Coronavirus has exacerbated gender inequities in the Asia-Pacific science, technology, engineering and mathematics workforce, with almost half of female professionals unable to adjust their working arrangements to lockdown realities.

A survey by the Australian Academy of Science has found that only 56 per cent of women with caring responsibilities have flexible work arrangements. This has aggravated the impacts of a health crisis that has impeded their access to research facilities, reduced their productivity and jeopardised their mental health.

¡°The pandemic is having a detrimental impact on women, and there is a real risk that any progress made pre-pandemic in gender equity in STEM could be jeopardised,¡± said?past?academy foreign secretary Cheryl Praeger. ¡°The aftershocks could reverberate through the post-pandemic recovery.¡±

The academy surveyed 853 women in 28 Asia-Pacific countries ¨C one-third in Australia and another third in South Korea, China and New Zealand ¨C as part of a broader research project that also included an evaluation of current projects, an online workshop and a ¡°call for personal stories¡±.

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It found that gender equity had been reduced by ¡°changes in lifestyle¡± and the blurring of boundaries between work and home, as female scientists weathered extra domestic responsibilities.

The study found that female scientists in particular had fallen foul of a publish-or-perish culture during the crisis. ¡°There has been a reduction in the quality and quantity of research publications, which is likely to harm funding prospects in the future,¡± it says.

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University administrators should ¡°recognise that publications alone are not an effective measure of productivity and success in STEM¡±, it says. More emphasis should be placed on ¡°flexible measures¡±?such as teaching, mentoring and collaboration.

The research found that women were bedevilled by insecure work arrangements, with 39 per cent of early career female professionals languishing on fixed-term contracts. These problems often persisted, with 23 per cent of mid-career women and 19 per cent of established counterparts stuck on fixed-term contracts.

Women¡¯s representation among STEM graduates in the region was also well below 50 per cent and as low as 15 per cent in some countries, the research found. ¡°In Australia, considered an advanced economy, only 13 per cent of STEM-qualified occupations were undertaken by women in 2020,¡± it says.

¡°As well as being disproportionately underrepresented in the STEM workforce in general, women are more likely to be in roles that are less senior and less secure.¡± Some 47 per cent of female university staffers were employed casually, the research found.

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john.ross@timeshighereducation.com