executive of China Power International Development, has an MSc in engineering (power systems), as does Ho Ching, chief executive of Temasek Holdings in Singapore. The lone chemist in the ranking is Olivia Lum, founder and chief executive of Hyflux, one of the world’s leading makers of membrane-based desalination and water treatment plants. There is not one European business leader in our ranking who has a science background.
There are some initiatives that aim to address the problem, as the blog describes, but it’s not a good situation to be in, 100 years after Marie Curie won the Nobel prize.
