Apathy on the part of school administrators and government officials discourages many women from choosing to pursue careers in science and math, said four female scientists at a panel discussion last night.

Speaking to a crowd of more than 50 at the Cronkhite Graduate Center, panelists said it is very difficult for women to obtain funding for research, tenure at a university, awards and grants, and invitations to speak and write.

With the exception of all-women's colleges, American institutions, at best, do not do enough to encourage women scientists and, at worst, actively discriminate against them, panelists said.

Some members of the panel--which included an astrophysicist, two biochemists and a geologist--said that women have to take a certain personal satisfaction from their work because they do not receive the recognition that men do in their fields, they said.

"Science is a very political institution," said Phyllis Robinson, a biochemist. "For women to succeed, they have to pay attention to the game,"--the game of obtaining funding and respect and jobs--the game of dealing with the "old boy network," she said.

Panelists lamented the fact that American students of both sexes enter science at a low rate. Women, however, choose the math and sciences as a major at an even lower rate than men, they said. Since 1982, the rate of women choosing to study science dropped from 9 percent to 5 percent, said panel moderator Frances C. Volkmann, Professor of Psychology at Smith College.

One factor behind the declining interest in science is the nerdy image of scientists, said Andrea K. Dupree of the Harvard Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, the largest center of its kind in the world.

The scarcity of women on university science faculties also dissuades women from entering sciences, said speakers at the panel, co-sponsored by the Smith College Alumnae Club of Cambridge and the Schlesinger Library.

Another problem in attracting students is the lack of jobs for scientists upon graduation and money for research projects, speakers said.

Funding for laboratory research has been slashed since former President Ronald W. Reagan shifted the bulk of federal funds from civil to military research in the early '80s, said biochemist Harlee Strauss.

Frustrated by limited funds, many scientists turn to private industry, where many women and minorities often face discrimination, Strauss said. Affirmitive action plans, if implemented properly, could open up more opportunities for minorities, women and the disabled, she said.

Career development programs in secondary schools are particularly helpful in encouraging students to pursue the further study of science, said Strauss, whose attendence in a summer science program during high school helped point her toward a career in chemistry.

"I would really like to see more of them," she said, adding that funding for such programs is insufficient.