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Despite a wide range of efforts to promote gender equality in science and technology, women remain under-represented in the so-called STEM fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics. According to Eurostat, amongst all tertiary education graduates in 2018, there were 2.6 times as many male (compared with female) graduates for engineering, manufacturing and construction-related fields and 3.9 times as many male graduates for information and communication technologies. Eurostat also reported that in 2018, women were severely under-represented in manufacturing (where only 21 % of scientists and engineers were female), and according to the European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE) only 17 % of ICT specialists are women.
“Considering the important role that technology plays in our everyday lives, the gender imbalance found in our research and innovation efforts is particularly concerning,” says Brigitte Ratzer, a researcher at TU Wien’s office for gender competence.
Through the EU-funded GEECCO project, Ratzer is leading an effort to help increase the role of women in research and innovation. “By removing the barriers to recruitment, retention, decision-making and career progression for female researchers, we aim to have more women working in the STEM fields,” adds Ratzer.
Raising awareness
To achieve its goal, the GEECCO project is using Gender Equality Plans (GEPs). “A GEP is a set of actions that take a strategic approach to achieving gender equality in research organisations and universities,” explains Ratzer. “These actions can include conducting impact assessments to identify gender bias, implementing innovative solutions to correct such biases, and monitoring progress towards achieving gender balance.”
The project established tailor-made GEPs for four European universities and two research funding organisations. “All of these participants work in the STEM fields, where gender bias is still a serious problem,” notes Ratzer.
To illustrate the unique approach the project uses to address this bias, Ratzer explains how one research organisation partner introduced measures aimed at supporting female principal investigators and gender-diverse research teams. “This initiative significantly improved the gender balance of the organisation’s research teams and principal investigators, ultimately achieving a nearly 50/50 split,” remarks Ratzer.
“GEECCO helped raise awareness about the importance of including a gender perspective in our research, teaching and decision-making activities,” says Amaia Lusa, a full professor at the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, one of the participating research organisations. “As such, GEECCO has served as a catalyst for making necessary structural changes at our university.”
Although still a work in progress, the GEECCO project is already packaging its proven approach to achieving gender equity. For example, the team has developed a number of training materials on setting up, implementing and monitoring GEPs. These materials, all of which are available via the project website, include monitoring and evaluation tutorials, guidelines for monitoring progress towards gender equality objectives, and information on collecting and analysing data.
One step closer to gender equity
With innovation and technology playing an increasingly important role in today’s knowledge-based economy, ensuring gender equity in STEM-focused research and education is more important than ever. Thanks to efforts like the GEECCO project, we’re one step closer to achieving such balance.
“From how we move to the way we communicate, work and recreate – science and engineering play an essential role in our tech-filled lives,” concludes Ratzer. “By ensuring the consideration of sex and gender in the science and engineering behind much of today’s technology, we also ensure that this technology is equally available and useful to everyone.”