The Gender Gap in Mathematical and Natural Sciences from a Historical Perspective

The panel organised by the Committee for Women in Mathematics (CWM) of the International Mathematical Union (IMU) took place at the International Congress of Mathematicians (ICM) on August 2nd, 2018. It was attended by about 190 people, with a reasonable gender balance (1/4 men, 3/4 women). The panel was moderated by Caroline Series, President of the London Mathematical Society and Vice-Chair of CWM. Presentations were made by Marie-Francoise Roy, Chair of CWM, June Barrow-Green, Chair of the International Commission on the History of Mathematics, and Silvina Ponce Dawson, Vice-President at Large and Gender Champion of the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics (IUPAP). The presentations were followed by general discussion. Marie-Francoise briefly outlined the history and activities of CWM and described the ongoing “Gender Gap in Science” project which is being carried out under the leadership of IMU and the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC), with the participation of IUPAP and many other scientific unions. June gave some insights into the historical context of the gender gap in mathematics, while Silvina gave an overview of activities undertaken by the IUPAP Working Group on Women in Physics to evaluate and improve the situation of female physicists. What follows are the authors’ accounts of their presentations together with some notes on the subsequent discussion.