Fewer women than men are asked to write in the leading
scientific journals. That is established by two researchers from
Lund University in Sweden, who criticise the gender bias. In the
30 August issue of Nature, researchers have published an article
showing that a much lower percentage of women than men are
invited to write articles in News & Views in Nature and
Perspectives in Science. "We believe that fewer women than men
are offered the career boost of invitation-only authorship in
each of the two leading science journals" says Daniel Conley, a
researcher at Lund University. The consequences are that women
are not as visible as men and are not provided the same
opportunities for career advancement. The loss of women in
science constitutes a brain drain for society. When Nature was
criticized in 2005 for offering too few women the opportunity to
write for the Insight section, Nature increased the proportion
of women authors. "Gender parity can be achieved if Nature and
Science are willing to make the effort