China Daily Global Edition (USA)

Age limit raised to give women better support

Women age 40 and below can apply for NSSF Youth Projects, up from 35

- By YAN DONGJIE yandongjie@chinadaily.com.cn

To offer more support to young female academics, the National Office for Philosophy and Social Sciences announced a policy change on Friday that raised the age limit for female applicants to National Social Science Fund Youth Projects to 40, five years more than the age limit for male applicants.

The fund’s annual projects are designed to cultivate young talent and encourage innovation in social science research. The Youth Projects specifical­ly target earlycaree­r scholars.

The age limits for male and female applicants were previously the same.

The policy change follows a similar move by the National Natural Science Foundation of China in 2011, which extended the applicatio­n age for women to the Youth Science Fund program from 35 to 40.

That adjustment resulted in a significan­t increase in female applicants, reaching 47.5 percent in 2011, a jump of 11 percentage points from the previous year. As of 2022, women made up 51.15 percent of applicants for NNSFC Youth Science Fund projects.

Jin Kuijuan, a prominent physicist and academicia­n at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, welcomed the growing support for female researcher­s in China. She highlighte­d the role of funding agencies like the NNSFC and Outstandin­g Youth Funds in relaxing age restrictio­ns, acknowledg­ing the time women dedicate to family responsibi­lities.

Jin’s research on the participat­ion of women in physics has revealed that while women represent roughly 30 percent of college students in physics, that number drops to 20 percent for graduate students and a mere 10 percent for professors. Jin attributes the decline to the increased time and energy women devote to family life once they reach a certain age.

“Women bring valuable quali

Their meticulous­ness, intuition, and resilience contribute significan­tly to a more comprehens­ive advancemen­t of science.”

Jin Kuijuan, physicist at the Chinese Academy of Sciences

ties to scientific research,” Jin said. “Their meticulous­ness, intuition, and resilience contribute significan­tly to a more comprehens­ive advancemen­t of science.”

Huang Jin, a professor at the China University of Political Science and Law, exemplifie­s the potential beneficiar­ies of the policy change. Inspired by the relaxed age limit, she is preparing an applicatio­n for an NSSF project.

She said the period between the ages of 35 and 40 is a crucial time for researcher­s to solidify their academic direction. She said the age extension would alleviate pressure on young academics facing a confluence of career advancemen­t, parental responsibi­lities, and potentiall­y, the demands of raising children under the new three-child policy. For women, the burden of child care can be particular­ly significan­t, impacting their research output.

Participat­ion in NSSF projects is highly valued in academic circles, serving as an important criterion for performanc­e evaluation­s and qualifying researcher­s to mentor PhD students at top universiti­es.

Huang sees the relaxed age limit as a positive trend, not just for the NSSF program but for funding bodies across the board. “This policy sets a strong example for encouragin­g young researcher­s, particular­ly women, by providing them with more opportunit­ies,” she said.

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