New Gender Benchmarking Study Finds Numbers of Women in Science and Technology Fields Alarmingly Low in Leading Economies

New Gender Benchmarking Study Finds Numbers of Women in Science and Technology Fields Alarmingly Low in Leading Economies PR Newswire NEW YORK, October 3, 2012 NEW YORK, October 3, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Numbers of women in engineering, physics and computer science are on the decline In the first study of its kind, researchers have found that numbers of women in the science, technology and innovation fields are alarmingly low in the world's leading economies, and are actually on the decline in others, including the United States. The study maps the opportunities and obstacles faced by women in science across the US, EU, Brazil, South Africa, India, Korea and Indonesia. It was conducted by experts in international gender, science and technology issues from Women in Global Science & Technology and the Organization for Women in Science for the Developing World, and funded by the Elsevier Foundation. Despite efforts by many of these countries to give women greater access to science and technology education, research shows negative results, particularly in the areas of engineering, physics and computer science. Women remain severely under-represented in degree programs for these fields-less than 30% in most countries. In addition, the numbers of women actually working in these fields are declining across the board. Even in countries where the numbers of women studying science and technology have increased, it has not translated into more women in the workplace.