Women in Physics in the Philippines: Quantized Yet Taking Steps Toward a Mature Science Culture

摘要

Scientific culture in the Philippines is young and physics is no exception. There are only four physics PhDgranting universities with research laboratories. More than 10 universities offer a bachelor's degree or master's degree in Physics. Like the world trend, these physics institutions are male dominated. However, four of the leading universities already have female PhD faculty members in physics occupying positions of an assistant professor or better. On a positive note, female physicists are no longer limited to work in the national capital region but have carved out their careers in other parts of the country. Also, female physicists have spread into other non-physics-degree-granting universities or found work in the industrial sector. The number of female graduates in physics in the undergraduate and graduate level have slowly but steadily increased since 2002. With the observed increase in number, a working group for women in physics in the Philippines was created this year. In order to provide recommendations to regulators and policy makers, the group's first step is to monitor the number of female students and physicists, their study and work environments, and the scholarships and opportunities for development that are available to them.