Gender and research gets renewed attention - but needs more 'A lot done, a lot still to do,' said British MEP Eryl McNally at the conference 'Gender and research' in Brussels on 8 November, summarising the general impression at the proceedings. This view was echoed by Ministers from across Europe and beyond who gathered together to as... 'A lot done, a lot still to do,' said British MEP Eryl McNally at the conference 'Gender and research' in Brussels on 8 November, summarising the general impression at the proceedings. This view was echoed by Ministers from across Europe and beyond who gathered together to assess the progress made in promoting women in science in recent years, and to discuss what still needs to be done and how to do it. One of the most interesting perspectives on the issue and one that also offered a view of the European efforts from an external perspective, came from the South African delegation. None of the countries represented have experienced more change in the last few years than South Africa. Speaking to CORDIS News, the South African deputy minister for arts, culture, science and technology, Brigitte S Mabandla said she thought that South Africa could learn a lot from Europe in terms of women in science, but that Europe can also learn from South Africa. 'We are just a few steps behind [Europe] because in terms of conceptualising the issue of gender and science in the broad sense we began truly much earlier, but designing strategies around policies is a very difficult thing, so [Europe] is far ahead of us,' Ms Mabandla told CORDIS News. Quantitative indicators in South Africa echo those in Europe - the higher the seniority level, the lower the percentage of women. For example, while 50 per cent of lecturers are women, women make up only 10 per cent of professors. South Africa can learn from Europe in terms of the methodology of research, benchmarking and indicators, said Ms Mabandla, but she added that Europe could also learn from South Africa. The new research foundation and reference group, currently being established in South Africa will be setting standards around a multisectoral approach. 'I'm of the view that we are starting almost from scratch in many areas and we're going to have our second census, so obviously now is the time for us to integrate,' she said. As well as addressing gender issues in science, Ms Mabandla stressed that the race issue must not be neglected. Figures from 2001 show that whilst 20 per cent of public research funding went to women, only two per cent went to black women. 'We also have a special approach. Our conceptualisation of the whole issue of gender is premised also on a recognition of the reality of our situation, very sharp in our case, of race and gender,' said Ms Mabandla. She told CORDIS News that she believes some EU countries may be in denial of problems with minority researchers, and that Europe should examine the gender/race issue more fully. 'For us, it's imperative that we look at things from that angle, otherwise we will fail to address the issue,' she said. Among the European countries represented at the conference, Sweden appeared to have achieved the best results. 'In Sweden, gender policy is no longer a woman's issue, but a government policy,' explained Agneta Bladh, Secretary of State for the Swedish Ministry of Education and Research. The government is obliged to consider equality in all areas of decision making and policy forming, including research. Statistics indicate that Sweden has the highest number of female professors, the figure currently standing at 13 per cent. Still, Ms Bladh is not impressed with the rate of improvement. 'The direction is the right one, but progress is slow,' she said. The Swedish government is nonetheless putting a lot of effort into raising women's profile in research. In the 1990s it found that the promotion of women in science was too slow and so introduced gender mainstreaming. Some 32 posts for female professors were created, to be filled by women unless there were no suitable female candidates. This initiative was however rejected by the European Court of Justice (ECJ), so no such positions will be created in the future. Sweden is keeping its ambitions high, aiming to have women occupying 25 per cent of professor posts by 2008. Figures from 1997 to 1999 show that most universities are making their targets. Rainer Gerold, Director for 'European research area: science and society' in the Commission's Research DG pronounced Sweden a role model and expressed the hope that Sweden 'will continue to help us at European level'. Ms Bladh called for more gender statistics and gender research as well as the mainstreaming of gender in the European research area (ERA). 'It is the structures that we hardly see that we have to change,' said Ms Bladh, 'the social and cultural structures'. This point was echoed by David King, Chief scientific advisor to the UK government and Head of the UK's office of science and technology, who said 'what is obvious is that we have to tackle the pace of change, have to tackle the underlying issues.' Mr King referred to a government white paper published in 1993, which stated 'women are the most underused and undervalued assets in science'. Since then the UK government has attempted to address the issue, and in 1996 introduced a unit to deal with the promotion of women in science. In 1996 it was envisaged that the unit would run for 15 years as it was thought that after that time, it would no longer be necessary. Unfortunately however the pay gap between men and women in academia has increased from five to six per cent in recent years, and whilst the percentage of female undergraduates studying life sciences is 66 per cent, only nine per cent of professors are women. Deputy Prime Minister of Belgium and Minister for Employment and equal opportunities policies, Laurette Onkelinx, posed the question of why, after 30 years of work at school level, women are still playing a minor role in science and research. In 1999, 11 per cent of Belgian research committees were women, and four times as many men as women were applying for research grants. Ms Onkelinx suggested that 'a series of causes, a complicated system of causality' leads to this situation. At Belgian level, the government will now insist on gender mainstreaming whenever anything new is decided, Ms Onkelinx declared. She called for European level system of data collection and dissemination, arguing that 'whilst it's not enough to know how many people are doing what job, it is necessary for describing the situation and how things are changing.' She also urged more research into women in the private sector and why there are fewer female entrepreneurs. A European perspective was also welcomed by representatives from France and Luxembourg. Director of Research from the French Ministry of Research, Ketty Schwartz stated that 'if we really want to make progress, me must stress the European angle: inclusive, coordinated, sustainable'. She added that the French Minister for Research, Roger-Gérard Schwarzenberg wishes to 'wipe the slate clean and banish all disparities'. Minister for Culture, higher education and research in Luxembourg, Erna Hennicot-Schoepges stated that 'the role Europe has to play has been vital. We would not have made the headway we have made if we hadn't had Europe,' she said. Luxembourg is currently in the process of setting up its first fully fledged university, and in 1999 launched its first four large research programmes. Researchers are currently working on a socio-economic programme involving women and science, and Ms Hennicot-Schoepges invited all interested parties to respond to the first call for proposals in summer 2002. Another call for a European perspective came from Raoul Kneucker, Director General of the Federal Ministry of Education, science and culture in Austria. He called for further investigation into science at school level and proposed the benchmarking of schools systems at European level. He also argued that the inclusion of women's studies, gender studies and cultural studies in university curricula is vital.
