China’s ‘two sessions’: break glass ceiling for women in science, maths expert and Beijing political adviser says

Name: China’s top political advisory body kicks off annual session
Uploaded: 2023-03-08T06:30:10.000Z
Duration: 2 min 32 s
Description: China’s top political advisory body kicks off annual session

Lack of women leaders in major research projects and decision making is ‘worrying’, senior mathematician and CPPCC member Yuan Yaxiang says

Fewer than 10 per cent of women scientists seen to have risen to ‘academician’ position in China, Yuan tells Xinhua

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A top mathematician says the lack women among the top ranks of science in China is worrying. Photo: Shutterstock

Ling Xinin Beijing

Published: 2:30pm, 8 Mar 2023Updated: 2:41pm, 8 Mar 2023

China must create favourable policies so that more women scientists can rise to leading positions, a senior mathematician and member of Beijing’s top political advisory body has said.

China lags far behind in the number of highly ranked female scientists compared to research powerhouses around the world – and this glass ceiling must be broken, Yuan Yaxiang, vice-president of the China Association for Science and Technology, told state media last week.

“Internationally, female scientists are receiving a lot of attention and recognition for their work.

“They are not only winning various awards and honours, but also make up a major part of the evaluation committees themselves,” said Yuan, who also sits on the national committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), China’s No 1 political advisory body.

As a CPPCC member, Yuan is attending the “two sessions” – a key annual gathering of lawmakers and policy advisers in Beijing.

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China’s top political advisory body kicks off annual session

Women accounted for more than half the leadership of renowned foreign research institutions such as the Royal Society in Britain and the US National Academy of Sciences, Yuan told China’s official news agency Xinhua on Saturday.