Women's participation in Canadian university mathematics programs

grantor: University of TorontoThis study examines women's presence in mathematics programs in Canadian universities by analysing enrolment and degree attainment statistics. For this comparative study, women's participation in engineering and in all programs is also considered. The analysis begins by presenting current data, then trends in the growth in participation and in the enrolments versus degree attainment data are examined. Finally, the study explores some of the economic considerations affecting women's pursuit of graduate studies in mathematics in order to shed light on their continuing under-representation at the graduate level. It was found that despite the overall lower percentage of women in engineering programs, those who do enrol in engineering appear better able to progress to graduate studies in comparison to those in mathematics. The study also found that the economic rewards from graduate degrees are not as great for women as they are for men, regardless of the field of study; however, the difference between men and women's economic prospects may be more acute among mathematics graduates.M.A