Science research — Reducing the gender gap
Jointly funded by the EU and the Italian government, the project 'Women's careers hitting the target: Gender management in scientific and technological research' (WHIST) intended to reveal and resolve these hidden obstacles. Based on the outcomes of the EU project PRAGES, WHIST developed and tested gender diversity management policies to understand gender dynamics in three Research Performing Organisations. For this purpose, both holistic and analytical approaches were used to identify issues and find solutions. The Research Performing Organisations participating in the project were the Fraunhofer – Institute for Industrial Engineering (IAO) in Germany, the University of Aarhus in Denmark and the European Space Agency (ESA), France. The University of Aarhus implemented a mentoring pilot programme as well as action plans promoting gender equality to create a women-friendly environment. Notable measures are incentives to hire 20 new female professors and identifying factors leading to women dropping out of university. The European Space Agency established corporate behavioural guidelines and created a corporate Institutional Committee to promote gender equality through a corporate communication campaign. Additionally, a pilot programme supporting expatriate partners' work was also implemented. At Fraunhofer IAO, noteworthy is the implementation of the re-entry support service to assist employees returning after a 'baby-break' leave. Furthermore the organisation addressed gender diversity through a seminar as well as the company Intranet and produced two annual reports on equal opportunities. The observations and empirical data obtained from experimental work at these organisations provided invaluable insights into gender dynamics and enabled the formalisation of lessons learned. The Guidelines on Gender Diversity in S & T Organisations created by the WHIST team outlines the obstacles and actions that need to be taken to promote gender equality. For instance, the importance of increasing awareness of gender discrimination and the role of negotiation activity was brought to light. WHIST also accounted for the political and regulatory environment at national levels that could hinder social innovation. WHIST outcomes were disseminated through interactive workshops on gender diversity management and a final public conference in Brussels. Implementation of WHIST guidelines will also facilitate structural and attitudinal changes in other European Research Performing Organisations to promote gender equality.
Keywords
Structural change, institutional change, gender equality, gender management, gender diversity, social innovation, gender discrimination, scientific and technological research
