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The European
Parliament adopted by 416 votes to 75, with 164 abstentions, a resolution on
women and science. The own
initiative report had been tabled for consideration in plenary by Britta THOMSEN
(PES, DK) on behalf of the Committee on Women's Rights and Gender Equality. The Parliament
recalls that research represents a crucial sector for the economic
development of the European Union but that, in this domain, women are a
minority, as female researchers comprise an average of 35% of researchers
working in the public sector and an average of only 18% of researchers
working in the private sector. As a result of
this observation, the Parliament calls on Member States to promote science as
an interesting field for both sexes, from an early age, particularly amongst
women. It considers that it is essential to fight against gender stereotypes,
which are still present in the research sector. It encourages universities
and faculties to analyse all forms of implicit gender discrimination and to
resolve these issues. To encourage a
better integration of women in the research sector and in the field of
science in general, a series of measures have been put forward. These measures
can be summarised as follows: - combating
terrorism: a revision of the ‘good
researcher’ model by identifying the differences between male and female
scientific careers and by stressing that female researchers also
contribute to the world of research;
- better
work-life balance: measures are called for
to offer them flexible working hours, improved child-care facilities, more
favourable parental leave conditions,…;
- study
grants: the establishment of a system for
grants for doctoral studies which better respects the national maternity
leave provisions (in effect, the age limits for the award of grants
adversely affect young women who are mothers or who are looking after
dependants; therefore, it is necessary to allow one year to be added to
the deadline for applications for each year in which a dependant is
looked after);
- recruitment
of women to decision-making positions: a
revision of recruitment procedures in order to increase the presence of
women in senior posts in universities and education authorities (the
Plenary criticises, in this respect, the unambitious and insufficient EU
target of 25% of women in leading positions in public-sector research;
gender equality should therefore imply a rate of at least 40% of women);
furthermore, there are calls for more transparent recruitment processes
and for an obligation to ensure gender balance in evaluation panels,
selection and all other committees, as well as nominated panels and
committees with a non-binding target of at least 40 % women (and at
least 40 % men);
- awareness: it is necessary to raise awareness amongst the scientific
community and policy makers of equal opportunities in science and
research (top-level commitment is vital for achieving gender equality in
research, and such a commitment must be expressed at national and
institutional level); it is also important for universities, research
institutes and private businesses to adopt and enforce equality
strategies; Member States must also be encouraged to promote
awareness-raising actions to inform and encourage girls to pursue
scientific and technological university studies and degrees;
- participation
of women in scientific research programmes:
the Commission is called upon to ensure that attention is paid to the
participation of women in scientific research programmes by providing
targeted gender-awareness training for those in decision-making
positions, those sitting on advisory boards and evaluation panels, those
drafting invitations to tender as well as tenders, and those leading
contract negotiations; the Commission is also called upon to ensure that
in tenders submitted under FP7 there is a balanced representation of men
and women and that gender action plans be developed at the proposal and
evaluation stage of FP7;
- promotion
of professional careers for women in scientific domains: it is also proposed to encourage female researchers and to further
develop support and mentoring schemes, given that the development of
support structures for career guidance and the provision of advice to
female scientists would produce particularly positive results; it is
also necessary to encourage greater participation of women in fields
such as technology, physics, engineering, computer science and other
domains;
- remuneration
policy: it is vital that a fairer
remuneration policy for female scientists be promoted and that research
funds specifically targeted at women be provided to counter the under
funding of women in research (the principle of equal pay should also
apply to scholarships and grants);
- networking
among female scientists: this should take
place at national, regional and EU level; networks should be established
to strengthen the position of women and to encourage them to participate
in the policy debate.
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