According to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the share of women in science, mathematics and computer science in academia averages 39% worldwide. Photo: AFP Relaxnews
In the scientific sphere, women remain underrepresented. To better understand the extent to which gender stereotypes contribute to maintaining these inequalities, Japanese researchers conducted a comparative study between England and Japan.
Published in the Journal of Understanding of Science, this study proves that gender stereotypes can strongly influence the share of women and men in a profession.
Let's take Japan as an example: previous work by researchers at the University of Tokyo has shown that the idea that men are "more suited" to scientific fields than their female counterparts is still widespread.
This cliché is also found in the United Kingdom, where a "masculine" image is associated with disciplines such as physics or mathematics.
How can we understand the underlying mechanisms of this under representation of women specifically in the field of science? This is the precise question that the authors of this publication have attempted to answer, through two independent online surveys conducted in England and Japan.
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