University glass ceiling visible in France’s official data

Women accounted for about a third of the professorship appointments to French universities in 2014, but nearly half of the appointments to associate professorship positions, government figures have revealed.

The French government published a report on gender equality in education and research on 10 November. It showed that 35 per cent of professors appointed in 2014 were women, compared with 44 per cent of associate professor appointments—known as maîtres de conferences.

The report did not indicate how the 2014 recruitment figures compare with the overall gender balance within universities and university hospitals. The latest government figures date from from 2011, and showed that only 22 per cent of professors were women. The figure was 42 per cent for maîtres de conferences.