The Role of Women in Science
The gender gap in science and research remains a serious challenge in Indonesia and globally. Although women's participation in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) is increasing, they remain underrepresented, especially in senior positions and among the most influential scientists. An analysis of gender comparison data on Stanford University and Elsevier's “Top 2% Scientists Worldwide” for 2023 in the single-year impact category reveals the dominance of male scientists.
Of the 5.8 million global scientists analyzed, while female participation is increasing, men continue to dominate, particularly among those with the highest citation impact. For scientists who started publishing before 1992, the ratio of men to women was 3.93:1. For those who started publishing after 2011, this ratio decreased to 1.36:1. However, among the 2 percent of authors with the most citations, men still outnumber women with a ratio of 3.21:1.
In Indonesia, this disparity is more striking. Based on the 2024 “Top 2% Scientists Worldwide” data, of the 150 Indonesian scientists on the list, 133 are men and only 17 are women-a ratio of 8:1, much higher than the global ratio of 3:1. In the 1-50 ranking of Indonesian scientists, there are only three female researchers. They are Iis Fatimah from Universitas Islam Indonesia in the field of materials (ranked 11th in Indonesia and 29,254th in the world). Maila Dinia Husni Rahiem from Syarif Hidayatullah State Islamic University Jakarta in the field of education (ranked 24th in Indonesia and 70,584 worldwide).
Ratih Pangestuti from the National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN) in the field of mechanical engineering and transportation (ranked 35th in Indonesia and 163,731 worldwide). Interestingly, some female scientists are beginning to show sustained efforts. Iis and Ratih appeared in the rankings for 2-4 consecutive years, namely in 2024, 2023, 2021, and 2020. Meanwhile, Maila entered the rankings in 2024 and 2023. All three have experienced a significant rise in the world rankings in a relatively short period of time, reflecting their dedication and hard work.
This shows that women are striving to continue to develop and achieve, even if the sustainability does not last longer. Further analysis shows that female scientists in Indonesia tend to be concentrated in certain fields. Male scientists are spread across 48 major subfields, including materials, food science, nanotechnology, business and management, and pharmacology and pharmacy. In contrast, female scientists are found in only 10 subfields, such as materials, education, artificial intelligence and image processing, and pharmacology and pharmacy.
By: Maila Dinia Husni Rahiem, Professor of Early Childhood Education and Social Welfare at UIN Syarif Hidayatullah Jakarta.
This article was published on Kompas.com on October 3, 2024. Read more at the following link