Women scientists push to find their place at the top

RFI 15 February 2019

Women scientists the world over are celebrating the achievements of women as part of the International Day of Women and Girls in Science, but in France only 20% of physicists and mathematicians are female. The Femmes et Sciences collective is multiplying its efforts to improve those numbers and fight stereotypes which don't encourage girls to study science in the first place, writes Alison Hird for RFI.

“There’s no positive discrimination in France. The idea is that everything should come out of your own merit,” says Nadine Halberstadt, researcher in quantum physics and president of Femmes et Sciences. And yet gender bias continues in the world of science.

A particularly flagrant example occurred in September 2018 at the European Organisation for Nuclear Research (CERN) when a male physicist Alessandro Strumia caused a storm saying physics was “invented and built by men” and, therefore, not suitable for women. He was subsequently suspended.
Full report on the RFI site

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