USNEWS.com

March 7, 2018 Wednesday

 

by Sintia Radu

 

These are the places outside the U.S. that have the most women researchers.

 

 

The role of women is a topic of discussion in many societies around the globe, be it because of a stereotype associated with what activities women can or cannot perform compared to their male counterparts, or because of a lack of equal access.

 

Science and research have traditionally been an environment where women have struggled to battle all these stereotypes. According to data from the U.S. Department of Commerce, in the U.S. alone, women held 47 percent of all jobs in 2015, but only 24 percent of these were in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics). Yet while some countries still have a long way to go to ensure women are integrated and represented in STEM fields, others are winning the gender battle. Here are the top five countries outside of the U.S. where women constitute the majority of workers in science.

 

 

Known for its wonderful beaches and often ranking high among the top vacation spots around the world. Thailand is more than what your favorite relaxation resort has to offer. According to a 2017 UNESCO Institute for Statistics report that looked at data from 2014, this Southeast Asian country does a good job at welcoming women in science. To be precise, 53.3 percent of people in research in the country are women. What's more, according to the BBC, Thai scientists take pride in their jobs in academia that also accommodate their family needs.

 

 

Another country on the list that looks after its women in science, this time a small one at the border of Europe and Asia, is Armenia. Known for its rich cuisine and for its national symbol of Mount Ararat, which is in eastern Turkey, Armenia boasts having women leading the science sector in numbers. According to the same UNESCO report that looked at 2014 data, 53.7 percent of those working in research are women. Its neighbor Georgia also seems to like women scientists. The report mentions 51.2 percent of researchers in that country are women.

 

 

Ranked third on the list of countries with high numbers of women working in science, Tunisia is also one of the countries most advanced in terms of women's rights overall. Women can hold any position in any professional field, and also have the right to initiate divorce proceedings. According to the UNESCO report, in 2014 a share of 53.9 percent of the total workforce in research in the North African country were women. These figures are also much higher than the region's average, with UNESCO reporting that around 40 percent of people working in research in the Arab World in 2014 were women.

 

 

Azerbaijan is another country in the Caucasus that values women's knowledge and social involvement. The No. 2 country in our top five borders No. 4 Armenia, and is working on boosting its economy following falling oil prices. While the country is still fighting inflation and the aftermath of an economic crisis, it can boast that 54.3 percent of its researchers is comprised of women, the legacy of the former Soviet era that encouraged sciences as the foundation of society.

 

 

Vacation is written all over any images you might have of the Caribbean, yet one of the island-nations in the region is actually the country that most boasts the highest percentage of women researchers. Trinidad and Tobago ranks first in the countries listed in the same UNESCO report in 2014. A share of 54.6 percent of people working in research in this Caribbean country are women. The Caribbean and Latin America combined ranked second as a region, after Central Asia, for having the highest share of women working in STEM, with a 44.7 share.

 

Sintia Radu covers international affairs and technology for U.S. News & World Report.