A move to better support women’s careers in science and technology
Aiming to improve the working environment of women researchers early in their career, the FESTA (Female empowerment in science and technology academia) project brought together scientists from a range of different academic disciplines. Different partner institutions worked on core issues that have seldom been addressed. These include PhD supervision, meeting cultures, decision-making processes and perceptions of excellence in hiring processes and in the work environment, as well as resistance-to-equality measures. FESTA sought to introduce changes in the daily lives of women researchers, creating a proper organisational environment where their competence can be valued and fostered. For this reason, it prepared toolkits and guidelines for research organisations that deem it necessary to address gender imbalance but are not sure how to properly go about it. For the design of trans-European toolkits, interviews were conducted in all partner institutions to understand issues in the local context, identify targeted actions and provide solid contextualised material to work on. Furthermore, project partners collected statistical data related to gender in single institutions, to raise awareness of the current situation. Dissemination activities brought forward the fundamental, but previously often neglected, starting point for any structural change towards improving gender equality: it is not the women but rather the organisational context that causes problems in gender and science issues. The participating institutions have learned how to take action when structural biases are detected, and how to increase transparency and active participation of women in formal and informal decision-making processes as well as improve communication within the workplace.
Keywords
Gender statistics, PhD supervision, scientific careers, meeting cultures, gender and excellence, structural change, awareness raising
