Abstract
In most subject areas, the proportion of women PhD students is around 50%. Mathematics differs despite minimal differences between boys’ and girls’ school achievements. In this paper, we show, drawing on Swedish data from the last 45 years, that low female participation in mathematical PhDs is due to low participative growth rates rather than historical low levels. In comparison, science has twice as strong growth rate, while non-STEM subjects have grown four times faster. The results show that gender differences regarding participation is indeed dynamic, but changes do not occur despite political initiatives such as laws on non-discrimination and encouragement of equal parental leave. Instead, the results imply that in order for maths departments to avoid continuing being gendered institutions, it requires active changes in structures and working environment.
Highlights
With respect to participation, in most western countries and in many subjects, women represent a majority at undergraduate level and an increasing number at graduate level (OECD 2015); in 2012, women represented 47% of doctoral students across the OECD jurisdictions and 48% across the EU
When trying to understand girls and women participation in mathematics, the most powerful predictors when studying cross-national patterns of gender differences in mathematics achievements in the two major international large scale assessments (ILSA) were, besides women’s parliamentary representation, gender equity in school enrolment and women’s share of research jobs (Else-Quest et al 2010), meaning that both enrolment and the ratio men/women in different academic positions are of relevance
With regard to our first research question, we found that all STEM subjects experienced slower growth rates in participation than non-STEM subjects up to 2010
Summary
In most western countries and in many subjects, women represent a majority at undergraduate level and an increasing number at graduate level (OECD 2015); in 2012, women represented 47% of doctoral students across the OECD jurisdictions and 48% across the EU. Looking at participation in mathematics at university level, there are variations between countries: for instance, in the USA for many years, roughly half of all undergraduate degrees in mathematics are earned by women (Chipman 1996; Hyde et al 2008), but in Sweden, this proportion, over the academic years 2010/11–2014/15, was just 37% (www.scb.se) This is interesting since Sweden is a country with a reputation of its gender equality (Weiner 2005) and is a country that typically scores very positively on international measures of gender equality: in 2019, Sweden ranks first in the EU on the Gender Equality Index with 83.6 points (out of 100), 16.2 points above EU’s score (eige.europa.eu.). Taking a more general view, we can see that the more women in power, the more stable democracy and Inglehart and collegues conclude that
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
