FixingtheleakBYLINE:JessicaHamzelouSECTION:SPECIALSANDSUPPLEMENTS;No.1219LENGTH:1924wordsASKachildtodescribeascientist,andtheywillprobablyconjureupamiddle-agedwhitemaninalabcoat.Heprobablydoesn'thaveanyhairontop,saveafewwisps,buthewillhaveabeardandglasses.Thefactthatchildren-andmanyadults・thinkthiswayisdishearteningenough,butthemale-dominated,diversity-freetruthisevenmoredepressing.Aroundtheworld,womenarestillgrosslyunder-representedinscience,technology,engineeringandmaths.Thisissurprisingwhenyourealisethatgirlstendtooutperformboysatschool-levelscience・Butaspeoplemoveuptheeducationalranks,womensteadilydropoffscience-basedcourses,trainingandeventuallycareers.Only28percentofallpeopleemployedinscienceandengineeringintheUSarewomen,despitethefactthatwomenmakeup57percentofscienceandengineeringundergraduates.Themostoft-citedexampleisengineering:afifthofengineeringgraduatesintheUSarewomen,buttheymakeuponlyatenthofworkingengineers.Yeteveninbiosciences-typicallythoughttobethemostgender-balancedofthesciences-suchapatternisseen.IntheUK,61percentofbiosciencepostgraduatesarewomen,butonly15percentoftheprofessorsinthisfieldare.What'sgoingon?Oneofthemostcommonargumentsisbasedonbiology:womenaretheonesthatgivebirth.Asaresult,theyneedtotakecareerbreaks,whichcanhampercareerdevelopmentandpay.Onceawomantakesmaternityleavefromacareerinscience,theargumentgoes,itisdifficultforhertomaintainasteadyoutputofresearchandpublications.Asaresultitbecomesveryhardtoforgeasuccessfulcareer・Exceptthisisn'tthewholestoTy."It'strueforafewwomen,butnotforthemajority/saysLauraSherbin,aprofessorofinternationalandpublicaffairsatColumbiaUniversityinNewYork,anddirectorofresearchattheCenterforTalentInnovation.Lastyear,Sherbinandhercolleaguesaskedscientistsandengineerstodescribetheirworkenvironmentsandwhattheylikedanddidn'tlikeabouttheirjobs.Theteamsurveyed3385US-basedwomenandmenwithdegreesinscienceandengineeringwhohadworkedintheprivatesectorwithinascientificfieldforatleastsixmonths.---本文来源于网络，仅供参考，勿照抄，如有侵权请联系删除---Theyfoundthatit!snotchildbirthpersethatisdrivingwomenoutoftheircareersinscienceandengineering.Alackofconfidencecan'tbeblamed,either,saysNadyaFouadattheUniversityofWisconsin-Milwaukee.Fouadandhercolleaguesdidasimilarsurveyof5500femaleengineeringgraduates,500ofwhomdecidedagainstenteringacareerinengineering.HWedidnrtseeadifferenceinconfidencelevelsorinterestinthesubjectbetweenthewomenwhoenteredcareersinengineeringandthosethatdidn't,”shesays.Themainproblemdrivingwomenoutofscienceandengineeringisahostileworkenvironmen匸Sherbinandhercolleaguesidentifiedthreetypesofworkplaceculturethatcanmakewomenfeelmarginalisedanduncomfortableinscienceandengineeringcareers.First,there'swhattheteamcalla"labcoatculture蔦whichtheysaycreatesanenvironmentinwhichscientistsareexpectedtobetiedtothelabbenchfor12hoursaday-agruellingrequirementforeithersex,butonethatisincompatiblewithchildcare,whichtendstofalltowomenmorethanmen.Thenthere'stheHhardhatculture”，whichtendstopresentmoreofaproblemforwomeninengineering,particularlyintraditionallymale-dominatedworkplaces,suchasoilrefineriesandconstructionsites.AquarterofthewomeninengineeringSherbinfsteamsurveyedsaidtheyhadtodealwiththis,whichinvolvedbelittling,catcallsandinappropriatesexistcomments.Themostwidespread,though,iswhatSherbin^teamdescr...