Research motivation
Research motivation：
The Academia Sinica is the highest academic institute in our country, and becoming an academician in the Academia Sinica is the highest honour in the field of academic research. Those who can be elected as academicians are few, the female academicians are even less. The female academicians who still do their research in Taiwan are even more rare, just like the pioneer of academic research.
The focus of the case study of the Victoria Academy international class this year is the “female academicians”, and we hope to introduce the female academicians who does long-term academic research in Taiwan. We had done a lot of research, which included the background in which they grew up, their academic life when in school, their research process, the interviews of their views on the philosophy of life, and what are their thoughts about the correct learning model of young students. The students of the international class hope to introduce eight female academicians in both Chinese and English, we also hoped to do more in-depth research of each female academician in the future.
Brief History of Academia Sinica ：
There are many research institutes in the world, and we also have many of our own in Taiwan. These included different departments such as the economic, financial, industrial, hygienic, educational…etc. However, in our country, the history of the Academia Sinica went the furthest back, and its position in the field of academic research is also the highest.
On April 17, 1927, Chinese social educator Shi-Zeng Li (Yu-Ying Li) put forth a plan to establish the Academia Sinica. After passing the draft resolution, he started to draw up a rough draft of the organisation act with Yuan-Pei Cai and Jing-Jiang Zhang. The institute was originally designed to be managed by the Ministry of Education, with the minister Yuan-Pei Cai as the director.
On June 9, 1928, the institute was formally established and later convened a faculty meeting. The Academia Sinica became an independent organisation at that time, and is still a detached unit from the government up until now.
Later, the institute survived through the fights against the invading army of the Japanese and the Communist Party of China and the moving of the Chinese Nationalist government to Taiwan. Under the help of Jia-Hua Zhu, who was temporary in charge for the director, the Academia Sinica moved into the land of the Nankang hospital in Taipei City. The institute went under the management of many outstanding directors such as Shi Hu, Shi-Jie Wang, Shih-Liang Chien, Ta-You Wu, Yuan-Tseh Lee, and finally director Chi-Huey Wong, who is currently in his term of office.
The present day Academia Sinica is now an institute and the centre of academic studies which has a consultative committee, and with many preparation centres in response to any adjustments or increase in academic researches.
The Origins of Academicians：
The title of “Academician” is the highest honour in many research institutes. The academicians of the Academia Sinica is elected biennially and the title lasts for a lifetime. New academicians are generated after the candidates are investigated by the present academicians and elected by the seniors. The academicians had all been examined carefully for a long time; they must have a certain level of academic prestige, and a leader in the academic fields.
Being an academician is a lifetime honour. Candidates are chosen from those who has outstanding academic results in the nation by the academician conference. Their authorities are as follows:
1. Elect the academician and honour academician
2. Elect councillors
3. Discuss the policy of the national academic research
4. Entrusted by the government and the concerning departments to carry out academic designs, survey, examining and research certain objects.
The Academia Sinica elected the first group of academicians in March, 1948 and held the first ever academician's meeting in Nanjing in September within the same year. Due to the reasons of war in Taiwan, the second conference was held in Taipei in 1957 without any election for new academicians. It was only in 1958 did the third meeting elect the academicians for the second conference. During the fourth conference in the next year(1959), they elected the third group of academicians, and when the academicians gathered for the fifth time, they elected the fourth group in 1962. Afterwards, the academician's meeting would be held periodically and academicians would be elected every 2 years. The thirtieth group of academicians in 2014 was elected by the thirty-first academician's meeting.
During the academician's meeting in 2014, academicians were still divided into the mathematical sciences, life sciences and the social humanities group. Due to the fact that the technologies of the engineering sciences are becoming more and more important, they had already agreed to separate the engineering sciences’ academicians from the mathematical sciences in 2016.
Academia Sinica had elected a total of 467 academicians in the past 66 years, however, 198 academicians had already passed away since the first election in 1949. There are now 269 existing academicians, with 117 from the mathematical sciences, 92 from the life sciences, and 60 from the humanity and social sciences group. Among them, 102 are in Taiwan, 156 are overseas and 11 in mainland China.
Data source of the statistics: The database of the academician's conference in Academia Sinica(updated on 2014.12.17)
Researcher's general situation：
Academician Tsui-jung Liu, who is excellent at analysing statistics, pointed out that most of the members in the academic field in Taiwan are males. During the beginning of year 2004, the female researchers occupied 29% of all researchers in Academia Sinica. If we look at the statistics in the groups, there were around 11% in the mathematical sciences, 42% in the life sciences, and 32% in the humanity and social sciences group.
In other words, the ratio of female researchers were still slightly lesser than one-third, but occupies over two-fifth in the life sciences department. These gender differences that lies in the field of science and technology probably reflects that the subject for the research of the life sciences are softer, thus attracting more females to go into the study.
How do female scholars achieve balance between work and their family life? At first we thought that as long as one arranges her timeproperly, the female scholars would be able to take care of both their work and the family concurrently.
There are basically no sexual discrimination on how the researchers are treated in the academic world, so the female scholars who can take care of both work and family may be the fact that they are able to adjust well. It differs from person to person, and only a small fraction is influenced by the academic environments. For example, in such an excellent environment as the Academia Sinica, the only way to prompt the developments in the academics is when the researchers gave themselves more pressure than just the rules.
The Eight Female Academicians ：
An academician from the second group of academicians who were elected, Chien-Shiung Wu, is our country's first female academician. She had gotten many academic awards such as the National Medal of Science from the US, Wolf Prize in Physics from Israel … etc. and regarded as the Marie Curie of China. 20 years after Chien-Shiung Wu, another female academician was elected; Ru-Chih Chow Huang from the biology group. Later when Jacqueline Whang-Peng, who does long term leading studies on cancer in Taiwan was elected, she became the first local academician.
The leading female academicians who does long term service and showed devotion to Taiwan in Academia Sinica up until the twenty-ninth group elected has a number of no more than 6. They are Jacqueline Whang-Peng,Tsui-jung Liu, Yu Wang, Yan-Wha Wu, Soo-Chen Cheng and Su-May Yu. The thirty-first academician conference election later added two more; Mei-Yin Chou and Mei-Hwei Chang.
When facing the outstanding academic leaders, we kept a heart of respect and showed the thirst for knowledge. We do hope to read more relative news material on the subject and decrease the distance between the female academicians and young learners through observing the academician conference. However, the academic road is always lonely, academician Tsui-jung Liu once said that those who are in search for fame should never have the chance of becoming an academician. Some female academicians just gave out a booklist and asked the students to study by themselves. The students have no other choice but to study quietly, not daring to disturb the academicians.
By distinguishing between genders in the academician research case study is not to show discrimination against females, but to show the idea of equal sexual rights. The males are not the only leaders in the academic world. Although these female scholars had suffered some racial and sexual discrimination more or less in the earlier society in which boys were believed to be more important than girls and when studying overseas. The female academicians used their potential to prove their that they are all academic leaders. Even when they had won the highest regarded academic honour, they are still persistent, continuing quietly in the laboratories, in search of the truth to endless scientific knowledge and discoveries.