International Workshop on "Women and Science / Technology" Network in Asia

The Gender and Science Project (or Studies on Science Related Issues and Cultivation of Women Scientists) sponsored by National Science Council of Taiwan, is chaired by Professor Chia-Li Wu and 4 other co-chairs. The project period is from June 2011 to the end of 2013. There are three main parts in the project: 1) Encourage and cultivate women scientists and engineers; 2) Collect and share data/literature on gender and science research and ways of promoting women scientists and engineers; 3)Construct a gender and science database to enable international comparison.

As one of the co-chair, my assigned tasks cover mainly the last part, i.e. constructing a G&ST database and analyze the data. For this purpose, we need to find out the G&ST indicators that are often used internationally. Therefore, we reviewed several international databases, and decided to start with the EU framework−She Figures.
She Figures 2009 is the third publication (following She Figures 2003 and She Figures 2006) of a key set of indicators that are essential to correctly comprehend the situation of women in science and research. She Figures reflects a clear wish to develop pan-European harmonised statistics facilitating cross-national comparisons and to build a base of gender disaggregated data available at the EU-level that allows to track changes over time and that has great value both to increase knowledge and to inform policies.

Researchers and R&D expenditure data are collected through the R&D Survey, which since 2004 has been carried out as a joint data collection between Eurostat and the OECD. In addition, there are R&D data of Japan and the United States that are drawn from the OECD’s Main Science and Technology Indicators (MSTI).

There are over 50 indicators in She Figures, and divided into four chapters to illustrate the horizontal and vertical gender segregation in S&T fields. In my presentation, data from Taiwan are collected using the same standard definition with She Figures, i.e. the International Standard Classification of Education (ISCED 97) and International Standard Classification of Occupations (ISCO 88). Some data of Taiwan are still not available and need to be produced later. Interpreting the similarities and differences between EU, Taiwan and some Japan data reveals some interesting hint, a task that my team plan to proceed more thoroughly after all data are confirmed valid.

In conclusion, this presentation suggests that we can draw on some ideas of She Figures, and develop a pan-East Asian framework/template for further collaboration and comparison.

Past, Present, and Future of Women in S & T in Korea

Eunkyoung Lee 李 恩 京


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This presentation is to review what happened to women in S&T in Korea during the last decade with the WISE(Women Into Science & Engineering) policy, to evaluate it and to make some suggestions for better future. In addition, it provides statistics on women in S&T in Korea for comparative analysis among Asian countries.
The issue of WISE policy was begun when leading women scientists and engineers recognized the big gap between women educated in S&T and women employed in R&D. In 2000, women are 52% among BA in science and 18% in engineering. Though in engineering, women at higher degrees were almost invisible, they were 35% of MA and 22% of PhD in science. In contrast to this high proportion in education, only 10% of R&D researcher was women.
Concerning with the issue, the Korean government institutionalized WISE policy. the Act of Fostering and Supporting Women in S&T was passed. And according to the Act, 5-year (master) plan for WISE was initiated and the NIS-WIST(National Institute for Women in S&T) was established as the central organization to carry out researches and many programs. Among the programs were comprehensive statistics on women in S&T, mentoring, R&E projects, Women only R&D fund, Recruitment Target System(RTS), and etc.
During the last decade, the percentage of women in science and engineering at every level has been increasing gradually. In science, women became more than half in BA, almost half in MA. Even among PhD in science, women are almost 1/3, the minimum for self-sustaining set by UNESCO. Women in engineering also have been growing, though relatively slower than in science. Further, women in R&D increased from 10% in 2000 to 16.7% in 2010. It is not clear how much the result was due to the WISE policy. However, we can say, at least, the WISE policy have some positive influence on the growth at graduate level and R&D employment.
Unlike the quantitative result, statistical analysis shows the possibility of the so called leaky pipe phenomena at every stage of life cycle: lower proportion of women in R&D than in education and fewer women at high positions and regular positions than men. It means that WISE policy should put more attention to entry stage of job market and support women to keep and develop their careers.
To build life cycle support system for women in S&T is the major goal of the 2nd 5 year plan (2009-2013). Existing programs were reorganized and some new programs were introduced for this goal: Promotion Target System(PTS), work-family reconciliation, and returner program. The idea is that the more successful working women in S&T, the more girls going into S&T.
To achieve the goal, WISE policy needs to be integrated in labour policy in general. And it needs to develop policy means to encourage the private sector, in both R&D or non-R&D, to hire more women in S&T.

History and Situation of East Asian
Workshops for Women Researchers

Mie University Mariko OGAWA


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History and Situation of the East Asian Workshops for Women Researchers


The East Asian Workshops for Women Researchers started in September, 2006, when the International Workshop of Women and Science/Technology Network in Asia was held in Nagoya for the first time. Before describing this workshop I will introduce two international workshops held in Paris and in Pohang in 2005.

A joint OECD‐French Government International Workshop on “Women in Scientific Careers:
Unleashing the Potential” was held in Paris and I gave a presentation, “The Present Condition and Problems of Women in Science and Technology in Japan.” After my presentation I felt many EU and OECD countries expected dispatching information from Asia on women researchers in science and technology. I was the only Asian participant. A second opportunity was brought to me by my being invited as a guest speaker at the APCTP international workshop. This experience made me realize that we need the chance to discuss women researchers in S&T in Asia. I was fortunate to win both a grant from the Toyota Foundation and a grant‐in‐aid for scientific research from MEXT.

The International Workshop of Women and Science/Technology Network in Asia was held with 17 speakers invited from China, Korea, Taiwan, Indonesia, India, and Japan. In all the countries, women researchers were strongly encouraged to continue their careers and various policies were implemented for the purpose of increasing the number of women students majoring in science and technology. However, it was difficult to find common bases for comparison among Asian countries. In June, 2007, “Symposium on Women and S&T” at the 21st Pacific Science Congress was held in Okinawa, Japan. Some of the members who had met for the first time in Nagoya in 2006 saw one another again and found new researchers. In July we invited two Taiwanese to Japan again in order to have a study meeting for statistical indexes. We opened our home page,
http://www.wstna.org/. This year was very fruitful because Prof. Lee was awarded APEC funding and she organized an APEC funded Workshop at Chonbuk National University in November, 2007. Many of us could join in the discussions again.

The International Conference on Woman Scientists was held in Yang‐Ming University, Taipei in 2008. In 2010 the 4S/JSSTS Joint Meeting was held in Tokyo in 2010. We could invite Prof. Tsai from Taiwan as a commentator on our workshop. Finally 2012 we gathered together to hold the International Workshop on Women and Science/Technology in East Asia. We now started compiling statistical comparisons for Korea, Japan, and Taiwan. 6 years have passed since we started this study. Now it is possible to compare statistical data for the three countries. It took a long time to arrive at this situation, because it was very rare to find sex‐disaggregated statistics in Asia at that time. 2012 is an exciting new starting for our cooperative study.

過日、1月18日に開催されましたセミナーのご報告をいたします。

F-GENSプロジェクトC1/2/5とジェンダー研究センターの共催で、フィリピンの科学技術省科学教育研究所長のエスター・オヘナ氏を迎え、「フィリピンの科学技術分野における女性」と題するセミナーが開催されました。

当日の講演に利用しました資料（パワーポイントの資料をPDF化
こちらからダウンロードはいただけます。


セミナーデータ

日時:2008年1月18日（金）10:30〜12:00
場所:お茶の水女子大学（仮称）学生センター棟

【講演者】
エスター・オヘナ Ester B. Ogena,
フィリピン科学技術省 科学教育研究所長 Director，Science Education Institute Department of Science and Technology

【講演題目】
Women in Science and Technology: Philippines

【司会】
　小川眞里子（F-GENS事業推進担当者、三重大学教授）
　舘かおる（F-GENS事業推進担当者、お茶の水女子大学教授）

アシアにおける「女性と科学/ 技術」のネットワーク

2007年9月28日、三重大学国際交流予算と財団予算の合同招聘としてタイのタマサート大学のPetchsingh氏をお招きし、タマサート大学におけるジェンダー調査をご報告いただきました。

その時のレポートをPDFファイルにてご覧いただけます。

[DOWNLOAD]

PDFファイルのダウンロードはこちら

Download the full report of "A suivey of gender equality at Thammasat University, Thailand" as a PDF file

(1) 背景と目的

第3期科学技術基本計画(2006-2010)では、科学技術におけるアジア・コミュニティーの構築が提唱されており、今後アジアにおける女性科学者・技術者のネットワークは重要な位置を占める。ネットワーク構築の進んだ欧米からは、 日本のイニシアティヴが期待され、経済成長著しいインドや中国に関心が寄せられている。本プログラムは、アジア における科学/技術分野における女性の連携をはかり、アジア全体での友好と女性の地位向上をめざすものである。

(2) ネットワーク構築のための活動

ネットワーク構築のためには、人材の発掘が重要である。科学社会学だけでなく、科学技術の多くの専門分野から 本目的にかなう人材を探すために次の活動を行った。

国際会議における講演、発表
1.2005年11月OECD/SFRI WS on Women and Scientific Careers, Paris. (代表者: 日本の現状と問題点を報告)
2.2005年11月International WS on Asian Women in Physics, Pohang(韓国).(代表者、鳥養:招待講演)
3.2007年 6月21st Pacific Science Congress, Okinawa. (代表者、力武:本プログラムの成果を報告)

海外研究者招聘
1.2006年 2月N. Kumar氏(インドNISTADS)来日(お茶の水女子大における講演およびプログラムメンバーとの議論)
2.2006年 3月李恩京氏(韓国全北大学)来日 (お茶大における講演およびプログラムメンバーとの議論)
3.2007年 6月Cheng氏、Tsai氏(台湾)来日(お茶大における講演および指標検討会)(財団予算による招聘)
4.2007年 9月Petchsingh氏(タイThammasat大学)来日予定 (三重大学国際交流予算と財団予算の合同招聘)

アジアの女性研究者との交流
1.2006年10月ICU International WS「アジアの身体」参加 (代表者、財部、力武)
2.2007年 1月韓国NISWIST訪問(財部:女性科学・技術者支援政策の調査)(中部大学産経研プロジェクト予算)
3.2007年 6月オーストラリア大使館”Women in Government”の集い(代表者、鳥養)
* これらの活動により、アジアの女性研究者との新たなネットワークを広げることができた。
* 海外研究者招聘は、プログラムメンバーのタイムリーな学習の機会となった。


(3) 活動の成果

第1回 国際ワークショップの開催 2006年9月29日ー10月1日
さまざまなテーマで発表が行われた。物理学とジェンダー(4名)、ICT産業と女性(2名)、各国における科学技術分野の女性参画の現状(3名)、科学技術におけ
る女性参画推進政策(2名)、女性と医学(1名)、総括的な討論として、統計指標、教育制度、ジェンダー政策などをテーマとして、2日間にわたって討論。

ホームページの開設

2007年3月に、私たちのネットワークのホームページを開設することが出来た。メンバー間のコミュニケーションと情報の共 有に、あるいはネットワークの外へのアピールにホームページは不可欠である。2008年9月の第2回ワークショップの開催 実現に向けて、大いに活用していきたい。

アジア太平洋学術会議でプログラムの成果をアピール

沖縄で開催された国際会議で、プログラムの成果を発表した。またこの「科学とジェンダー」セッションを通して新しいネットワークを広げることが出来た。本会議は、アジア学術会議(SCA)と連動して行われ、今後公的機関への働きかけの手がかりを得た。

統計指標の検討会――2名の台湾研究者を迎えて

年7月第2週に台湾からの研究者2名を迎えて2008年度第2回ワークショップの準備に入った。2006年度にはきわめて多彩なテーマが提供されたが、このネットワークを支える共通基盤とネットワークの外への発信に努力する必要がわかってきた。

単に意見交換するだけではなく、ネットワークを通して女性科学者・技術者の参画をいかに増やすことが出来るかを考えたとき、現状把握のための共通の統計基盤は不可欠である。また女性科学者・技術者の社会的なイメージアップのための啓蒙活動も重要である。

それが、女子中学生や高校生の理系への進学増加にも繋がることであろう。そうした観点から、2008年にはネットワークメンバーによるワークショップのみならず、男女共同参画センターでの公開シンポジウムを企画しようとしている。アジアにおける医学や物理学のパイオニアと呼ぶべき女性に焦点を定め企画を考えるに至った。

(4) まとめと今後の課題

初めて、専門分野を超えて、アジア各国の女性と科学・技術の活動に携わる代表者が集まる機会をつくり、国際的な異 分野交流を実現することができた。ここに、各国の経済、教育、政策などの相違点と共通点と相互に認識することにより、 今後の課題と方向付けを見出すことができた。

1 各国の状況を比較し、理解を深めるための統計基盤を整備する。
2 理系専攻女性のロールモデルを提示し、後進の育成にもプラス効果を醸成する。
3 理工医農分野における女性の活躍の重要性をアピールし、アジア各国における女性の地位向上にも貢献する。

【参考】 アジアにおける女性科学者・技術者ネットワーク形成の困難さ克服に向けて

欧米が一律に青で示された人間開発指標の高い地域のみでネットワークを構成しているのと違って、アジアでは日本と韓国とマレーシアのみが欧米並みで、他の国々では女性科学者・技術者の多くは社会のエリート層である。

したがって科学に向けられる期待も、参画の問題よりは、科学が女性たちの生活にいかに貢献できるかという開発の問題に重点が置かれがちである。そうした問題の重要性も理解できるが、男女共同参画を科学・技術分野でも推進すべきことはこれからの時代の大前提であることを踏まえて、多くの差異を乗り越えて緊密なネットワーク形成を推進していきたい。

(1) Background and Aims

As the 3rd MEXT Science and Technology Basic Plan (2006-2010)emphasized the development of the Asian S&T community, this hints that the Asian network of female scientists and engineers will occupy an important position in the policies of Asian S&T development. The EU and the US, where women’s networks in S&T have already been fully developed, expect Japan to take the initiative, and are interested in China and India because of their
remarkable economic expansion. This program aims at strengthening the solidarity of female scientists and engineers in Asia, and promoting their friendship and the improvement of women’s social status.

(2) Activities for Establishing Our Network

In order to establish the network, it is important to discover potential human resources suitable for the program. We have carried out the following activities to find ideal people not only in the fields of science and technology but alssocial studies of science.

Lectures and Presentations at the International Conferences
1.Nov. 2005. OECD/SFRI WS on Women and Scientific Careers, Paris. (Ogawa:
The Present Condition and Problems of Women in Science and Technology in Japan : invited lecture)
2.Nov. 2005. International WS on Asian Women in Physics, Pohang(Korea).(Ogawa and Torikai: invited lectures)
3.June 2007. The 21st Pacific Science Congress, Okinawa. (Ogawa:Results and Future Vision for the Workshop)

Invitations to Female Researchers from Asian Countries
1.Feb. 2006. Dr. N. Kumar(NISTADS INDIA) (lecture in Ochanomizu Univ. and discussion with program members)
2.Mar. 2006. Prof. Lee(Chonbuk Univ. Korea) (lecture in Ochanomizu Univ. and discussion with program members)
3.June 2007. Profs. Cheng and Tsai(Taiwan)
(lecture in Ochanomizu Univ. and investigation on statistics and indexes)
4.Sept. 2007. Prof. Petchsingh (Thammasat Univ.)
(joint program with international exchange of Mie Univ.)

International Exchanges with Asian Researchers
1.Oct. 2006. ICU International WS “Body Knowledge and Gender in Asia” (Ogawa, Takarabe & Rikitake participated.)
2.Jan. 2007. Visit to NISWIST in Korea (by Takarabe: Research on Policies of Supporting Female Scientists and Engineers, funded by Chubu Univ. )
3.June 2007. The Australian Embassy, Evening Seminar ”Women in Government” (Ogawa and Torikai)
* Through these activities, we can extend the network of scientists and sociologists in science and technology.
* Invitations to Asian researchers have given us opportunities to study other Asian countries’ situations.

(3) Results of Activities

The First International Workshop 29 Sept. 1 Oct. 2006

Various kinds of presentation were given: Physics and Gender (4 members)、ICT Industry and Women(2 members)、Contemporary Situation of Women’s Participation in Science and Technology (3 members)、Policies of Gender Mainstreaming in Science and Technology(2 members), Women and Medicine (1 member )、Two days' discussion for statistics indexing, education systems, and gender policies as general themes were well-attended.

Setting up of our Home Page

In March, 2007, our network homepage was set up. It is indispensable for communication between members and sharing of information or for appealing to the outside of the network. It will be very useful for us to prepare the workshop which will be held in September of 2008.

Presenting our program at the Asian Pacific Congress

At the international congress held in Okinawa in June, the program head gave a presentation of our results and extended our network through the session on science and gender. As this session was held with links to the Science Council of Asia, we were able to find a clue to collaborate with public sectors hereafter. Such collaboration is important for us to collect the statistics in each country and inform non-members of our activities. (photo3: from front left, Prof. Lee (Korea) and Ms Hermawati (Indonesia), participants of our 2006 workshop )

Study of Statistical Indexes ――welcoming 2 Taiwanese researchers

We began to prepare for the 2008 workshop with the collaboration of two Taiwanese researchers in July 2007. Although in the 2006 workshop we had many themes, now we are focusing on the sex-disaggregated statistics of students and researchers in each country based on common indexes. We have realized importance of disseminating information outside of our network via our home page. In order to not only exchange opinions within a network, but also to increase the number of young scientists and engineers, a statistical foundation is important. Also important are activities to improve the public image of female scientists and engineers. These will lead junior school girls and junior high school girls to major in science and engineering and to enter careers in science and technology. From these points of view, we are planning both intensive discussion within the network and a public symposium in cooperation with Mie Prefecture Gender Equality Center, in which we introduce female pioneers in medicine and physics in Asian countries.

(4)Conclusion and Perspective

Our workshop was a first opportunity to collect together people who were interested in encouraging female scientists and engineers in Asia. Through this international exchange, we hope to support female scientists and
engineers in Asia and find themes and orientations by recognizing problems in common and areas of difference by:

1 establishing a statistical foundation;
2 promoting role models of female scientists and engineers to encourage young women to enter S&T fields;
3 appealing to the importance of female participation in science, engineering, medicine and agriculture, and contributing to the empowerment of women in Asian countries and to the elevation of women’s social status.

2007年7月第2週に台湾からの研究者Prof. TsaiおよびProf. Chengを迎えて2008年度第2回ワークショップの課題について検討に入った。2006年度のワークショップではきわめて多彩なテーマが提供されたが、活動を通して「ネットワークを支える共通基盤」と「ネットワークの外への発信」に努力する必要がわかってきた。

単に互いが知り合い意見交換するだけではなく、ネットワークを通して女性科学者・技術者の参画をいかに増やすことが出来るかを考えたとき、現状把握のための共通の統計基盤は不可欠である。また女性科学者・技術者の社会的なイメージアップのための啓蒙活動も重要である。それが、女子中学生や高校生の理系への進学増加にも繋がることであろう。そうした観点から、2008年にはネットワークメンバーによるワークショップのみならず、男女共同参画センターでの公開シンポジウムを企画している。アジアにおける医学や物理学のパイオニアと呼ぶべき女性に焦点を定めた企画を考えている。