36 gender equality in research
This page has been updated. Read 36. gender equality in research in Higher education & research in France, facts and figures 10th edition - June 2017
One researcher in three in the government sector and one in five in business enterprises is a woman. As in other countries, women are less well represented in all sectors among researchers than in the professions providing research support. The male to female ratio in research personnel depends on the research field.
In 2012, more than half a million people in France were participating directly or indirectly in R&D activities and of these research personnel, 29% were women (table 36.01). They were better represented in government (40%) (public bodies, higher education institutions and NPI) than in business enterprises (22%). In addition, the female to male ratio remained higher in the least qualified jobs in R&D, the ancillary staff (35%), than among researchers (26%).
As in higher education programmes, women are better represented in medicine and agronomy than in aerospace and digital technology (chart 36.02). In 2012, there were equal numbers of men and women in research teams at the French National Institute of Health and Medical Research (Institut national de la santé et de la recherche médicale - INSERM), the Institut Pasteur and the French National Institute for Agricultural Research (Institut national de la recherche agronomique - INRA). In contrast, they represented only 16% of researchers at the French National Aerospace Research Centre (Office national d’études et de recherches aérospatiales - ONERA) and 20% at the French National Institute for Computer Science and Applied Mathematics (Institut national de recherche en informatique et en automatique - INRIA). Numbers are comparable in business enterprises. In 'Pharmacy' and 'Chemistry', women represent 57% and 47% of researchers respectively (chart 36.03). However, women are poorly represented in 'Aeronautics and space construction' (16%), 'Automobiles' (13%) and 'Manufacture of machines and equipment' (8%). In these last three branches, however, the proportion of women is higher among researchers than among ancillary staff.
In five years, the representation of women among researchers in business enterprises fell by 0.8%. The increasing proportion of research in the service branches is the reason for this situation. Having increased by half in five years, due mainly to 'specialised scientific and technical activities' and 'information technology and computer service activities', in 2012 research in service branches accounted for 38% of all researchers in business enterprises. Here the proportion of women is lower (at 18%) than in the industrial branches overall (21%), as feminisation is particularly strong in the chemical and pharmaceutical industries.
These trends in France are similar to those observed in other OECD countries. Everywhere, we see an under-representation of women in research teams, especially in business enterprises (chart 36.04). Portugal, Estonia and Slovakia, however, have near equality between men and women. In these countries, women represent more than 40% of all researchers. In contrast, in South Korea and Japan, fewer than 20% of researchers are women. The situation in France is similar to that in Germany (27%).
Between 2011 and 2012, the change in women's representation in France among all R&D personnel weakened slightly (29.2% compared with 29.6%). Nevertheless, care must be taken when interpreting these figures as there is a two-fold effect on staff structure, with the increasing weight of business enterprises in relation to government combined with that of researchers in relation to ancillary staff. If we consider only researchers, the figures speak for themselves: the proportion of women has increased, both in business enterprises (+0.4 points) and in government (+0.1 points), yet the number of researchers overall was down (-0.1 points) due to the increasing proportion of business enterprises and the poorer showing by business enterprise researchers.
MENESR-DGESIP/DGRI-SIES.
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36.01 Total R&D personnel and share of women in 2012 (headcount in thousands, %) 1
1 Semi-definitive data.
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36.02 Share of women in research personnel in government in 2012 (%) [1]
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36.03 Share of women in research personnel in business enterprises in 2012 (%) 1
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36.04 Share of women among researchers in the main OECD countries in 2012 (%)
1 2011 data.
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Related statistical publications
Cet ouvrage a donc pour objectif de rassembler dans un même document des études et statistiques permettant d’éclairer les différents domaines d’activités des personnels qui relèvent de l’emploi scientifique, conformément à l’article L411-2 du Code de la recherche.
Growth in the number of researchers has marginally benefited women in public and industrial R&D.
However their numbers are higher in public research. The proportion of women involved in the research field varies to a considerable extent according to discipline. The similar position of women in public civil research where medical and life sciences predominate and in pharmaceutical industry is a good example. The proportion of women also differs according to their position : growth in numbers is inverse to the position they hold in the hierarchical order of their institution. Women?s participation grows fast in upper secondary and higher education or in engineering schools than on the labour market.
La croissance des effectifs de chercheurs bénéficie marginalement aux femmes dans la recherche publique et en entreprise. Cependant, c'est dans la recherche publique qu'elles sont les plus nombreuses.
L'importance de l'emploi féminin dans la recherche varie fortement selon les disciplines.
La similitude de la place des femmes parmi les chercheurs du public où les sciences médicales et de la vie sont dominantes , et dans l'industrie pharmaceutique en est un exemple.
La place de l'emploi féminin diffère aussi beaucoup selon les postes occupés, avec une progression inverse de l'ordre hiérarchique.
La progression du taux de femmes dans les études secondaires et universitaires ou dans les écoles d?ingénieurs est plus rapide que sur le marché du travail.
Translation
36 - la parité dans la recherche - Laurent Perrain