Quick Takes

Published: August 2011

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Labor Force¹

Occupation	Percent of Women
Biological Scientists	45.8%
Medical Scientists	53.7%
Chemists and Materials Scientists	33.5%
Computer and Mathematical Occupations	25.8%

Education

Percent of Bachelor’s, Master’s, and PhD Degrees Received by Women in Science Fields. ²

 

Women in Management in Science

• Women are 21.6% of all science and engineering managers³
• Of scientists and engineers employed in business and industry in 2003, men, on average, have 12 subordinates. Women have 9 subordinates.⁴
• According to a survey of 42 chemical companies, ⁵
  • only 9.2% of all 404 executive officer positions were filled by women; this has risen from 8.7% in 2006.
  • women are only 12.0% of the 416 board directors. While it is an improvement since a 2006 survey where only 11.1% of its directors were women, it has not surpassed the 12.8% measured in a 2003 survey of board directors at chemical companies.

Women in Academic Sciences

Women in Academia (by years worked)6
Field of Doctorate	% of Women in Positions in Academia (Working less than 10 years)	% of Women in Positions in Academia (Working 10 or more years)
Mathematical sciences	27.3%	12.9%
Biological and agricultural sciences	40.7%	26.9%
Health sciences	67.9%	59.0%
Physical and related sciences	22.5%	11.3%
Social sciences	44.7%	27.1%
Psychology	65.2%	40.6%
Engineering	18.7%	5.8%

• A National Science Foundation (NSF) longitudinal analysis of the academic career paths of men and women found that marital status and children, impact a women's chances for earning tenure and maintaining a position as either an associate or full professor. Female doctoral S&E faculty are less likely than their male colleagues (67% vs. 84%) to be married and less likely to have children living with them (42% vs. 50%).⁷
• Women with eight or nine years of postdoctoral experiences who are employed full time in academia are about 6.9% less likely than men to be tenured, and women with 14 or 15 years of experience are 8.5% less likely than men to be tenured.⁸

Percent of University Faculty with Scientific Doctorates That Are Women9
Faculty Title	Percent
Professor	20.3%
Associate Professor	37.3%
Assistant Professor	42.9%

• In most fields in academia, men dominate the positions filled by doctoral scientists and engineers.⁹

Women of Color in Science

• Women of color are 10.3% of all employed scientists and engineers in the United States.¹⁰

Percent of Science and Engineering University Faculty that Are Women of Color11
Faculty Title	Percent
Professor	2.9%
Associate Professor	7.2%
Assistant Professor	12.6%

The Wage Gap in Science

• Women earn 77.0% as much as men in 2009, based on the median income for full-time, year-round women workers. ¹²

Salaries of Women in Science (As Compared to Men’s Salaries) 13
Occupation	Women’s Salary as a Percent of Men’s Salary	Women’s Median Salary	Men’s Median Salary
Mathematical sciences	75.7%	$56,000	$74,000
Biological /life sciences	85.2%	$52,000	$61,000
Computer and Information Sciences	88.8%	$71,000	$80,000
Physical sciences	76.9%	$50,000	$65,000
Social sciences	90.0%	$63,000	$70,000
Psychology	84.6%	$55,000	$65,000

Women Nobel Prizes Winners in Science

• Since the Nobel Prize was established in 1901, only two women, Marie Curie (1903) and Maria Mayer (1963), have won the Nobel Prize for Physics.¹⁴
• Four women, Marie Curie (1911), Irene Joilet-Curie (1935), Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin (1964), and Ada E. Yonath (2009) have won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry since 1901.¹⁵

Sources

¹ Current Population Survey, Bureau of Labor Statistics, "Table 11: Employed Persons by Detailed Occupation, Sex, Race, and Hispanic or Latino Ethnicity 2010," Annual Averages 2010 (2011).

² National Center for Education Statistics, "Table 286: Bachelor’s, Master’s, and Doctor’s Degrees Conferred by Degree-granting Institutions, By Sex of Student and Discipline Division: 2008–09" (2011).

³ National Science Foundation, "TABLE 9-34: Scientists and Engineers Employed in Business or Industry, By Managerial Occupation, Sex, Race/Ethnicity, and Disability Status: 2006," Women, Minorities, and Persons with Disabilities in Science and Engineering (2011).

⁴ National Science Foundation, "Figure H-7: Median Number of Subordinates of Scientists and Engineers Employed in Business or Industry, By Sex, Race/Ethnicity, and Disability Status: 2003" Women, Minorities, and Persons with Disabilities in Science and Engineering (2006).

⁵ Alexander H. Tullo, "Women in Industry: In the Boardroom and Executive Suite, Participation is Still Miniscule," Chemical and Engineering News, vol. 85, no. 31 (July 30, 2007): p. 38-39.

⁶ National Science Foundation/Division of Science Resources Statistics, "Table 19: Employed Doctoral Scientists and Engineers in Universities and 4-year Colleges, By Broad Field of Doctorate, Sex, Faculty Rank, and Years Since Doctorate: 2003" (2011).

⁷ National Science Foundation. "Thirty-Three Years of Women in S&E Faculty Positions." (2008).

⁸ National Science Foundation, Gender Differences in the Academic Careers of Scientists and Engineers (2004).

⁹ National Science Foundation, "Table 9-25: S&E Doctorate Holders Employed in Universities and 4-Year Colleges, By Broad Occupation, Sex, Race/Ethnicity, and Faculty rank: 2008," Women, Minorities, and Persons with Disabilities in Science and Engineering (2011).

¹⁰ National Science Foundation, "Table 9-37: Demographic Characteristics of Employed S&E Doctorate Holders, By Race/Ethnicity and Sex: 2006," Women, Minorities, and Persons with Disabilities in Science and Engineering (2011).

¹¹ National Science Foundation, "Table 9-25. S&E Doctorate Holders Employed in Universities and 4-Year Colleges, By Broad Occupation, Sex, Race/Ethnicity, and Faculty rank: 2008," Women, Minorities, and Persons with Disabilities in Science and Engineering (2011).

¹² Carmen DeNavas-Walt, Bernadette D. Proctor, and Jessica C. Smith, U.S. Census Bureau, Income, Poverty, and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2009 (2010).

¹³ National Science Foundation, "Table 9-16: Median Annual Salary of Scientists and Engineers Employed Full Time, By Highest Degree, Broad Occupation, Age, and Sex: 2006" (2011).

¹⁴ National Science Foundation, "Table 71: Median Annual Salaries of Full-time Employed Doctoral Scientists and Engineers, by Sector of employment, Broad Occupation, and Race/Ethnicity: 2003 (corrected January 2011)" (2011).

¹⁵ Nobel Prize, "Women Nobel Laureates" (2007).

Updated August 9, 2011