Report shows 'alarming' under-representation of women in industrial research
The 'under-representation of women in science is preventing the full realisation of the ERA's [European Research Area} potential and the achievement of the Lisbon objectives,' claims the preface to a new report entitled 'Women in industrial research. A wake up call for European industry' published on 23 January. The report was prepared by an expert group of around 50 representatives from leading research and development (R&D) companies and innovative small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs), as well as senior researchers. Helga Rübsamen-Waigmann, vice president of Bayer and head of anti-infective research chaired the group. The report writers call the results 'alarming'. Only 50,000 of the 500,000 researchers working in industry in Europe are women, the average being 15 per cent in the 10 countries where data are gender specific. Some countries are more advanced than others in this field. While the percentage of women in industrial research is 28.2 per cent in Ireland and over 23 per cent in Greece and Portugal, the percentage falls to 9.6 per cent in Germany and 9 per cent in Austria. Women's family commitments are highlighted as one of the main reasons for their limited presence in research. 'Obviously the lack of childcare provisions, as well as non harmonised regulations for maternity/paternity leave and for elder care in the EU, affects career development and mobility of women considerably and puts them at a disadvantage,' claims the report. Fewer women working in industry have children compared with other sectors. The report presents a vision for 2010 - a society where companies value and develop human talent and ensure that both women and men have a sensible work/life balance. The vision also looks forward to a gender balance in laboratories and in senior management, reflecting the roles of men and women in society as decision-makers and consumers. Recommendations for using the pool of female talent include: - attracting more girls to science and engineering to widen the recruitment base; - setting up structures to support the implementation of healthy work/life balance policies; - collecting more statistics on the position of women industrial research; - encouraging an organisational and cultural change in the industry; - developing indicators and benchmarking for monitoring progress made in retaining and promoting women and men, and comparing the effects of national and industrial policies; - compiling and disseminating successful examples of companies that have retained female members of the European talent pool for R&D. Women also fare less well when setting up their own businesses. While the number of women-owned businesses in Europe is growing, the growth rate is still behind that of the US. In 2001, the proportion of female SME owners in the EU was highest in Portugal, followed by Finland and the Netherlands, and lowest in Ireland. Women entrepreneurs tend to have companies in the service sector as opposed to the industrial sector, and the companies are likely to be smaller and younger than those of men. Women are likely to start with less finance than men, have fewer contacts and less business experience. Women find it difficult to access venture capital, but are also less likely to apply for it. Recommendations include training as well as support from mentors and making public successful case studies.