scholarly journals The Value of Transfer of Knowledge in Bridging the Gender Gap in STEM

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (10) ◽  
pp. 5426
Author(s):  
Ana Jesús López ◽  
Dolores Pereira

Spanish researchers’ recent evaluations regarding the transfer of knowledge have shown that activities that could help close the gender gap in STEM areas are penalized upon evaluation. The results were very disappointing and, upon inspection, could lead readers to reach certain conclusions: first, Spanish researchers transfer research to society in a mediocre way; second, female researchers are even less capable of transferring knowledge in a profitable, beneficial way; and third, activities without a high economic impact for either society or research institutions are not promoted and do not boost the prestige of researchers in this research area. With the help of an ad hoc questionnaire responded to by 513 researchers (both male and female), we examined the causes of the low scores received by female researchers and whether transfer of knowledge activities focused on promoting STEM among female students end up penalizing the female researchers dedicated to those activities. This issue is compounded by the problem of the low visibility of female role models for young female students. The conscientious analysis of the results of the questionnaire may help to improve the fairness of future application rounds, avoiding subsequent disastrous results and encouraging researchers and administrators to work toward fostering an equal society, even if no economic value is directly derived from female-led research.

2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 157-166
Author(s):  
Florian Foos ◽  
Fabrizio Gilardi

AbstractThere is a persistent gender gap in motivations to run for political office. While exposure to role models is widely believed to increase women’s political ambition, there is little field experimental evidence on whether exposure to female politicians in realistic settings can increase political ambition. We conducted a field experiment in which a sample of 612 female students was randomly assigned to receive emails inviting them to an event that included career workshops with female politicians, or no email. The treatment increased interest in the ongoing national election campaign, but, against expectations, did not have any positive effect on political ambition. Our results suggest that female politicians who discuss their experience bluntly, instead of following a motivational script, may fail to motivate other women to pursue a political career. These results highlight the need for more research into the type of events and messages that bring more women into politics.


2019 ◽  
Vol 61 (6) ◽  
pp. 743-748 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katharina S Weigel ◽  
Rahel A Kubik-Huch ◽  
Catherine Gebhard

Today, >50% of medical students are women. This proportion, however, dramatically decreases throughout the higher levels of academia, a phenomenon described as the “leaky pipeline.” This gender disparity is particularly pronounced in academic radiology, mirrored by a significant lack of women in editorial board positions, key authorship positions, and conference keynote lectures. The scientific invisibility is not only a key hurdle facing women in radiology, the lack of female role models and mentors in this context might also negatively affect career choices of young female radiologists thereby further widen the existing gender gap. In this article, the origins of the “leaky pipeline,” the reasons for women’s choice or rejection of careers in academic medicine, as well as solutions as to how the continued loss of a large part of the talent pool can be prevented, are discussed. Active monitoring and intervention are needed to identify problems, plan targeted actions, and evaluate their efficacy. Among those are measures that address a lack of support in the workplace, specific mentoring needs of women, flexible working hours and opportunities to align work and family, financial constraints, and support for returners after career breaks. Cooperative steps of politics and universities need to be taken that ensure a sustainable way forward to enable many talented women in radiology to achieve their full potential.


Author(s):  
Bill Emmott

A common gender stereotype holds that women are less suitable to be scientists than men even though there is no evidence for this proposition. In Japan, a big gender gap in STEM subjects in high school translates into low numbers of female students studying science at university and low admission rates of females to national universities for which all applicants for all degrees are required to sit an exam in science. But role models do exist to encourage the younger generation, and some national universities are trying hard to encourage more female students to study science, technology, and mathematics. Interviews with three role models who took science degrees and went on to successful careers in academia, finance, and consumer electronics, show that barriers are considerable but that they can be overcome. An interview with the president of Nagoya University, Matsuo Seiichi, examines what the university is doing to try to close the gender gap.


Author(s):  
Tanja Hüsch ◽  
Axel Haferkamp ◽  
Christian Thomas ◽  
Joachim Steffens ◽  
Paolo Fornara ◽  
...  

Abstract Purpose Women are underrepresented at scientific conferences, decreasing the visibility of female role models, which are vital for aspiring young female scientists. This investigation aimed to evaluate female representation at the German Society of Urology's (GSoU) annual meeting. Methods The programs of the GSoU meeting of 2011, 2018, 2019 and the virtual conference in 2020 were retrospectively quantified by gender and categorized by chair or speaker, type, and topic of the session. Descriptive analysis was applied. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to identify gender inequity and variables influencing gender distribution. A p value of < 0.05 was considered significant. Results A total of 2.504 chairs and speakers were invited to the GSoU meeting in 2018 and 2019. Female speakers or chairs were represented in 17.8%, indicating a gender gap of 64.7%. There were significant differences between session type, topic, and gender distribution for chairs and speakers. The topic surgical techniques were independent variables for both, underrepresented female chairs and speakers, respectively (p < 0.001). Vocational policy and plenary session were not represented by any female chair in 2011, 2018, and 2019. In comparison, the gender gap in 2011 was 74.2%, indicating a gap reduction of 1.2% per year. In a selected virtual program in 2020, the gender gap increased to 70.4%. Conclusion There is still a significant discrepancy between gender representation at the GSoU annual meetings, and gender equity is currently not expected before 50 years. Future efforts should address the implementation of established guidelines for achieving gender equity at urological conferences.


2020 ◽  
Vol 39 (6) ◽  
pp. 8357-8364
Author(s):  
Thompson Stephan ◽  
Ananthnarayan Rajappa ◽  
K.S. Sendhil Kumar ◽  
Shivang Gupta ◽  
Achyut Shankar ◽  
...  

Vehicular Ad Hoc Networks (VANETs) is the most growing research area in wireless communication and has been gaining significant attention over recent years due to its role in designing intelligent transportation systems. Wireless multi-hop forwarding in VANETs is challenging since the data has to be relayed as soon as possible through the intermediate vehicles from the source to destination. This paper proposes a modified fuzzy-based greedy routing protocol (MFGR) which is an enhanced version of fuzzy logic-based greedy routing protocol (FLGR). Our proposed protocol applies fuzzy logic for the selection of the next greedy forwarder to forward the data reliably towards the destination. Five parameters, namely distance, direction, speed, position, and trust have been used to evaluate the node’s stability using fuzzy logic. The simulation results demonstrate that the proposed MFGR scheme can achieve the best performance in terms of the highest packet delivery ratio (PDR) and minimizes the average number of hops among all protocols.


Author(s):  
Francisco Campos ◽  
Markus Goldstein ◽  
Laura McGorman ◽  
Ana Maria Munoz Boudet ◽  
Obert Pimhidzai

Evidence from developed and developing countries indicates that there is significant gender segregation within the labour market, with women more likely to work in low-productivity sectors or less profitable businesses. This chapter looks at occupational segregation which significantly contributes to the earnings gender gap worldwide. The chapter studies the differences in outcomes for male and female enterprises and their sectors in sub-Saharan Africa, a region of high female labour market participation and entrepreneurship. Data on Uganda show that women breaking into male-dominated sectors make as much as men, and three times more than women staying in female-dominated sectors. Factors including entrepreneurial skill/abilities and credit/human capital constraints do not explain women’s sectoral choices. However, information about profitability of their small enterprises, male role models’ influence, and exposure to the sector from family and friends are critical in helping women circumvent or overcome norms undergirding occupational segregation.


2021 ◽  
pp. 108084
Author(s):  
Elena S. Mikhailova ◽  
Valeriya Yu. Karpova ◽  
Natalia Yu. Gerasimenko ◽  
Sergey A. Gordeev ◽  
Anastasiya B. Kushnir

ILR Review ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 001979392199483
Author(s):  
Hani Mansour ◽  
Daniel I. Rees ◽  
Bryson M. Rintala ◽  
Nathan N. Wozny

Although women earn approximately 50% of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) bachelor’s degrees, more than 70% of scientists and engineers are men. The authors explore a potential determinant of this STEM gender gap using newly collected data on the career trajectories of United States Air Force Academy students. Specifically, they examine the effects of being assigned female math and science professors on occupation choice and postgraduate education. The results indicate that, among high-ability female students, being assigned a female professor leads to substantial increases in the probability of working in a STEM occupation and the probability of receiving a STEM master’s degree.


2020 ◽  
Vol Volume 11 ◽  
pp. 147-155
Author(s):  
Abayneh Birlie Zeru ◽  
Mikyas Arega Muluneh

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roberta Ruggieri ◽  
Fabrizio Pecoraro ◽  
Daniela Luzi

AbstractGender equality and Open Access (OA) are priorities within the European Research Area and cross-cutting issues in European research program H2020. Gender and openness are also key elements of responsible research and innovation. However, despite the common underlying targets of fostering an inclusive, transparent and sustainable research environment, both issues are analysed as independent topics. This paper represents a first exploration of the inter-linkages between gender and OA analysing the scientific production of researchers of the Italian National Research Council under a gender perspective integrated with the different OA publications modes. A bibliometric analysis was carried out for articles published in the period 2016–2018 and retrieved from the Web of Science. Results are presented constantly analysing CNR scientific production in relation to gender, disciplinary fields and OA publication modes. These variables are also used when analysing articles that receive financial support. Our results indicate that gender disparities in scientific production still persist particularly in STEM disciplines, while the gender gap is the closest to parity in medical and agricultural sciences. A positive dynamic toward OA publishing and women’s scientific production is shown when disciplines with well-established open practices are related to articles supported by funds. A slightly higher women’s propensity toward OA is shown when considering Gold OA, or authorships with women in the first and last article by-line position. The prevalence of Italian funded articles with women’s contributions published in Gold OA journals seems to confirm this tendency, especially if considering the weak enforcement of the Italian OA policies.


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