In his article published online in the UNESCO Courier (2007, no. 2) Peter Coles tells us that according to one observer in the USA, women are “rare as hens teeth” in mathematics and physics.

For Renée Clair, UNESCO Executive Secretary of the L'Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science programme, the 1995 World Conference on Women in Beijing (China) marked a turning point in awareness of this gender bias in science. “Before that, the issue didn’t even arise,” she says, blaming ingrained and largely unconscious stereotypes that promote the idea that women “aren’t made to do science.”

Meanwhile, other obstacles are beginning to emerge. In countries like India, with its technology boom, young women are preferring to go for highly-paid jobs in information technology – ironically once an all-male preserve, but increasingly dominated by women.

To read Peter Coles’ article in full (UNESCO Courier 2007, no. 2) click below.

To contact Renée Clair, UNESCO Executive Secretary of the L'Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science programme r.clair@unesco.org