While scientific research may still hold a reputable place in French culture, the number of students studying science has dropped significantly, say the French scientific associations ASPERT and Femmes et Sciences.

According to the newspaper Le Monde, about 133,000 students over the age of 18 were enrolled in scientific studies during their first and second years of university 5 years ago, but only 100,000 are so enrolled today. In the life sciences, there was a 27% drop in enrollment between 1995 and 2000, with the trend continuing over the past 3 years.

Speaking at a joint colloquium held by ASPERT and Femmes et Sciences in Paris on January 9 and 10, Jean-Pierre Bourguignon, director of the Institute for Higher Scientific Studies, expressed his fears for the future of science in France. “We may soon be unable to recruit scientific professors and high-quality researchers, and we are faced with the question of when this decrease in interest will stop and how we can subsequently fill the gap,” Bourguignon said.

While national organizations like the National Center for Scientific Research are afraid they will soon be facing a lack of researchers, others worry about the effects on secondary education. Taking her field of physics as an example, Femmes et Sciences President Claudine Hermann told The Scientist that “the number of people currently studying physics and planning to teach physics in secondary school will not be enough to replace those who will be retiring in the next 5 or 6 years.”

“On the one hand, young people probably don't consider a scientific career to be a well paid job,” Hermann said. “But more importantly, teachers tell them they have to be absolutely excellent to succeed in science and that science requires more work than other subjects. So some people would like to do it, but are discouraged.”

“In France, those students who want to be the best often do opt for a scientific high school education, but they then go on to study marketing, management, or literature instead,” she said. “They only chose science to get into the best schools and get the best teachers.”

Hermann also cited large differences in the perception of science among boys and girls. “I can't say whether it is genetic or cultural, but girls and women are generally more interested in jobs that involve contact and social connections,” she said. “But young people tend to think of scientists as people in white coats working alone in an office. Girls I have spoken to say they don't want a job in which they speak to no one. At the same time, boys are often encouraged by their parents to go into science for reasons of prestige, while girls are told they can study what pleases them. The pressure on boys and girls is not the same.”

The glass ceiling may be another deterrent, Hermann said. “There are, for example, many women in the fields of biology and medicine, but their hope of getting promoted is much smaller than in physics. So, it is often a cultural and organizational problem within the fields of biology and medicine, and the difficulty is not in the hiring of women, but in the course of their careers.”

Colloquium participants proposed a reform of the French educational system, citing a recent initiative by Minister of Education Luc Ferry to review the way science is instructed in schools. They also discussed making science more attractive by changing its public image. Some suggested that scientific subjects be demystified in schools and more practically linked to people's future concerns, while others proposed pluridisciplinary university studies that could afford students more professional flexibility.

Hermann said that the private sector could serve as an example. “A certain number of international companies have shown an interest in having more women,” she said. “Their argument is that a diverse team allows a company to better meet the demands of a diverse market and leads to more profits. And so the efforts of companies such as L'Oreal could be of interest to members of the public sector who have no idea that this kind of thing is happening.”

The French Institute for Health and Medical Research (INSERM) voiced deep concern for the future of scientific research and the employment of young researchers in a January 14 open letter to the prime minister, the minister of research, and the minister of health.

“We are deeply worried about the decrease in funding and number of posts offered to young researchers and cannot understand the budget decisions made by the government… especially when you have clearly declared research to be a national priority,” reads the letter, which is signed by all of the heads of INSERM's scientific commissions.

According to the letter, while countries like the United States and Japan have doubled their public research funding in recent years, France reduced its funding to laboratories by up to 40%, excluding salaries, between 2001 and 2003. The signatories also say they believe the pharmaceutical industry can only develop in tandem with fundamental academic research.

“We ask you… to return confidence in French research and give hope to our young researchers and students by affording public research organizations 1) budgets worthy of the challenges they face, 2) a chance to recruit the young talent formed by our universities and research laboratories,” the authors write.