Women in Science: What Are the Barriers for Women in Senior Career Positions

Olfa Messaoud,Rana Dajani

doi:10.4236/aasoci.2021.1110043

Abstract

For several years, many governmental and non-governmental agencies, as well as researchers have made great efforts in addressing issues related to the factors that prevent women from pursuing STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) careers. These efforts resulted in better representation of women in these fields both in the Arab countries as well as in other developed countries. However, in these countries, women remain under-repre- sented in senior career positions, e.g., ministers, members of the parliament, heads of state institutions. Here, we try to identify the most important barriers that women are facing and suggest some recommendations to overcome them.

Highlights

Women have a fundamental role as caregivers, and as members of society via their professional work and/or their social activities
Many governmental and non-governmental agencies, as well as researchers have made great efforts in addressing issues related to the factors that prevent women from pursuing STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) careers
We focus on barriers that prevent women from reaching senior positions

Summary

Introduction

Women have a fundamental role as caregivers, and as members of society via their professional work and/or their social activities. Even if we speak about changing of women’s roles in this century, it’s clear that whatever the cultural context and the socio-economic level of the family, the woman is always considered as the primary caregiver for her family. She is driven by her instinct as well as social norms to dedicate more time than any other family members to responding to the daily life needs of her home and looking after her children whatever their ages. Rana Dajani (moderator); Dr Olfa Messaoud, Dr Alia Abukiwan, and Dr Rana Bilbeisi (panelists)) that participated in the panel (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sRuw3Y2mMCU&list=PLkk_rfOJg7m3aZ4 59bgQ3ArPGEiA2O-v-&index=15)

Overview of the Main Barriers

Recommendations to Overcome Barriers

Findings

Conclusion