Deputy Director General, China Science and Technology Exchange Center (CSTEC), Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST), China.

The Status of China’s Female R&D Personnel and Promotion Policies (download presentation here )
Plenary Panel 3: Developing Policies & Partnerships to Improve Gender Diversity in STEMM

Dr Yan Wang is Deputy Director General of the China Science and Technology Exchange Center (CSTEC) in the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST), China. Prior to that, she was the division director of System Reform and Science and Technology Talents, and then the division director of Regulations and Intellectual Property, Department of Policy and Regulations, MOST. She was the First Secretary of Science and Technology in the Embassy of China to the United States of America from 2004-2007. She was formerly Professor and Director of the Information and Analysis and Research Center, Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (ISTIC).

She obtained her PhD from the Institute of Chemical Metallurgy at the Chinese Academy of Science and her Bachelors from the Department of Chemical Engineering at Tsinghua University. Her numerous previous publications include "The Role of Chinese Women in Science and Technology Development Based on Statistical Data”, presented at the China-EU Seminar on Science and Society in Beijing, 2003.

Summary of talk for Gender Summit 6 Asia-Pacific:

In recent years, a growing team of female R&D personnel in various fields has made important contributions to China’s S&T progress and innovation, but there are still a lot of problems which the Chinese government issues policies to solve. With sufficient statistical figures, a report illustrates the status of China’s female R&D personnel from perspectives of education, employment, and contribution. The investigation finds out that despite a much less remarkable gender difference in education, inadequate job opportunities and limited career development are serious issues. For example, the proportion of female R&D personnel in enterprises is very low, the number of high-level female R&D personnel is small, and the role of female R&D personnel is not fully played for a greater contribution. The Chinese government pays high attention to the construction of female R&D personnel team.