Women take longer to finish their PhD studies, publish less
Women need an additional six months to finish their PhDs and have one less paper accepted for publication during their doctoral studies, compared with their male counterparts, according to the findings of a peer-reviewed paper published in the open access journal
PLOS ONE.
As in other regions, women’s representation in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) has grown over time in Africa.
Still, only 30% of STEM researchers in Africa are women, which is roughly the same as the global average of 28%.
The paper, “Making it to the PhD: Gender and student performance in Sub-Saharan Africa”, was based on a study by four researchers, including Monica Fisher, Moses Osiru and Violet Nyabaro at the International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology, Nairobi, Kenya.