News of both reports, which have prompted promotions and salary increases, has circulated among scientists in Europe. Now European female scientists want to document their status in their own institutions. "It's very common for people to look at this in a nonscientific way, even scientists," says Christine Wenneras, associate professor of clinical bacteriology at Sahlgrenska University Hospital in Goteborg, Sweden.2 Department-by-department studies may shed light on the underlying problems that hold women back in the sciences, she says. "People have all sorts of explanations—that women choose strange areas of research or are less motivated. There are lots of myths and biases. It's hard to get through the message that this problem should be studied scientifically as any other problem."
Helga Rübsamen-Waigmann says WIR would like to research further to find out why Germans and Austrians fare worse, but, she notes, popular magazines publish disapproving reports about women who balance work ...
