Women, business and biotechnology
Women can succeed in the biotechnology industry, as entrepreneurs and as mothers, but more effort is still needed, a conference in the European Parliament on the 'women entrepreneurs in the biotechnology industry' concluded on September 20 organised by Europabio. Women do find it more difficult to get into the science sector due to the still sexist attitudes and literature in it, according to Eryl McNally, MEP (and also a member of Committee on Women's Rights and Equal Opportunities) who sat on the panel of the event. The panel also included four successful women entrepreneurs in the biotechnology sector, and further representatives from the European Parliament, the European Commission and the French government (representing the French presidency of the European Union). One of the four invited women speakers, Ms Geraldine Schofield, a trained microbiologist who works for Anglo-Dutch multinational, Unilever, bore out the concerns about educational access: 'The biggest difficulty I had was getting a foot on the ladder - when I tried to apply to do a Phd, I was asked whether I would manage a full three years,' she said. Ms Nicole Dewandre, representing the European Commission in her capacity as head of the women in science sector of DG Research, agreed that there are difficulties but also claimed women had to take a more active role in science. This is something that the Commission is actively encouraging in its Fifth Framework programme (FP5) in the 'women in science' campaign, but gaps remain. One example is the female representation on the evaluation panels which analyse the progress of FP5 programmes. These have a target of 40% representation of women on the panels but just 25% has been reached so far, largely because not enough women have applied. In the area of biotechnology, some women's attitudes have obstructed advances, as one recent survey found that 70% of those who objected to genetically modified organisms were women. But the four invited speakers were proof that success can be attained and Ms Schofield in particular remains upbeat about advances. 'I can remember that 13 years ago, I worked among 1,000 researchers who did not have one female manager. But now, the more women you see in science, the more role models there are,' she said.
Countries
France