Lack of women in science hampers progress

Germany’s increasing lack of engineers and scientists, which is harming the country’s competitiveness, could be addressed by encouraging more women to take up such careers, the German government’s research and innovation expert group (EFI) has said. However, German higher education institutions and businesses fail to retain women throughout their career path, the group says in its report.

More women than men attend university in Germany, but women lose out as soon as they enter their professional career, the EFI says. Many well-educated women do not make it up the career ladder, and often drop out of a science and engineering career altogether, the expert group warns.