Asia Pacific Physics Week 2023 (APPW2023)

Wednesday, Nov. 8, 2023 

2:00 PM - 2:40 PM  Plenary Talk  Hiromi M. Yokoyama (University of Tokyo) 

What is holding female physics scientists back?

Effect of social climate

Hiromi M. Yokoyama,1 Yuko Ikkatai,2 Atsushi Inoue,3 Azusa Minamizaki,4

Kei Kano,5 and Euan MacKay 6

1 Kavli Institute for the Physics and Mathematics of the Universe, The University of Tokyo,

5-1-5 Kashiwanoha, Kashiwa, Chiba 277-8583, Japan

2 Institute of Human and Social Sciences, Kanazawa University, Kakuma-machi, Kanazawa, Ishikawa 920-1192, Japan

3 Nippon Institute for Research Advancement, Yebisu Garden Place Tower, 34th Floor 4-20-3 Ebisu, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo 150-6034, Japan

4 Global Multi-Campus, Nagoya University, Furo-cho, Chikusa, Nagoya, Aichi 464-8602, Japan

5 Graduate School of Education, Shiga University, 2-5-1 Hiratsu, Otsu, Shiga 520-0862, Japan

6 Strategic Planning Office, Kobe University, 1-1, Rokkodai-cho, Nada-ku, Kobe, 657-8501, Japan

Japan’s scientific and technological capabilities continue to decline relative to the rest of the world. Japan’s science and technology policy has recently increased the number of large-scale, top-down projects, but science-related human resources have not increased. The university reform policy does not invest in human resources, and the environment for researchers to work continuously is not improved. Japan in particular has the lowest percentage of female university students studying science (27%) and engineering (16%) in the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Why are so few women studying science in Japan?

Over the past 20 years, Japanese universities have used various methods to increase the number of women in the sciences. Although they have not had much effect, one report suggests that the number has increased slightly this year. Women still remain a minority, especially in the engineering, physics and mathematics fields. In industry, the demand for researchers is much higher in these fields than in biology, where there are relatively more women.

Our group investigated the factors contributing to the masculine image of physics and mathematics based on the framework of an expanded model, including the social climate of gender inequality. Online surveys were conducted in Japan and England. The results showed that occupations and mathematical stereotypes were strongly correlated with a masculine image.

In Japan, social factors, such as a negative attitude towards intellectual women, correlated with viewing mathematics as ‘masculine’. In England, the effect of being told or having heard that the choice of a particular course of studies would make someone less attractive to the opposite sex was statistically significant. These findings suggest that social factors influence the image of the physical sciences as masculine.