Enwise Enlarge Women In Science to East report

Enwise (Enlarge Women In Science to East) report summary Dunja Mladenic J. Stefan Institute, Slovenia Dora Groo Hungarian Science and Technology Foundation, Hungary (two of the Enwise experts)

Objectives of the report • Initiative of EC DG Research to – assess the conditions and status of women scientists in the Central and Eastern European countries and the Baltic States • Use the available data and findings • Provide recommendations Members of the Enwise expert group are scientists from different disciplines representing the involved countries

Specific past – communism Considerable proportion of highly-qualified women • Some processes initiated earlier than in Western Europe: – women’s suffrage rights, – their representation in public administration – the co-education of children • Equal right/obligation of full- time employment and access to education • Good childcare facilities, legal protection and state support for the working mother but, . . • political censorship, suppression of women’s movements and freedom of speech

Situation today • Research system restructuring during the transition period resulted in – lower funding for science – lower number of scientists – no more military/regime influence on science content but. . . – keeping rigid patterns of promotion and recognition • Gender differences in the concentrations across R&D sectors – women are present mainly in low-expenditure part of R&D and at lower academic positions – women are under-represented at the top positions in academies of sciences and in universities • Poor infrastructure and outdated equipment

Research supported by EU Enwise countries participate in EU research projects and bodies/panels as full members from FP 5 • but, . . . less in monitoring and advisory work Database of evaluation experts for projects • Registered experts – Enwise (women: 26% in FP 5 and 33% in FP 6) – EU-15 (women: 17% in FP 5 and 23% in FP 6) • Invited experts – Enwise (34% women), EU-15 (22% women) • but, . . . from Enwise 52% of registered women were invited compared to 67% for EU-15

Enwise - growing proportion of women in EU Research bodies: National Contact Points (NCP) and Program Committees (PC)

What do we recommend I • On-going political support • European Commission – sex-disaggregated data on participation in research (projects, bodies, panels, . . . ) – info. dissemination (to reach women) – encourage women participation in FP – support to women and science • National policy – gender mainstreaming in education – family friendly science, science for all – sex-disaggregated data including payment – revisit scientific evaluation policy

What do we recommend II • Organizations – sensitivity for equal opportunity employment policy and promotion, monitor gender structure – family-friendly environment – support to gender research and studies at Univ. • Media – improve the image of science – training of journalists about gender stereotypes • Scientists – establish networks and professional organizations of women in science – establish links between gender experts