WOMEN IN SCIENCE AND SCIENCE RELATED SUBJECTS: THE MAURITIAN
EXPERIENCE.
Jayantee Naugah and Sashuprabah Poonet,
Senior Lecturers, Mauritius Institute of Education.

ABSTRACT

Women in scientific cancers are far below their male counterparts in numbers. This does not
meet the aspirations of a developing country like Mauritius. This paper looks into the status
of women in scientific careers. To encourage women to embark in science and science related
activities, it is necessary to encourage more girls to take science subjects at secondary and
tertiary education level. The academic climate should have a greater scientific leaning. The
system is geared in such a way that it does not give much enthusiasm among the girls to take
science subjects. Many of them opt for languages, economics, accounting and social studies.
These undoubtedly lead to straightened occupations Consequently, girls' schooling still
suffers from a lack of provision of technical education and inadequate science education in
the rural areas.  This effectively reduces the potential pool of scientists and technologists
and the country has to rely on foreign expertise in these domains.


INTRODUCTION

Mauritius has nearly 11 million inhabitants with the female population representing about
50%. It has moved from a mono-crop economy towards industrialisation and tourism.

Prior to 1968, very few women were in skilled jobs, as education was accessible only to a
select few. The society was male dominated with women occupying the bottom rung of the
ladder in many areas. Many were confined with in the four walls of their home with
virtually no access to education. This was particularly so in the communities of Indian origin
who stuck to orthodox beliefs. Women from other communities were more outgoing and had
a chance to acquire a basic education.

Very few women were trained in science as this subject was only taught in a handful of
secondary schools.  Rudimentary science existed mainly in the form of chemistry. Only the
best schools had well established physics courses.  Boys got priority over girls in the
provision of education; consequently few girls had a chance to go for higher school at
university. Therefore there were only a handful of properly qualified women scientists.

Access to free education in 1977 and economic development in the 1980s transformed the
Mauritian society, giving the opportunity to Mauritian women to become the pivot of
development. Since 1983 to 1994 there has been a 14% increase in womenΥs labour force
with nearly half employed in the manufacturing sector, 23% in social and community
services, 14% in agriculture, 8% in hotels and trade, 2.3% as professionals, 9% in the civil
service, 2.2% as legislators and a few in real estate, business, financing and science. At
present there are only two women in the 70 member strong legislative assembly. Most
women are still in unskilled jobs.

Through there has been a steady increase in the enrolment of girls in secondary schools and
subsequently in tertiary education, few girls choose to do science and technical subjects
compared to accounting, economics or humanities. This will leave an effect in future on the
number of women scientists and technologists. This will also have a dramatic effect on the
country's progress during the next phase of industrialization.

1. Status of Women

With  the introduction of socio-legal reforms in the 1980s women were called upon to play a
multifaceted role; changing from a primarily reproductive one to a productive and
community service management focus. Initially their involvement in the labour force was in
unskilled or low skilled and low paid occupations.

2. Education of Women and Girls

Free education from primary to tertiary level were introduced in 1977. This led to a
doubling in the enrolment rate of girls compared to that of boys in secondary schools over
the period, 1977-1990 Enrolment rate for boys in 1972 was 40% and that of girls for the
same period rose from 25% in 1972 to 47.6% in 1993. In the same year, the primary
enrolment rate for both boys and girls was 90% for both boys and girls and in the secondary
level,  45.3% boys and 47.6% of girls were interlude.  Girls in primary schools are better
achievers than boys. This is repeated in secondary schools too. More young girls are
enrolling for University courses but a vast majority of them opt to study accounting,
economics, languages or management.

3. Science Education and Girls

Science was introduced as a proper subject in the early 1970s as environmental studies at
primary level. At secondary level all students irrespective of gender and abilities had to
follow a compulsory science course up to Form 3 ( Grade 9) level.  They had to choose either
physics, chemistry or biology as options.  The academic climate in certain schools, especially
in the private secondary schools, do not encourage girls to choose science. This is more so in
schools in rural areas.  Those responsible for the management of these schools feel that
investing in laboratory equipments and other teaching facilities required for science will
affect their school budget and make them sacrifice other school items. Inadequate teacher
training reflected by the poor methodology is another deterrent for science choices among
girls.  The pupils with such constraints automatically are driven to study accounting and the
humanities, which require rote learning and less effort in terms of practical work.  If this
trend persists for some time to come we will only be preparing our girls for office type jobs
and secretarial responsibilities.

The table below helps to show the shift towards the commercial subjects It also shows the
performance of boys and girls in science and mathematics. The latter being a compulsory
subject gives us a rough indication of the popularity of science among boys and girls.  It
must be noted that boys perform better than girls in mathematics.


Year       1991            1992              1993           1994        
Subject

Physics   T. Sample 1936 	T. Sample. 1887   T.Sample 2193  T. Sample 3363
		  T. pass 145x    	T  ss 1488        T ss 1623      T ss 1849
			(75.4)%			(78.9%)				(74.0%)		  (78.29%)
			Boys: 1137  	Boys: 1166   	  Boys: 1259	  Boys: 1363  
			(76.6%)			  (79.59%)			(73.7%) 		(77.0%)
Girls: 		321 (71%)       322(76.5%)    	  364 (75.2%)    586 (82.0%)

Biology   T.Sample 2313 	T.Sample 2335     T.Sample 2648  T.Sample 3015
		  T   ss 1750       T   ss 1714   	  T   ss 1941  	 T ss 2174    
			(75.7%)				(73.0%)			(73.3%)			(72.1%)
Boys: 	  1054 (79.1%)      1020(74.6%)    	   1097(73.3%)    1142(73.4%)
Girls :    696 (70.9%)       694(74.89%)    	844(73.33%)   1032(70.79%)

Chemistry  T.Sample 2917    T.Sample 2856      T.Sample 3310  T.Sample 3730
		   T ss 2094  		T. pass 2318	   T ss 2772	  T ss 3018
			(71.8%)				(81.2%)			  (83.7%)		(80.9%)
Boys: 		1870 (73.6%)      834(74.9%)        1727(84.79%)  1783 (81.79%)
Girls 		 724 (68.6%)     1484(82.29%)    	1045(82.2%)   1135 (79.8%)

Mathe-    T.Sample 11313     T.Sample 12165    T.Sample 13043 T.Sample 12808
matics    T  ss 9020  		 T   ss 9411	   T   ss 10044   T ss 9746
			(80.4%)				(77.4%)			  (77.0%)		(76.1%)
Boys: 	   4742 (83.6%)       4773(78.2%) 		5123(79.79%)   4912 (78.69%)
Girls: 	   4278 (77.2%)       4638(76.59%)  	4921(74.4%)    4834 (73.7%)

Principle- T.Sample 9293     T.Sample: 9653    T.Sample 9858  T.Sample 9184
of Accts   T  ss 7305(78.6%) T  ss 7889(81.7%) T  ss 8260(83.8%)T ss 7563(82.3%)
Boys: 	   3208 (77.1%)       3326(79.3%)       3349(79.9%)    3105(80.7%)
Girls: 	   4097(79.88%)       4363(83.68%)   	4911(68.6%)    4458(83.69%)

Key: T = Total

Table 1 : Students (boys and girls) offering and passing the school certificate
examinations in the subjects.

Mentioned above
Source: [ Mauritian Examinations Syndicate]    

The table below shows that of the 3 sciences fewer girls take physics compared to the
others. Those girls who normally do so are the brighest and from the best schools. 
Chemistry seems to be more popular than biology or physics and boys tend to do better
than the girls. Biology appears to be a non scoring subject. However more girls choose
biology than boys, and the pass and the pass rate for the former is higher than that of
the latter.  Accounting is nearly twice as popular as chemistry and slightly on par with
mathematics.

Year       1991               1992               1993            1994        
Subject

Physics    T. Sample 823      T. Sample. 901     T.Sample 943    T. Sample 977 
		   T. pass 488(59.3%) T   ss 566 (62.8%) T ss 590(62.6%) T ss618(83.37%)
Boys: 		  418 (58.5%)       468 (62.3%)     	478(60.7%)     480 (60.7%)
Girls: 		   70 (64.2%)        98(65.3%)      	112 (71.8%)    139 (79.3%)

Biology    T.Sample 587       T.Sample 122       T.Sample 562    T.Sample 584
		   T ss 299 (50.9%)   T  ss 236(43.2%)   T ss 283(50.3%) T ss 279(47.8%)
Boys: 		  133 (46.7%)        107(41.6%)         133(43.6%)   	135(46.7%)
Girls : 	  166 (55.0%)        694(48.7%)    		189(55.8%)   	144(48.89%)

Chemistry  T.Sample 1292 	  T.Sample 1300      T.Sample 1367   T.Sample 1410
		   T ss 819 (63.4%)   T. pass 841(64.7%) T ss 949(69.4%) T ss 935(66.3%)
Boys: 		  533 (64.6%)     	 578(66.5%)     	631(70.3%)    	610 (66.3%)
Girls 		  266 (62.2%)        263(61.0%)     	318(67.8%)		325 (66.3%)

Math      T.Sample 3043      T.Sample 3211      T.Sample 3617   T.Sample 3719
Syllabus  T   ss 2298(73.5%) T  ss 2441(76.0%)  T ss 2840(78.5%)T ss3048(81.8%)
Boys: 		 1324 (76.3%)       1432(75.8%)        1564(77.2%)    1626(80.3%)OcΝ    Girls: 		  974 (74.5%)       1009(76.3%)    	   1276(80.2%) 	 	1422 (76.8%)

Account-   T.Sample 2513     T.Sample: 2738     T.Sample 3132   T.Sample 3248
ing        T ss 1990(79.2%)  T   ss 2084(76.1%) T ss 2525(80.6%)T ss 2562(78.9%)
Boys: 		  902 (82.1%)     	1000(81.3%)   		1169(84.5%)     1140(81.6%)
Girls: 		 1088(76.90%)     	1004(71.90%)  	    1356(77.5%) 	1477(76.8%)

Key: T = Total

Table 2 : Students (Boys and Girls) offering and passing the higher school certificate
examinations in the subjects.

Mentioned above
Source: [ Mauritian Examinations Syndicate]

A survey undertaken by the Ministry of Education and Science identified various
reasons for not taking science/technical subjects.

Reasons                      		All Schools				Private 	State
										%                  	  %            % 

Subject too difficult                   30.9                 31.4         30.3
No interest                             27.9                 25.3         31.3
Jobs limited                            15.4                 13.7         17.7
Poor Facilities                         10.5                 12.3          7.9
Advice parents                           4.5                  4.3          5.2
Subjects Not Available in                4.4                  6.1          2.2
College                                                                       
Lack of Competent Teacher                3.2                  3.9          2.2
Advice of College                        1.1                  1.1          1.2
Other                                    2.0                  2.0          2.0
          

Table 3: Reasons for not taking Science.
Source : [Ministry of Education & Science, 1991]

The following measures are envisaged in the Master Plan Review (1995) to improve the
situation .

1)  Revise curriculum materials 
2)  Training of science teachers through workshops and seminars
3)  Equip the science laboratories properly
4)  Centralize the teaching of science subjects
5)  Organize science exhibitions to increase scientific awareness in parents and members
of the public.
6) Use audio-visual materials during the teaching of science subjects.
7)  Establish a Science Center
8) Publish a guide to places of scientific and technological interest and distribute these
to schools.

The White Paper on development published in March 1995 mentions the problem of law
enrolment of girls and some of its actions for the future are:

1) Encourage girls to take up science and build up their strength in mathematics.
2)  Ensure that career guidance is free from gender stereotyping and in fact takes a
positive affirmative stance of encouraging girls' entry in non traditional sectors.
3) Develop special programs to encourage women's entry into engineering as part of
overall program to build a pool of engineers.

4. Women In Science and Technology.

Prior to the 1980s there was a token representation of women who were engaged in
scientific or technological careers. A quick survey of recent figures shows that despite
many obstacles more women are joining science and technology-oriented
occupations.However in comparison with men the figures are not so encouraging. The
table below gives us a glimpse of the present situation regarding women in science and
technology.

 							          Occupation             
								Male       Female      Total                                                         
HEALTH    

Medical Doctors                 133          91        224           
Dentists                         29           8         37
Pharmacists                       6           3          9
Medical X-ray technicians       108          16        124
Laboratory technicians          101          30        131
Dispensers                      142          27        169
Nursing Others/midwife         1273        1768       3041
EDUCATION & OTHERS
Teachers                        463         170        633
Lecturers (Tertiary Level)       29          15         44
Hydrologists (CWA)                6           1          7
Engineers                        36           2         56
Statisticians                    15           8         23              

Table 4: Women in science & technology in some sectors
Source [Women in Figures March 1995]

The figures show that women are a minority in science and technology. The picture
emerging from recent recruitment in scientific and technical areas indicates that more
women are embarking on science-oriented careers. Recently some women engineers have
appeared on the scene but the numbers are extremely low.  
 
Lectures at the Mauritins Institute of Education showed that in 1980 the  proportion of
women scientists to male scientists was 1 to 5 in the science department and in 1995 it
is 7 to 6. At the University of Mauritius in the late 1980s women lecturers have been
recruited in the faculties of science, agriculture and engineering. These were male
dominated areas until 1985. The age range of these women lecturers are between 78 to
35 years and though they are still at the bottom of the ladder their prospects are quite
encouraging given the fact that many of them are undertaking research activities. There
are only a few women in high positions in science, one as Associate Professor and two
as Senior Lecturers at the University of Mauritius and the Institute of Education. So far
only a handful of single woman scientists have managed to occupy the top managerial
positions.

5. Enrolment of women in science and engineering undergraduate courses

More women than before are studying science and technology at tertiary level but still
greater effort has to be made to persuade more girls to follow science and technology
courses. More 
focus needs to be placed on the reasons why science is not appealing to girls. Is it
because there are no job prospects? Or is it because it is not properly remunerated or is
it that girls are not prepared to sacrifice their family life for long hours of tedious work
in science?

6. Women in science related subjects in formal education

The science related subjects have been grouped together as technology related subjects.
These include Agricultural Science, Design and Technology, Electronics, Dress and
Textiles, Food and Textiles, Food Nutrition and Computer Studies. These subjects have
experienced a relatively slow evolution mainly because of the inherent academic bias in
the education system, the resistance to curriculum reforms and the generally low status
of technical jobs in the employment market. Though progressive measures have been
taken to incorporate these subjects in the education system, the students' options for
technology related subjects remain comparatively low. Girls still choose subjects like
Food and Nutrition and Dress and Textiles mostly.

The table below helps to emphasize this point

„„„„„„„„„„„„„„„„„„„„„„„„„„„„„„„„„„„„„„„„„„„„„„„„„
Year         1991              1992              1993             1994
Subject                                      
„„„„„„„„„„„„„„„„„„„„„„„„„„„„„„„„„„„„„„„„„„„„„„„„„-
Agriculture  T Sample 180      T Sample 160      T Sample 247     T Sample 369
			 T Pass 138(76.7%) T Pass 129(80.6%) T Pass 197(75.1%)T Pass197
																	(75.9%)
Boys : 			131 (78.9%)  		119 (92.6%)  	161 (83.4%)    231 (82.8%)
Girls:   		  7 (50.0%)  		 10 (55.6%)		 36 (66.7%)     49 (54.4%)

Degree B     T   41      	 	T.O....I 40      T.O....I 119     T samdvi 105
Technology   T Pass 39 (95.1%)  T Pass 67 (98.5%)T Pass 113(95.0%)T Pass 202 																				(98.5%)
Boys :   		 39 (95.1%)  		 66 (98.5%)  		113(95.0%) 202 (98.5%)
Girls:   		  0           		  0             	  0          0

Food &       T Sample 182       T Sample 211     T Sample 301      T Sample 312
Nutrition    T Pass 169 (92.9%) T Pass 190(64.7%)T Pass 265(61.3%) T Pass 273
																	(87.5%)         
Boys :   		  2 (100 %)  		  3 (66.5%)   		  2 (33.3%)  3 (75.0%)
Girls: 			167 (92.8%) 		187 (61.0%) 		263 (89.2%) 270 (87.7%)

„„„„„„„„„„„„„„„„„„„„„„„„„„„„„„„„„„„„„„„„„„„„„„„„„„„-
Key : T  = Total
Table 5: Students (Boys and Girls ) offering and passing the School 
Certificate examinations in the technology related subjects mentioned 
above

Source : [Mauritius Examinations Syndicate]

Girls participation in Technology related subjects remain very low at secondary level.
This demarcation is more obvious at the Higher School Certificate level.


Year        1991               1992             1993             1994

Subject

Dress &     T: Sample 31       T: Sample 38     T: Sample 49 	 T: Sample 50
Textiles    T: Pass:25 (80.6%) T: Pass 33(86.8%)T: Pass 44(89.8%)T:Pass40(80.9%)
Boys: 			  0                 0              	 0            	 0
Girls: 			 25 (80.6%)   	   33 (86.8%)    	44 (89.8%) 		40 (80.9%)

Cookery &   T: Sample 51       T: Sample 39     T: Sample: 46     T: Sample 43
Food Studies T: Pass: 39(80.4%)T: Pass 39(98.5%)T: Pass: 42(91.3%)TPass29(98.5%)
Boys:			  2(100%)       	0             	 0           	 0
Girls: 			 39(79.6%)   		36(98.5%)     	42(91.3%)  		29 (98.5%)                 

Key: I = Total
Table 6: Students (Boys and Girls) offering and passing the Higher School  Certificate
examinations in the technology related mentioned above.

Source: [Mauritius Examinations Syndicate]

The figures show that there is a clear demarcation of boys' and girls' subjects. Girls do
not go for Design & Technology and one can barely count the number of boys entering for
Food Studies.

8. Teacher training level in science and science related subjects

Even at the teacher training level, male teachers enroll for Design and Technology, and
Agriculture. No female teacher has registered so far for the Design and Technology
course and very few have joined the Agriculture courses at the Mauritius Institute of
Education. Food Studies and Dress and Textiles seem to be a female domain while
accounting is another area where women have taken over their male counterparts.
Economics above is likely to increase in the next decade. The same situation prevails in
science. The employment of women teachers for science courses is comparatively low as
compared to Humanities and Accounting.

9. Other Professional Courses

Diversification of occupation with needs across all sectors for high level skilled workers
will require a more technology intensive and knowledge intensive labour. In professional
courses, examinations conducted by the City and Gides of London Institute, there is a
predominant male participation. These courses are Flour Milling, Security and
Emergency Alarms Systems. Mechanical Engineering technicians, Refrigeration
technicians. Telecommunication technicians, Motor Vehicle technicians, Principles and
Operation of power plants, Electrical and Electronic Engineering technicians. The
participation of women in these area is negligible and is likely to be so for some time.

10. Participation of girls at industrial and vocational training centers

Girls do enroll in these centers initially for science and technology courses but they end
up doing craftwork and very few go for Motor Mechanics Electricity, Sheet Metal
Fabrication or even Cabinet Making. Their participation on the whole is minimal.

11. Women and science-related activities

Science related activities have been ongoing through various organisations. The focus in
the 1950s was to eradicate malnutrition. Government and non governmental
organisations stared a massive campaign on nutrition, health diseases, and cleanliness.
later, the commitment of the policy makers for a welfare state providing better facilities
to promote batter health. education housing and housing conditions. The women became
more enlightened. Together with all these, various non-governmental and governmental
organizations emerged for the upliftment of the status and at the same time relate
certain science components to societyΝs needs.

The various organizations involved in the dissemination of science related issues to
women and girls are:

1)   Ministry of Women's Rights and Family Welfare which operates through centers
that leave home economics offices to talk to women about health, safety, first aid,
cleanliness, personal hygiene, nutrition and the proper use of labour saving devices.

2)   Social welfare centers where trained welfare officers deal with sex education and
social issues such as smoking, drugs, and alcohol.

3)   Ministry of Youth and Sports through youth centers organizes various activities on
health, sex education and social issues.

4)   Agricultural Youth Centers, Farmer Services Counter and Agricultural Extension
Service Center gives information on farming techniques and the use of modern
technology in agriculture and the safe use of pesticides and fertilisers.

5)   Ministry of Health; Non Communicable Disease Unit, AIDS Unit, and Food and
Nutrition Unit are involved in a massive health  education programme at the formal and
informal levels. The AIDS Unit is involved in a sex education programs for school
students and the Certificate of Primary Education (C. P. E.) dropouts. The latter consist
mainly of girls from rural areas who attend social welfare centers. They are equipped
which basic knowledge and skills on their reproductive health so that they can adopt a
healthy lifestyle and thereby prevent sexually transmitted diseases and AIDS.

6)   Non governmental organizations such as Action Familiale, Maurtius Family Planning
Association, Ecole Manager and Mauritius Alliance of Women also develop awareness
on health and sexual matters.

CONCLUSION

There is inadequate science education among girls in Mauritius and more research has to
be done in this area. Women and girls in Mauritius must realize that for improvement in
the development of country, attitudinal changes towards science and technology are
required from teachers, parents, and students. The Master Plan Review in Education
proposes to take some important steps in that direction with the introduction of
Environmental Science, hopefully a science which would be more acceptable to the
majority of the female population. Other changes likely to be  introduced, such as the
Science 2nd technology programs for students and 12 15, will give the centre for primary
education (Grade 6) dropouts a chance to acquire some basis scientific concepts.
Changes in the method and approach to science at lower secondary levels will no doubt
encourage more girls to be drawn towards science and eventually increase their interest
and performance in the subject.

An increase in the numbers of girls at the basic level of science education will eventually
increase the potential pool of scientists and technologists to satisfy the needs of the
country.

A change in the present situation is needed in order to reduce the reliance on the male
half of the population to provide the above mentioned pool of scientists and
technologists to meet the demands of the year 2000.


REFERENCES

*    White Paper on Women in Development - March 1995

Ministry of Women's Rights, Child Development and Family Welfare - Republic
of Mauritius

*    Master Plan  for the Year 2000

Ministry of Education Arts and Culture - Mauritius, August 1991.

*    Women in Mauritius

Ministry of Women's Rights & Family Welfare, Mauritius 1995.

*    Master Plan Review Implementation Workshop

Ministry of Education and Science, Working Document Section 2 Science and
Technology, April 1995.

*    Ministry of Education and Science Figures from Ministry's documents, 1995.

*    Mauritius Examination Syndicate Statistics, 1994.

*    Draft African Platform for Action, March 1995.

Ministry of Women's Rights and Family Welfare Mauritius.