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1/ Are we about to lose a whole generation of Canadian researchers? In the year of COVID, graduating PhDs are struggling to find pathways to continue their research & employment. A solution is for government to provide extra funding for postdoc. fellowships, lots of them. Yet,
2/ Looking for ex. at @NSERC_CRSNG numbers, we see the numbers of postdoc. fellowships dwindling, even post @cdavidnaylor's report. Here is the 2016-2020 data. The 2021 results may be much worse since unsuccessful applicants from past years will be allowed to re-apply.
3/ The 2020 gender distributions of these fellowships -though slightly better than previous years- is particularly disturbing:
4/ The gender distributions are acutely lopsided in the "hard sciences" (Math, Physics, Chemistry, CS) and engineering. We suspect the 2021 numbers may be worse for women since they've been hit hardest by the pandemic.
5/ Now govnmt has acknowledged that "the COVID-19 pandemic has magnified systemic & longstanding inequalities with women disproportionately affected."They created a $100M “Feminist Response & Recovery Fund.” What if a fraction of this go to Tri-Council to support women in STEM?
