Comments:Women in South Africa advancing in fields of science and technology

Its hard to believe a country that needs technological development is hindering itself simply because of gender. -Jessie Owenby

Is this truly an upwards 'trend' ?
As a young Molecular Biologist who passed through the South African tertiary education system, I wonder how profound these results actually are. The South African government has been ploughing millions of rands into educating woman in the field of science. Being a caucasian male I could not get any government scholarships to fund my studies, despite graduating in the top 10 percent of my BSc class and graduating at the top of my MSc class. My female colleagues, many of whom did not achieve equal academic merits, were awarded handsome scholarships to support further studies towards doctorate degrees. Despite applying to the National Research Foundation for numerous scholarships over a 4 year period I was unable to get any funding. Without funding it is virtually impossible for any individual to pursue their doctorate.

Today I am living in the United Kingdom, doing a PhD at the University of Cambridge with a full merit scholarship from the Wellcome Trust. If South Africa is not nurturing their young male scientists, irrespective of race or background, they will leave the country to find better opportunities elsewhere.

I therefore debate whether this result is due to more women entering the sciences, or simply because more men are deliberately being excluded?