EU project to examine relationship between gender and scientific practices
An EU funded project is to compare the development of scientific communities, practices and cultures in Europe from a gender and East-West perspective. Over the past 25 years feminist knowledge theorists, and philosophers of science have been at odds with those engaged in social studies of science. They argue that these studies have focused on a narrowly defined set of scientific methods and have overlooked the context of discovery and the phase where research questions are formulated. The ideals of reason, objectivity and value-neutrality, around which most mainstream theories of knowledge are constructed, implicitly validate male experiences and values, say philosophers. The KNOWING comparative study will examine scientific institutions specialising in sociology and biology in Austria, the Czech Republic, Finland, Slovakia, and the United Kingdom. Specifically, it will compare the workload of researchers (research, teaching, university services), work patterns (collaborative, solitary), interests, research topics and epistemological frameworks (dissertation topics, journal articles, conference proceedings), rates of promotion within employment (hiring, promotion, retirement), and work satisfaction and experiences of discrimination. A particular focus will be placed on the new EU Member States, where research environments are in transition. The study will also seek to identify structural and institutionalised practices and procedures that may hinder or promote the participation of women and young people in science. These will include committee decisions (hiring, promotional, programmatic, editorial), expert evaluations (peer reviews), dissemination arenas (conference proceedings, funding) and access to and standing in epistemic communities. The aim is to provide recommendations for better practices, accountability and transparency and gender mainstreaming in research and development that will contribute to ongoing educational reforms in several of the countries involved in the study. Finally, the project consortium hopes that its results will have an impact on EU and national policy in order to promote gender equality and contribute to public debate on the accountability of research and researchers.
Countries
Austria, Czechia, Finland, Slovakia, United Kingdom