Women's Participation in Science and Technology in the World

Document Type : -

Author

Assistant Professor, Tarbiat Modares University

Abstract

The 21st century is witnessing the ever-increasing role of science and technology in all aspects of life. Science and technology offer the prospect of finding solutions for many global problems with a vital role for human beings. Women's role is not so clear in this process, despite constituting half of the population, women are an underutilized talent. Women, in general do not have a strong presence in science and technology, as important factors for development. This is attributed to two broad issues: first, women’s perception of their own role and function in society, and second, society’s expectation of their contribution. Although women constitute a large proportion of undergraduate students in many countries, the number decreases at the higher levels and very few reach the top scientific positions. Gender difference also exists in the selection of academic fields. Women are more inclined towards the arts and social sciences than the natural sciences and engineering. In industry, women are more involved in jobs demanding physical labor, and very few are in the most rewarding positions that demand technical skills and creative minds. This paper reviews the limited literature available, and explores how women’s role in advancing and using science and technology can improve society. It also shows how science and technology impact, women' position.

Keywords

References

High level Group on the Information Society, Europe and the Global Information Society 1994. Recommendations to the European Council, Bangemann-Report, Brussels, Available at: http://www .rewi. hu-berlin.de/jura/proj/dsi/report.html.
Fuchs, C. 2004. “Knowledge Management In Self-Organizing Social Systems”, Available at: http://www.tlainc.com/articl61.htm.
Nathan, D. & Kelkar, G. 2004. “Wood Energy: The Role of Women’s Unvalued Labour,” in: C. Ng, M. Osawa, T. Truong, P.Walter (eds) Gender, Technology and Development, Sage Publications, New Delhi / Thousand Oaks, CA / London, 205-224.
Oldham, G. 1997. “Gender Equity in Science and Technology: Does it Matter? ” , Keynote presentation at the Conference on Gender, Science and Technology, October 26, 2000, Montevideo, Urugua, Available at: http://gab.wigsat.org/oldham.html.
Petersen, A. C. 1995. “Women & Science, Celebrating Achievements, Charting Challenges”, Available at: http:// www. nsf.gov.
Encyclopedia Britannica 2005, Available at: http:// www. britannica .com/
Nath, V. 2001. “Empowerment and Governance through Information and Communication Technologies: Women’s Perspectives”, Inform Lib. Rev.,  Vol 33, pp 317-339.
Braddock, D. 1999. “Occupation Employment Projections to 2008”, Monthly Labor Review, November.
UNDP, 2003. Human Development Report, New York.
Sim, C. N. C. 2002. “Making Woman’s Voice heard: Technological Changes and Women Employment with Special Reference to Malaysia”, UNU-ITECH, 1995, Available at: www.intech.unu.edu/ publications / discussion-papers/2000-2e.pdf.
Zoltan, J. Acs., Arenius, P., Hay, M., Minniti, M., 2004. “Global Entrepreneurship monitor, Executive report”, Babson College and London Business School, Available at http:// www. gemconsortium.org/download/ 1123574027515/GEM_2004_Exec_Report.pdf.
Huber B., Reiff, I., Ruiz-Ben, E., Schinzel, B. 2002. “Frauen in IT- und Ausgewählten Technischen Ausbildungen und Berufen in Baden-Württemberg”, Working Paper, No 213, Center for Technology Assessment, Stuttgart.
European Commission 2003. “Women and Science, Statistics and Indicators, She Figures2003”, Luxembourg, Available at: http://europa. eu.int/comm/research/science-society/pdf/she_figures_2003.pdf.
European Commissions 2000. “Science Policies in the European Union: Promoting Excellence through Mainstreaming Gender Equality”, A Report from the ETAN Expert Working Group on Women and Science.
Eurostat 2004. “Statistics in Focus”, Available at: http://epp.eurostat.cec.eu.int.
Schenk, A. 2002.“Women in Swedish Higher Education”, Available at: http://www.women-eu.de/download/ SchenkTP02_02.pdf.
European Commission 2003. Women in Industrial Research: A Wake up Call for European Industry, A Report to the European Commission from the High Level Expert Group on Women in Industrial Research for Strategic Analysis of Specific Science and Technology Policy Issues, Available at: http:// europa.eu.int/ comm/research/science-society/women/wir/ report_en.html.
Rees, T. 2003. “National Policies on Women and Science in Europe, Prepared for the Helsinki Group on Women in Science of the European Commission”, Available at: http://www. cordis.lu/ improving/ women/policies.htm.
Kreckel, R. 2003. “Gleichberechtigte Akademikerinnen: gleiche Rechte, gleiche Leistungen, ungleiche Chancen-warum?” scientia halensis 2, Halle. Available at: HYPERLINK “http://www.verwaltung.uni-halle.de/DEZERN1/PRESSE/jour-203.pdf” http://www.verwaltung.uni-halle.de/DEZERN1/PRESSE/jour-203.pdf, accessed on 8th Aug 2005.
Schenk, A. 2002. “Women in Swedish Higher Education”, in European Commission, ed, The European Training Network “Women in European Universities, Available at: http://www.women-eu.de/download/ SchenkTP02_02.pdf.
Vazquez-Cupeiro, S. 2002. “Are Women the Creeping, Proletariats’of British Academia?” ,Available at: http:// HYPERLINK http://www.women-eu.de/download/ Vazquez_ CupeiroTP02_01.pdf www.women-eu.de/download/Vazquez_CupeiroTP02_01.pdf. See: http://www.db-decision.de.
Rosell, A. July 27-31, 2002. “Doing-Gender in Industrial Organisations- An Example from a Research and Development Project at an Engineering Company”, Paper Presented for the 12th International Conference of Women Engineers and Scientists, “Women in a Knowledge-based Society”, Ottawa, Ontario.
Catalyst “Women in Business: A Snapshot” , 2004.Available at:
      http:// www.catalystwomen.org/bookstore/files/fact/Snapshot%202004.pdf.
Access, Z, J, Arenius, P, Hay, M, Minniti, M, 2005, “Global Entrepreneurship Monitor”, Babson College and London Business School.
Straka, V. 2000. “Salary Gap in the Next Millennium, A Report from the New Frontiers, New Traditions”, A National Conference for the Advancement of Women in Engineering, Science and Technology, July 6-8, St. John’s Newfoundland, Canada.
National Science Foundation, “Women, Minorities, and Persons with Disabilities in Science andEngineering,2004”, NSF, 04-317, Available at:
      http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/wmpd/pdf/nsf04317.pdf .
cited in the European Commission (edt) 2003. “Women in Industrial Research: Analysis of Statistical Data and Good Practises of Companies”, European Commission, Research Directorate General, Women & Science Unit, Brussels, Available at: http:// europa.eu.int / comm/research/science-society/women/wir/pdf/wir-ulb_en.pdf.
European Commission, 2002. “Women in Industrial Research: An Overview”, European Commission, Research Directorate General, Women & Science Unit, Brussels, 2002, Available at: http://www. europa.eu.int/comm/research/science-sociey/women/wir/report-eu.html.
National Science Foundation 2002. “Science and Engineering Indicators 2002”, Available at: http://www. nsf.gov/ sbe/ srs/seind02/start.htm.
National Science Foundation  1996. “Women, Minorities and Persons with Disabilities in Science and Engineering”, Available at: http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/nsf96311/pdfstart.htm.
Yoon, S. Y., Carlson, K. 1999. “How Large Is the Gap in Salary of Male and Female Engineers?”, National Science Foundation, Directorate for Social, Behavioural and Economic Sciences, Washington.
Wajcman, J, Technofeminism, Cambridge Polity Press, UK, 2004.
Castells, M. 2000. “The Rise of the Network Society”, Blackwell Publishers, Oxford, UK and Maden, USA.
ILO,2004. “Global Employment Trends for Women2004”, Available at: http://www.ilo.ru/gender/files/WomenEmploymentsEng.pdf .
Horton, S. 1996. “Women and Industrialization: Overview”, in: S Horton, edt, Women and Industrialization in Asia, Routledge, London.
ESCAP 1987. “Young Women Workers in Manufacturing; A Case Study of Rapidly Industrializing Economics of the ESCAP Region”, ESCAP, Bangkok.
Doss, C., R. 2001. “Designing Agricultural Technologies for African Women Farmers: Lessons from 25 Years of Experience”, World Development, 29,12.
Mohamad, M., Ng, C. 1997. “Flexible Labor Regimes, New Technologies and Women’s Labor: Case Studies of Two Electronics Firms in Malaysia,” Asian Journal of Women’s Studies, 3.
Guo, H & Zhou, M. 1999. “Gender, Technology Change and Globalization: The Case of China”, Gender, Technology and Development, 3.
Zhou, M and Guo, H. 1995. “Impact of New Technology on Employment of Chinese Women”, Unpublished Paper.
Gothoskar, S. 1995. “Computerization and Women’s Employment in India’s Banking Sector” in S. Mitter & S Rowbotham, Women Encounter Technology, Changing Patterns of Employment in the Third World, Routledge, London.
Sen, I. 1995. “Women in the Mining Industry of Madhya Pradesh”, Paper Submitted to UNU/INTECH under the Project ‘Impact of New Technologies and Globalization on Women,’ Maastricht.
Nguyen, N. T. 1997. “Transitional Economy, Technological Change and Women’s Employment: Case of Vietnam”, Research Paper, ISS, The Hague.
James, J. 1991. “Microelectronics and the Third World: An Integrative Survey of Literature”, UNU/INTECH Working Paper No. 2, Maastricht.
World Summit on the Information Society, WSIS-03/GENEVA/DOC/4-E, 2003, Available at: http://www.itu.int/dms_pub/itu-s/md/03/wsis/ doc/ S03-WSIS-DOC-0004!!MSW-E.doc.
Sophia, H. 2003. “ICTs, Globalisation and Poverty Reduction: Gender Dimensions of the Knowledge Society, Part II. Gender Equality and Poverty Reduction in the Knowledge Society”, Available at:http://gab.wigsat.org/partII.pdf#search=’Sophia% 20Huyer%20:%20 Gender%20 Dimensions%20of%.
Babco, E.L. 2004. “Skills for the Innovation Economy: What the 21st Century Workforce Needs and How to Provide It”, Commission on Professionals in Science and Technology, New York Avenue, USA.
NASSCOM, February 22, 2001. “First Ever Workshop on IT Enabled Services for Women Entrepreneurs”, Jointly Organized by NASSCOM and Government of Delhi, NASSCOM Press Release, Delhi.
Richardson, D., Ramirez, R., Haq, M. 2000. “Grameen Telecom’s Village Phone Programme: A Multi-Media Case Study”, TeleCommons Development Group, Canada, Available at: http://www.telecommons. com/villagephone/index.html.
Gothoskar, S. 2000. “Teleworking and Gender”, Economic and Political Weekly, XXXV, 2293-2298.
Kelkar, G. 2002. “Violence Against Women: Perspectives and Strategies in India”, Indian Institute of Advanced Study, Shimla and Manohar Publications, New Delhi.
Mitter, S.2000. Sen, A., “Can Calcutta Become Another Bangalore? Looking for Windows of Opportunity in International Telework”, Economic and Political Weekly, XXXV, 2263-2268.
Ng, C. 2001. “Teleworking and Development in Malaysia”, Southbound Sdn. Bhd., Malaysia.
FAO, “Gender and Food Security, the Role of Information Strategy for Action”, 2000. Available at: http://www.fao.org/../ DOCREP/ X4745E /X4745E00.HTM .
FAO 2002. “Women’s Right to Land: A Human Right”, FAO, Rome.
Paris, T. 1998. “Technology and Policy Needs of Poor Women in Asian Rice Farming”, in: Gender, Technology and Development, Sage Publications, New Delhi.
WHO 2005. “GENDER & HEALTH: Technical Paper”, 2003, Available at: http://www.who.int/reproductive- health/ publications/ WHD_98_16_ gender_and _health_ technical_ paper/ WHD_98_16_ table _ of_ contents_en.html , accessed on 8th A
Women Studies
Volume 1, Issue 1 - Serial Number 1
September 2010
Pages 107-132

Files

History

  • Receive Date: 30 April 2010
  • Revise Date: 10 March 2012
  • Accept Date: 22 August 2010

Share

How to cite

Statistics