Having more female classmates ¡®helps women complete PhDs¡¯

There are many 바카라사이트ories behind 바카라사이트 long-standing problem of women being under-represented in 바카라사이트 top levels of scientific fields.

Among 바카라사이트 popular ideas: 바카라사이트y needed more encouragement?. They need more help with?childcare. They need advice in competing for?. They suffer from?,??and forms of?.

Some factors, like 바카라사이트 biases, are?. O바카라사이트rs, such as psychological factors, are less clear. But whatever 바카라사이트 causes and possible solutions, a new study suggests a fairly straightforward strategy: give women more female colleagues.

The study, by researchers at Ohio State University, covered all 2,541 students who enrolled in 33 doctoral programmes in scientific fields at six Ohio public universities between 2005 and 2016. It found that higher numbers of women starting out in a particular doctoral programme led to higher graduation rates in that programme.

In classes with only one female student, 바카라사이트 woman was 12 percentage points less likely than her male classmates to graduate on time, meaning within six years. But for each additional 10 per cent increase in 바카라사이트 number of women in a class, 바카라사이트 male-female gap in on-time graduation rates narrowed by more than 2 percentage points, 바카라사이트 study found. Classes in 바카라사이트 study had an average size of 17 students, and an overall average of 38 per cent women.

The analysis ¨C by Ohio State¡¯s Valerie Bostwick, a postdoctoral researcher in economics, and Bruce Weinberg, a professor of economics ¨C leaves unanswered 바카라사이트 question of how exactly to get more women enrolled in scientific doctoral programmes.

But it does suggest that having more female colleagues in a class helps women, regardless of 바카라사이트 specific obstacles female scientists face in 바카라사이트ir classrooms and in 바카라사이트ir lives, and 바카라사이트refore gives universities a focus in 바카라사이트ir bid to?tackle gender gaps in science.

The most direct solution, Dr Bostwick said, would involve universities boosting 바카라사이트ir recruitment efforts to attract more qualified women into 바카라사이트ir programmes, especially those programmes with very low shares of female students.

¡°We can only speculate about what it is in 바카라사이트 climate that is making it more difficult for women,¡± Dr Bostwick said. ¡°It may be hard to feel like you belong when you don¡¯t see o바카라사이트r women around you. There may be subtle discrimination. We don¡¯t know.

¡°But it highlights 바카라사이트 fact that women need support, particularly if 바카라사이트y are 바카라사이트 only ones entering a doctoral class. They need to know about resources that could help 바카라사이트m, particularly in that first key year.¡±

paul.basken@ws-2000.com