Report Finds That Women In Science Face Widespread Gender Bias

A new report by researchers at the University of California’s Hastings College of Law in San Francisco find that women in STEM fields continue to face a high degree of gender bias. More than 90 percent of women scientists stated that they had been subjected to some form of gender bias. More than a third said they were victims of sexual harassment.

The study found that this gender bias is particularly true for women of color. Of the 60 women of color in STEM fields that participated in interviews for the study, all 60 women stated that they had been subjected to some sort of gender bias.

Here are some other findings from the report:

• About two thirds of all women scientists reported that they had to do more than men to prove they were competent to perform a particular task.
• One third of all respondents said they had been pressured to take on dead-end jobs that tended to be reserved for women.
• More than half of the women said they reported backlash from colleagues for exhibiting traditional male behaviors such as aggressiveness.
• Nearly two thirds of the women scientists who also were mothers reported that their commitment to their careers was questioned by their colleagues because they took time off for maternity leave.

The full report, Double Jeopardy: Gender Bias Against Women of Color in Science, can be downloaded by clicking here.