What's going on with women in science is interesting.
Here's the best chart that shows women going into science. As you can see, the numbers of women in science as a percentage of total women employed stays pretty much constant over the past decade. In other words, women are not making up the gap in scientists.
Women ARE getting more science degrees. There are millions of dollars spent in the US to get women to go into science. Every girl who wants to become a scientist should have the opportunity, and be encouraged to become a scientist.
But the reality of what happens after women get an advanced science degree is that the majority go into teaching science, not working in research or for high-tech corporations where employers are hollering about the shortage. Not only do women go into teaching, but according to a Chronicle of Higher Education article they are forsaking research universities in favor of liberal arts (teaching only) colleges. It's not surprising, nor bad. As Nancy Coles of ETS noted in her classic work on gender, communication is the area where women are superior to men.
Bottom line: women are not makinig up the scientist shortage.
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