WOMEN IN MATHEMATICS

[Kelly Choo]

WOMEN IN MATHEMATICS


One of the most severe brain drains impeding progress throughout the
world, in developed and underdeveloped countries alike, is the fact
that women are turning away - or are being turned away - from studies
and research in science and technology. An academic authority in the
United States has again raised the possibility that it may be due to
"innate differences," "innate ability," or "natural ability". Such
remarks simply serve to perpetuate and legitimize the exclusion of
women from fields where they are sorely needed, and to deprive society
of one-half of its workforce, not to mention the indignity of branding
some of us as unable to understand science. They are certainly not
supported by the history nor the current practice of science. Even in
the most distant past, some women have been able to overcome the
tremendous difficulties put in their way by a male-dominated academic
world and to make their mark in history as great mathematicians.
Nowadays, girls and women in schools, colleges and universities,
perform at least as well as boys and men in scientific programmes,
even if they are less in number. We at the Pacific Institute for the
Mathematical Sciences (PIMS) are determined to increase the presence
of women in mathematics, by breaking down social stereotypes of the
kind we have just heard, and by encouraging female participation in
our activities. We thank our female colleagues in the mathematics
departments of PIMS universities for the substantial contributions
they are making to mathematics, and we hope there will be more of them
in the future.


Ivar Ekeland
Director
Pacific Institute for the Mathematical Sciences

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General at pims.math.ca
Pacific Institute for the Mathematical Sciences
http://www.pims.math.ca