page_title: Women in STEM fields
section_title: Asia
hierarchical_section_title: Women in STEM fields / Representation of women worldwide / Asia
context_page_description: Many scholars and policymakers have noted that the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics have remained predominantly male with historically low participation among women since the origins of these fields during the Age of Enlightenment.
  Scholars are exploring the various reasons for the continued existence of this gender disparity in STEM fields. Those who view this disparity as resulting from discriminatory forces are also seeking ways to redress this disparity within STEM fields.
context_section_description: A fact sheet published by UNESCO in March 2015 presented worldwide statistics of women in the STEM fields, with a focus on Asia and the Pacific region. It reports that, worldwide, 30 percent of researchers are women. In these areas, East Asia, the Pacific, South Asia and West Asia had the most uneven balance, with 20 percent of researchers being women in each of those sub-regions. Meanwhile, Central Asia had the most equal balance in the region, with women comprising 46 percent of its researchers. The Central Asian countries Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan were the only countries in Asia with women as the majority of their researchers, though in both cases it was by a very small margin.
caption: Proportion of female graduates in science programmes in tertiary education in Asia