This is according to a report presented yesterday by the Ministry of Science regarding the integration of women in science in Israel, which was presented by the Ministry of Science to the Committee for the Advancement of the Status of Women in the Knesset
At the discussion on women in science that took place yesterday (Monday, 21/10/2013) at the Committee for the Advancement of the Status of Women in the Knesset, the Minister of Science, Technology and Space Yaakov Perry, the Director General of the Ministry of Science, Technology and Space Adv. Bina Bar-On and Prof. Miriam Erez presented, Head of the Council for the Advancement of Women in Science at the Ministry of Science, current data about the integration of women in science and the academic world in Israel.
The data presented to the committee refer to a report that deals with the integration of women at the Technion, as a representative institution, and according to them, although the percentage of female students at the Technion has increased over the past decade, it is still the lowest in Israel at only 35%. The Technion is an engineering institution by definition, and therefore constitutes an interesting representative case that testifies to the general rule. From the data in the report, the differences stand out between the percentage of female students studying natural science subjects such as biology, chemistry and medicine, where they make up about 50% of all students, and the percentage of female students studying exact science subjects such as physics, mathematics and engineering, where they make up about a fifth of the students. In the last academic year, the lowest percentage of female students was recorded in mechanical engineering - 9%, in aeronautics their rate is 16%, in electronic engineering 18%, in mathematics, computer science and civil and environmental engineering 22%, and in physics 24%.
In the same topic on the science website:
- Two young women scientists win the 2013 UNESCO-L'Oréal Prize for Women in Science
- The motherhood gap
- Prof. Miriam Erez was appointed chairman of the Council for the Advancement of Women in Science and Technology
A similar picture regarding the proportion of women in the faculties of exact sciences and engineering also emerges from data from the European Union. Among the countries of the Union, Israel ranks "good" in the middle in the representation of women in the exact sciences and engineering.
Additional data revealed by the report reveal that women make up 34% of the outstanding students in the fall semester of 2012. Also, only one female student was accepted into the Technion's outstanding program last year, compared to 8 the year before. However, it is important to note that the Technion works actively to promote the issue and conducts seminars for candidacy, works to recruit new faculty members and more.
The committee also presented data on the proportion of female high school students in scientific subjects in the last two years. The rate of students majoring in computer science has remained at about 30% of all students in recent years, so also in physics and electronics the rate is similar. In mathematics this rate is about 42% and in biology about 63%.
The MLA presented data according to which there are only 28% women in the academic staff, which places Israel in 30th place out of 31 among European countries in the representation of women in the academic staff.
More encouraging data from the report refer to the academic staff at the Technion. According to the data, there was an increase in the total number of women in the academic staff at the Technion - from 82 in the previous year to 87 this year. In addition, women make up 16% of the permanent academic staff at the Technion, an increase of one percent from the previous year. Today, 40% of the women on the academic staff at the Technion are at the rank of lecturer and senior lecturer, compared to 21% of all men on the academic staff. 21% of the women in the academic staff at the Technion are at the rank of associate professor and 39% are at the rank of full professor. However, the data shows that there is only one woman in two faculties at the Technion - aeronautics and materials engineering, two women in the faculties of mathematics and biomedical engineering and three in the faculties of mechanical engineering, physics and chemistry.
According to Prof. Miriam Erez, the chairman of the National Council for Women in Science at the Ministry of Science, "there are two critical points in the career path of women for science and technology professions. The first in the high school selection phase in advanced mathematics and science subjects. The second is the demand to go to post-doctoral studies abroad after the doctorate, which is difficult for married women with children to move the whole family, in addition to the matter of financing the stay. Prof. Erez gave as an example the countries of Eastern Europe where the percentage of women in science and technology professions is relatively high as a result of a policy of guidance.
The Ministry of Science, Technology and Space has set itself the goal of already promoting the issue in the coming years and significantly increasing the percentage of women applying to scientific and advanced professions in the academic world. As part of this, Minister Perry and Prof. Erez will present the tools that the ministry provides for the benefit of the issue. Among other things, the ministry offers the "Future Sciences" program, which aims to encourage girls in peripheral communities to choose the exact scientific professions. As part of it, girls from the 40th to the XNUMXth grade in peripheral communities receive assistance and close support aimed at bringing them to achievements in scientific subjects, especially in the fields of engineering and computer science. In addition to this, every year the ministry awards scholarships intended for graduate students who conduct research in the fields of exact sciences and in the fields of engineering to female master's and master's degree students in the amount of up to NIS XNUMX per year.
The Minister of Science, Technology and Space Jacob Perry said in response to the data that "this is an issue of broad national importance to society and the economy. The situation at the Technion points to a broader phenomenon of barriers that women face in entering science and technology professions. The ministry aims to promote awareness and actively encourage girls and women to access professions that are in short supply but are critical to Israel's future resilience."
4 תגובות
A misleading title.
It should have been "the Technion already has 35% female students".
Because during the time I studied there, there were about 10% in the computer science faculty and in general.
If today it is already 35%, then the achievement is great.
There are so few girls in the machines that the faculty "bribes" each new student with thousands of shekels, and it still doesn't help!
Once I was in a class and about 30 girls came in, and all the students in the room rubbed the poor people in disbelief and refused to leave.
So they found out that it was doctors who came to take an exam at the faculty -_-
The situation is so bad that sometimes I think the light poles are sexy and fantasize that they are girls.
The situation is so bad that sometimes I go to architecture and pretend I'm a work of art.
The situation is so bad that sometimes I go to the Technion entrance gate and shout that I don't have a sticker only for the security guards to beat me up
Of course, women should be encouraged, but everything is a matter of perspective. For example, is there discrimination against men in teaching? Or are there more female medical students than male students? Women are more educated than men. The discussion should be about equality and not about discrimination (in my opinion).
No report needed. Just look left and right