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Professor Mary Osborn of Germany's Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry, who chaired the expert working group on gender balance in research policy.
|  here are not enough women in research in Europe," says Philippe Busquin, Member of the European Commission responsible for Research(1). Although women account for 50% of university graduates, higher up the career ladder the proportion falls - to well below 10% at the top. Women make slower progress, have to publish more to get the same recognition, are poorer paid and are less likely to win grants or venture capital backing.
Some private companies are more 'family-friendly' than others, but in 57 large companies studied in Germany in 1995 only 1.2% of top managers were women. Life science industries employ more women scientists than physical sciences or engineering, but still far fewer than men.
Need for action
The European Union's 1999 Women and Science initiative(2) includes EU and national measures to increase the participation of women in research. Women scientists' networks will promote participation in the Fifth Research Framework Programme (FP5) by raising awareness, and by increasing the number of women on its evaluation and monitoring panels. National policies promoting women in science will also be reviewed.
One of the topic groups of the European Technology Assessment Network (ETAN) is addressing the gender balance in research policy(3). The group identified an urgent need for data on employment in public and private sector research, segregated by gender and level of achievement. Nicole Dewandre of the European Commission's Directorate-General for Research says: "This is something we are discussing with Eurostat, within the Commission, with Member States and on an international level with the OECD." Only when comparable data exist can progress be monitored.
The ETAN group also looked at the scope for women scientists to combine professional and family roles, and at ways of increasing their chances to take leading positions. Its proposals have teeth - unlike previous well-intentioned Council resolutions on equal opportunities. "We cannot afford to sit back and wait for change," says Professor Mary Osborn, the group's Chair. "Instead, progress should be ensured by redistribution of funding."
The ETAN report recommends an EU Directive requiring employers of 50 or more people to keep gender-separated statistics on employment and pay. This will oblige the Member States to develop laws on gender monitoring. New national laws are recommended on gender balance in public bodies and on access to public records, to prevent nepotism. Discriminatory regulations - for example, time limits on research contracts which make career breaks impossible - should also be removed.
Measurable improvement
Equal opportunities for women were specified for the first time in FP5, which also has a Gender and Science Watch system to monitor gender balance. The ETAN group calls for gender equality to be 'mainstreamed' in FP6, with a minimum of 30% women on policy, grant and monitoring committees by 2002 and 40% by 2005. Other practical proposals include support for independent scientists ('Eurogroups'), one-time grants to support occasional costs, and support for networking.
(1) Towards a European Research Area, COM(2000)6. The full document can be downloaded from http://www.europa.eu.int/comm/research/area.html
(2) The Women and Science Sector homepage is at /improving/src/hp_women.htm
(3) The ETAN Report can be downloaded from the Women and Science sector homepage.
Contacts
- N. Dewandre, European Commission, Research DG
Tl. +32 2 299 4925
Fx. +32 2 299 3746
E-m. nicole.dewandre@ec.europa.eu
- M. Osborn, Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry
Tl. +49 551 201 1486
Fx. +49 551 201 1578
E-m. mosborn@gwdg.de |
WOMEN IN RESEARCH-BASED INDUSTRY
