The National Academies is currently collecting responses from the scientific community for its 2018 Global Survey of Mathematical, Computing, and Natural Scientists. The survey is part of an international interdisciplinary project called “A Global Approach to the Gender Gap in Mathematical, Computing, and Natural Sciences: How to Measure It, How to Reduce It?” 11 partners, supported by the International Council for Science (ICSU), seek to better understand the problems faced by mathematical, computing, and natural science academics and practitioners around the world. The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine is the U.S. member to ICSU and many of the international scientific unions that are participating in this project.
The Gender Gap project homepage offers the following description: Currently, existing data on participation of women in the mathematical and natural sciences is scattered, outdated, and inconsistent across regions and research fields. The project will provide evidence to support the making of informed decisions on science policy. Temporal trends will be included, as the situation of women in science is constantly evolving, sometimes with some negative developments. Data will be collected via both a joint global survey and a bibliographic study of publication patterns. The survey is planned to reach 45,000 respondents in more than 130 countries using at least 10 languages, while the study of publication patterns will analyze comprehensive metadata sources corresponding to publications of more than 500,000 scientists since 1970. Contrasts and common ground across regions and cultures, less developed and highly developed countries, men and women, mathematical and natural sciences, will be highlighted.
The American Institute of Physics’ Statistical Research Center is collecting the data.