It appears that OTHER Women, not Men are holding back Women from advancement in the Science Field, despite the fact that there is a shortage of some 500 000 personnel in science, engineering and technology sectors in the EU.

The so-called glass ceiling – has been blamed on various things, from interrupted careers through pregnancy to obstructive, male-dominated organisational hierarchies. But few would have thought to blame it on other women.

But Dr. Naomi Ellemers from Leiden University’s Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences, together with Italian colleagues, attribute this obstruction to the 'Queen Bee Syndrome'.

I would like to offer another possibility. It reminds me of those in the Italian Community, that not only decades ago, but to this day, that once they were able to "ingratiate" themselves to the "power structure", they would "distance" themselves from other Italian Americans, and in some cases, show and prove their "loyalty" to the power group, by berating and disparaging the "other" Italian Americans.

Europe needs more scientists! Lots more. This was the irrefutable conclusion reached by a Commission-appointed group of experts on human resources in science earlier this year. The question of why there are so few women in science and academic careers was raised in the report that followed the high-level investigation. Now Dutch and Italian researchers think that women in top jobs may be holding their younger peers back.
 

Recent conferences, reports and reams of press coverage have highlighted the obvious problems that the European Union is facing with regard to a shortage of some 500 000 personnel in science, engineering and technology sectors. The conspicuous lack of female scientists at the highest level – the so-called glass ceiling – has been blamed on various things, from interrupted careers through pregnancy to obstructive, male-dominated organisational hierarchies. But few would have thought to blame it on other women.

In a new study reported in the British Journal of Social Psychology, Dr. Naomi Ellemers from Leiden University’s Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences, together with Dutch and Italian colleagues, wanted to understand why so few females enter academic and scientific careers when the same opportunities are offered in universities to both sexes. One alarming figure, quoted by the team, is that, while around half of all students entering universities are female, less than a quarter of them become academics afterwards.

To see what happens in between, the researchers turned to a sample of 212 male and female PhD students in a two-part study – one in the Netherlands, the other later in Italy – who were just beginning their scientific careers, and asked them what criteria or events influenced their decisions. They also surveyed 272 faculty members in the two countries for clues as to what causes this disparity.
 

Innocent until proven guilty
And they came up with some surprising answers. The traditional view is that female scientists at the highest levels are less common because of competing demands in the home and from motherhood. From that, assumptions were made that women are, therefore, less committed to pursuing scientific careers than men. Ellemers’ team have turned this on its head, arguing that young females are just as committed as men, but face an unexpected hurdle.

The study showed that male and female PhD students demonstrated equal work commitment and work satisfaction. However, senior researchers indicated a strong bias against the females, saying they felt the younger women showed less commitment to their careers. “Interestingly, such negative stereotypes were coming not from senior men but from women!” comments Ellemers on the findings.

This phenomenon has been dubbed the ‘Queen Bee Syndrome’. “The fact is, women who are individually successful in male-dominated environments are more likely to be critical of other women,” comments Ellemers. As a result of this study, it appears women may experience greater gender sexism from other women rather than men. This fact is often overlooked when attempts are made to improve the balance of the sexes in the working environment, the researchers conclude.

The Commission, through its ‘Women and science’ initiatives in the Science and Society programme, has investigated ways of increasing female participation in the science workforce. A recent conference in Tallinn (Estonia), entitled ‘Enlarging Europe with/for Women Scientists’, is an example of the kind of EU-supported action in this area.

EUROPA - Research - Headlines - Seeing through the glass ceiling
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