Although women nowadays outnumber men in higher education, they remain strongly underrepresented in math-intensive fields. This underrepresentation is a source of concern for two main reasons: It contributes substantially to gender inequality in the labor market, and it represents a loss of potential talent that could in particular help meeting the growing demand of skills related to the development of information technology and artificial intelligence.

Despite these concerns, the underrepresentation of women in math-intensive fields has remained constant or even increased in most developed countries during the past two decades. This underrepresentation is also more pronounced in more developed countries and in countries that are more gender equal in terms of economic and political opportunities and rights, a pattern that has been named the “gender-equality paradox”.

(Adapted from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov)