Even Women Scientists Don't Get Equal Opportunities

More evidence, in case you needed any, that women aren't treated equally in the workplace even in high level professions where you would think academic and practical smarts would trump gender factors.

Female science professors at universities receive fewer invitations to join scientific advisory boards than their male colleagues, according to a new research paper.

Researchers from Harvard Business School, MIT Sloan School and Berkeley's Haas School of Business evaluated career opportunities extended to some 6,000 long-serving life scientists. Bottom line: Men had twice as many opportunities to work on advisory boards. Invitations that do come to women are most often with start-ups or smaller firms.

As to why, the conjecture is that women haven't made the same number of high quality connections as men, and have more limited experience in the private sector.

The researchers note that women do better when they work for schools with formal technology transfer offices, "indicating that institutional support can help women overcome obstacles to entry into commercial science."

(Image courtesy Argonne National Laboratory)