Commission Femmes et Astronomie de la SF2A: Women participation in French astronomy

TL;DR

This study maps the current participation of women in French astronomy, revealing a decreasing trend in female representation with career progression, job security, and income levels, highlighting ongoing gender disparities.

Contribution

It provides the first detailed statistical analysis of women's presence across career stages and job types in French astronomy institutes.

Findings

Women constitute about 25% of the community.

Female participation decreases with job security and career advancement.

The study highlights the leaky pipeline phenomenon.

Abstract

The Commission Femmes et Astronomie conducted a statistical study that aims at mapping the presence of women in French professional Astronomy today, and set a starting point for studying its evolution with time. For the year 2021, we proceeded with a sub-set of 8 astronomy and astrophysics institutes, hosting a total of 1060 employees, among which PhD students, post-doctoral researchers, and academic, technical, and administrative staff, representing around 25% of the community. We have investigated how the percentage of women vary with career stage, level of responsibility, job security, and level of income. The results of this preliminary study seem to illustrate the leaky pipeline, with one major bottleneck being the access to permanent positions. It appears that the proportion of women steadily decreases with the security of jobs, with the career stage, with the qualification level and with the income level.