Gender balance in medical physics—Lost in transition?

Abstract

Before the toppling of the communist regime in Romania in 1989, the gender distribution in physics college students was bent towards males with an approximate two-thirds to one-third ratio. A recent statistical analysis made among researchers that have applied for research grants in the area of health science (including medical physics) shows that the number of male applicants is around double the number of female applicants. However, a look at the current gender balance among clinical medical physicists shows a clear bend towards females. Theoretically, this could result in an increased number of female researchers in medical physics, though practically this does not happen due to the large clinical workload in the Romanian hospitals which limits the time and effort necessary for scientific explorations. This fact leads us to the actual category of skilled people who undertake research: the academic staff. Among them, the gender balance is off, as the male to female ratio is nearing 3. Given these facts, it is interesting to think about the choices made by males and females after graduation, entering the workforce. Despite the general decline in science students over the last few decades, medical physics keeps being an attractive educational offer presented by several Romanian universities. An interesting shift is that among current medical physics students, the large majority are female both at undergraduate and postgraduate levels. Does this mean that in 20, years we will see a dominance of females in higher academic positions and research grant applications? Can we afford to just let nature take its course, or do we have to actively intervene to encourage women to choose an academic and research career after graduation?