The gender imbalance

The US National Institutes of Health (NIH) this month launched a study into the root causes of gender disparity in scientific research. The study, which is being run by the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS), has allocated between $2 million and $3 million to fund up to eight grants.

“At the lower level, women and men are about equal,” says NIGMS director, Jeremy Berg. “But as you get farther and farther up the ladder, the number of women drop at each stage.”