MINSK, 9 February (BelTA) - Almost 40% of researchers in Belarusian science are women, Alesya Solovey, a researcher at the Scientific Personnel Migration Monitoring Center at the Institute of Sociology at the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus, told BelTA.
“Women is widely represented in Belarusian science. In the country as a whole, they make up 39% of the total number of researchers. The proportion of women among holders of the candidate of science degree is 43.6%. Their number among holders of the doctor of science degrees is constantly growing. Today it is 19.9%. The proportion of women among researchers in all but technical fields exceeds 50%. Medical sciences have the highest women representation (69.6%). Male researchers prevail in technical sciences - 28%," said Alesya Solovey.
In the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus, the proportion of women among researchers is 47.6%, holders of the candidate of science degree - 43.6%, doctors of science degrees– 18.6%. Their share among academic undergraduates, graduate students and doctoral students is high: 52.3%, 55.8% and 40.8% respectively. “Thus, we can say that women are equal participants of science, of the highest qualifications and special abilities. The constantly increasing share of women among candidates and doctors of science refutes the theories that belittle their creative abilities,” the scientist said.
Alesya Solovey pointed out that the Belarusian academic community does not support gender stereotypes regarding the capabilities and role of women in science. According to a sociological survey conducted by the research team of young scientists in 2020 with the support of the BRFFR-RFFR Science-M grant, the majority of researchers of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus do not share patriarchal ideas about women scientists. Some 86.7% of respondents do not agree with the stereotype that “science belongs to men”. As many as 90.7% of respondents do not believe that “a woman is less competent as a scientist”. 75.3% agree that “the scientific achievements of female scientists in a particular field of science are no less significant than those of male scientists” (including 83.4% of women and 65.7% of men).
However, most scientists (63.9%) agree that it is more difficult for a woman than a man to balance professional and family responsibilities. The share of those who think so is slightly higher among women scientists than men scientists: 67.8% and 59.5% respectively.
International Day of Women and Girls in Science is celebrated on 11 February. It was established by a resolution of the UN General Assembly on 22 December 2015.
