Gender equality in BenBedPhar
According to the European Institute for Gender Equality, gender equality means equal rights, responsibilities and opportunities for women and men, as for girls and boys. Although gender equality is often associated with feminism, IT IS NOT a WOMAN ISSUE! The main objectives of gender equality in academia and research are to foster equality in scientific careers, to ensure gender balance in decision-making processes and to integrate the gender dimension in research and innovation contents. EU policies have always strongly supported gender equality in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics.
However, data reported in She Figures 2021 (the last EU report on gender equality in research and innovation) highlighted gender imbalance at high research levels, showing that only 23% of women are covering “decision-making position” as heads of higher education institutions, and that women are significantly under-represented among inventors.
Some of the classical barriers to career development for women in science are well known: in most cultures, women traditionally have a key role in taking care of children and aging members of their families. These commitments often coincide with the beginning of their careers, when long hours in the laboratory, grant application submissions and work mobility are highly needed to establish an independent research position.
The present BenBedPhar consortium is proud to announce that gender equality is an important focus in our COST Action, whose management committee is composed by 54.7% of female researchers that were elected due to their exquisite scientific and management capabilities, and not because they are just women.
Our consortium commitment is to maintain and even to improve gender balance in the context of all the COST activities, including grant and STSMs applications and dissemination of results through publications, communications and patents.
Silvia Giordani (Gender equality officer)
