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Opportunities abound throughout the world for young people interested in cell biology. The most successful will be those who can learn new skills and work collaboratively. But Europe needs to learn an urgent lesson from the United States if there is to be any future for biomedical research in the next millennium.
In every country examined, there are far fewer women in senior positions in science than the number who begin a career in research — and those who do achieve success are paid less than their male colleagues. Irrespective of gender, the distribution of grants for scientific research is grossly skewed in favour of the few at the expense of the many. And members of some ethnic minority groups tend not even to begin careers in research. Why are these discriminatory practices tolerated, and what (if anything) is being done to change this state of affairs?