slide 1 fp7-science-in-society-2011-1, project no. 287526. challenging the leaky pipeline in...
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www.festa-europa.euFP7-SCIENCE-IN-SOCIETY-2011-1,
Project No. 287526.
Challenging the Leaky Pipeline in Science, Engineering and Technology
Dr. Ita Richardson
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Importance of having Women in SET European and National Agenda
“We need to address these issues, not only for the sake of fairness and equality, but for the sake of science and research itself – we need to build our research capacity in Europe.”
Máire Geoghegan-Quinn, European Commissioner for Research, Innovation and Science.
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• Diversity• Economic Growth• Social Justice• Provision of Role Models • Provision of Choice
Importance of having Women in SET
Photographs: Eoin Stephenson, UL
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DiversityDiversity promotes creativity and innovation
Do we want to continue living in a world built by men for men?
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Economic GrowthDependent on having an educated workforce
Can we afford to eliminate 50% of the population from SET?
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Importance of having Women in SET
“The Grand Challenges facing Europe (including climate change and demography) require the full participation of women in its science and technology system…”European Commission, 2012
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Challenges for Women in SETLise Meitner, Nuclear Physicist, Germany, c. 1900:
Professor Emil Fischer “did not allow women in his building”. Meitner worked there, “Provided she stay in a converted carpenter’s shop in the basement and never enter any part of the building used by men”
Sharon Bertsch McGrayne, 1998
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Challenges for Women in SET“I very much wish to be considered together with Madame Curie with respect to our research on radioactive bodies.”
Pierre Curie, 1903, when he heard of his Nobel Prize for Physics nomination with Henri Becquerel, but without his wife, Marie Curie, Physicist and Chemist, Poland and France
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Barbara McClintoch, Geneticist, USA, 1936: Mistaking Barbara for someone who had recently announced her engagement, her Dean “threatened her, ‘If you get married, you’ll be fired’”
Sharon Bertsch McGrayne, 1998
Challenges for Women in SET
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Someone else was made first author on a paper “because he was a young man and had a family to support.”
Christiane Nusslein-Volhard, early 1970s, Germany.
Challenges for Women in SET
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Astronomy classes in the Royal Observatory in Edinburgh, same percentage of women in 1982 and 892. “Womenfolk play the larger part in the decision. It has been my experience that it is other women who ask (too frequently) whether one really enjoys doing physics.”
Jocelyn Bell Burnell, 1982, Belfast.
Challenges for Women in SET
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• No institutional barriers to one’s career development at university level.
• Women spent more time generally during the week and weekends on domestic chores than male counterparts.
• Women in the University appeared to take on more work than their male colleagues. Examples given included the development of new courses and student support.
Wilson & Richardson, 2008
Challenges continue: Gender Audit @ UL
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ResearchGender Audit Results % Female % Male
Keynote /plenary/invited speaker external conference/workshop 36 63
Editor of scientific/technical journal or book 17 28
Member of the Editorial Board of an Academic Journal 15 32
Reviewer for International Journal 44 78
Assessor for grant giving bodies 22 55Appointment to National/international bodies 24 42
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Current Situation
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• Women more negatively affected by men regarding ‘string of post-doc positions’
• Concerns about competitiveness are fuelled by a relative lack of self-confidence
• Nature of available role models• Perceived by female PhD candidates as aggressive and
competitive (male characteristics)• Often childless
• Women are told that their gender ‘will work against them’
UK Resource Centre for Women / Royal Society of Chemistry, 2012
Why women leave academia
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• Retain and fully employ the competencies and capacities of the whole research force, regardless of gender
• Women do not lack researchers’ essential characteristics
• Academic environment is lacking essential characteristics to foster women’s research potential
• UL Principal Investigator – Prof. Pat O’Connor17
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FESTA: Building on Previous Initiatives
Role Models for School Girls
Research in Gender Studies and Sociology
External and Internal Funding:
Atlantic Philanthropies, Science Foundation
Ireland, UL Human Resources
Introductory Courses for
Women in SET
Equality Opportunities
Manager
Gender Audit @UL (Science
Foundation Ireland)
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• Led by University of Uppsala, Sweden• University of Limerick - Faculty of Science &
Engineering• Universities in Denmark, Turkey, Germany, Italy,
Bulgaria• March 1st 2012 to 28th February 2017
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Implement and Measure
Recommendations
Analyse Published Research
Analyse UL and other
Universities
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Develop Recommendations
from outcomes
• Qualitative Research Methods: Interviews and Focus Groups
• Research Questions:• Can we raise awareness regarding career paths? • How are formal and informal decisions made?• How is excellence defined?• What power-plays exist in PhD supervision? (UL not researching)• Can we understand resistance? (UL not researching)
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Implement and Measure
Recommendations
Analyse Published Research
Analyse UL and other
Universities
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Develop Recommendations
from outcomes
• Implementing changes in the working environment of academic researchers
• Encouraging SET female researchers to make a career in academia
• Remove some of the hurdles which makes this difficult for them
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Implement and Measure
Recommendations
Analyse Published Research
Analyse UL and other
Universities
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Develop Recommendations
from outcomes
• Human Resource involvement • Implementation in Faculty of
Science and Engineering• Results from other Universities
implemented in UL• Results from UL implemented in
other Universities
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We as a University have to change!It is not women who are lacking essential characteristics for being good researchers, but it is the academic environment that is lacking essential characteristics for fostering the research potential of women
Management Faculty
and Women themselves
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Current SituationFuture
50/50
Thank you!
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Acknowledgements
University of Limerick team members: Prof. Pat O’Connor, Principal Investigator, FESTA, Dr. Ita Richardson, Principal Investigator , Lero, Tommy Foy, Director of Human Resources, Marie Connolly, HR Shared Transition Services Manager, Alison O’Regan , Learning, Development and Equal Opportunities Officer, Caroline Neylon, HR Officer, Research, Clare O’Hagan, Research Fellow, FESTA
FESTA has received funding from the European Union, Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013, under grant agreement No. 287526
Colleagues in Lero – the Irish Software Engineering Research Centre and the second year B.Sc. In Digital Media and Design students
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European Commission, Structural change in research institutions, Enhancing excellence, gender equality and efficiency in research and innovation, 2012.
Wilson, D., and I. Richardson, SFI Development Grant Report, 2008.
UK Resource Centre for Women / Royal Society of Chemistry, The Chemistry PhD: the impact on women’s retention, 2012.
Bertsch McGrayne, S., Nobel Prize Women in Science, 1998.
References
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