In Germany, mathematics is widely considered a male fi eld of interest even though nearly half of the university students in mathe maticsare female. More and more women drop out during the early stages of their academic career. In the article recent data are presented. Then the fi ndings of two surveys are reported that have been conducted in Oldenburg. One of them focuses on explanations for women’s relative reserve to aim at passing a PhD in mathematics and the other on individual experiences of women professors of mathematics during their career. The article suggests measures for the encouragement of young women in mathematics.
