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Comission Femmes et Astronomie de la SF2A : Women participation in french astronomy 2025

N. Lagarde, R. -M. Ouazzani, J. Malzac, M. Clavel, P. de Laverny, L. Leboulleux, I. Vauglin, C. Bot, S. Brau-Nogué, L. Ciesla, E. Josselin, N. Nesvadba, O. Venot

TL;DR

This study reports a longitudinal census of women’s participation in French professional astronomy, expanding from 8 to 11 institutes and 1,525 individuals (~57% of the community) to map gender balance across career stages, positions, and income. It confirms a persistent leaky pipeline: women are more likely to hold temporary contracts, are underrepresented at higher seniority levels, and are less represented in higher-income and technical/scientific ITA roles; HDR accreditation among women remains disproportionately low. The analysis, including a comparison with the 2021-2022 baseline, highlights stable permanent staff numbers but a surge of male recruitment into short-term positions, and reveals substantial gendered differences across BAP categories. The findings justify ongoing longitudinal monitoring and standardized data collection to guide policies aimed at improving diversity and inclusion in French astronomy.

Abstract

The Commission Femmes et Astronomie of the French Astronomical Society, has conducted a statistical study aimed at mapping the current presence of women in French professional astronomy and establishing a baseline for tracking its evolution over time. This study follows an initial survey carried out in 2021, which covered eight astronomy and astrophysics institutes (1,060 employees). This year, the scope was expanded to 11 institutes, bringing together a total of 1,525 employees, including PhD students, postdoctoral researchers, academics, as well as technical and administrative staff, representing about 57% of the whole French community. We examined how the proportion of women varies according to career stage, level of responsibility, job security, and income. The results are compared to the 2021-2022 survey and appear to illustrate the well-known "leaky pipeline", with one of the main bottlenecks being access to permanent positions. The study shows that the proportion of women consistently declines with increasing job security, career seniority, qualification level, and salary.

Comission Femmes et Astronomie de la SF2A : Women participation in french astronomy 2025

TL;DR

This study reports a longitudinal census of women’s participation in French professional astronomy, expanding from 8 to 11 institutes and 1,525 individuals (~57% of the community) to map gender balance across career stages, positions, and income. It confirms a persistent leaky pipeline: women are more likely to hold temporary contracts, are underrepresented at higher seniority levels, and are less represented in higher-income and technical/scientific ITA roles; HDR accreditation among women remains disproportionately low. The analysis, including a comparison with the 2021-2022 baseline, highlights stable permanent staff numbers but a surge of male recruitment into short-term positions, and reveals substantial gendered differences across BAP categories. The findings justify ongoing longitudinal monitoring and standardized data collection to guide policies aimed at improving diversity and inclusion in French astronomy.

Abstract

The Commission Femmes et Astronomie of the French Astronomical Society, has conducted a statistical study aimed at mapping the current presence of women in French professional astronomy and establishing a baseline for tracking its evolution over time. This study follows an initial survey carried out in 2021, which covered eight astronomy and astrophysics institutes (1,060 employees). This year, the scope was expanded to 11 institutes, bringing together a total of 1,525 employees, including PhD students, postdoctoral researchers, academics, as well as technical and administrative staff, representing about 57% of the whole French community. We examined how the proportion of women varies according to career stage, level of responsibility, job security, and income. The results are compared to the 2021-2022 survey and appear to illustrate the well-known "leaky pipeline", with one of the main bottlenecks being access to permanent positions. The study shows that the proportion of women consistently declines with increasing job security, career seniority, qualification level, and salary.
Paper Structure (8 sections, 6 figures, 1 table)

This paper contains 8 sections, 6 figures, 1 table.

Table of Contents

  1. Introduction
  2. The 2024-2024-2025 Map
  3. The 2024-2025 study set up
  4. Results for the general population with a focus on job security
  5. Research career
  6. Women in engineering and technical positions
  7. The distribution of income across jobs and gender
  8. Conclusions

Figures (6)

  • Figure 1: Proportion of women for the overall sample, among permanent staff, and non-permanent staff. Left: based on the complete 2024-2025 sample. Right: restricted to the five laboratories included in both the 2021-2022 (hatched bars) and 2024-2025 studies.
  • Figure 2: Proportion of women among the researchers (from PhD to Emeritus, 992 individuals), and among administrative, technical and engineering staff (a.k.a ITA, 527 individuals). Left: based on the complete 2024-2025 sample. Right: restricted to the five laboratories included in both the 2021-2021-2022 (hatched bars) and 2024-2025 studies.
  • Figure 3: Proportion of women at each stage of the research career. Left panel: based on the complete 2024-2025 sample, with dashed lines showing linear fits for women (green) and men (magenta). Right panel: restricted to the five laboratories included in both the 2021-2022 (hatched bars) and 2024-2025 studies.
  • Figure 4: Proportion of women in the ITA population among permanent and non-permanent staff, based on the full 2024-2025 sample (left panel), and restricted to the five laboratories common to both the 2021-2022 (hatched bars) and 2024-2025 studies (right panel).
  • Figure 5: Left : Proportion of women in each category of ITA jobs. From left to right they are ordered by qualification and income level. Right : Proportion of women in two groups of professional domains : Management, Culture/Communication, Logistics (BAP J, F, G) and IT, Engineering and Scientific Instrumentation (BAP E, C)
  • ...and 1 more figures