The National Natural Science Foundation of China (NFSC) recently raised women’s age limit on funding of youth projects by five years, from 35 to 40, according to a Xinmin Evening News report.
The decision is largely seen as an attempt to ease the burden that women researchers face during their marital and childbearing years.
Usually women face the challenge of balancing their responsibilities as professionals and mothers, especially when some of them have no choice but to deal with it soon after graduating from college.
According to Wang Enduo, a member of the China Academy of Sciences, the previous regulation regarding funding severely limited women's opportunity to foster their careers and added unnecessary obstacles.
Wang further stated that many outstanding women in the field of scientific and technological research could not return to their professions due to the responsibilities of childbearing, thus missing out on the most opportune time for applying for science research projects and awards.
A forum recently held in Shanghai indicated that women in the field of science and research based in the city are debunking the trend of male dominance. According to the forum, women account for 48.1 percent of the science researchers in Shanghai, with 37 percent comprising of senior technicians who are women.
Xu Feng, president of the Shanghai Women's Federation, stated that the local government should formulate more concrete policies to help women in the science and technology field to overcome the obstacles that childbearing brings.
Xu shared that a new focus on the issue concerns the requirements that women sci-tech workers need to submit.