Science Institutes and Disciplinary Groups Have a Work to Do on Gender Equality – Global Issues
February 11 (IPS) – Women still less representative in science and research around the world. There are several reasons for this, including pattern about the type of work that women “can” or “should do”; patriarchal attitude; and lack of support for women pursuing careers in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM).
This is not just an abstract concern. Gender equality matters for many good reasons. For one, it is stored in international human rights law and it’s one of those Sustainable development goals.
It also makes good economic sense for countries to invest in and fully utilize their total population. Comprehensive Scientific Leadership in which women are equally represented is most relevant to the needs of modern society. Additionally, appreciating diversity and multiple perspectives sparks creativity and innovation. Both are important markers of scientific endeavor.
So, how are scientific academies around the world and international disciplinary associations doing when wanting – and keeping – women involved as members and leaders. That’s what we set out to test our new study. We focus on science academies and disciplinary unions because together, these organizations represent a large proportion of the global scientific effort. They have the potential to be leaders and create powerful change.
The next research a survey in 2015 on gender inclusion in academia. This allows us to determine how academia has made progress in certain areas. There are some encouraging findings: for example, women’s membership in academia increased from 13% to 17% and women’s leadership in regulatory bodies from 21% to 29% . Young academies, which often represent novice scientists, have far better results than their senior academies, which is a promising sign for the future.
But there is still a lot of work for young academies to do. Most still represent less than a quarter of women, although there is one bright spot: South African Academy of Young Sciences ranked highest in the world when it comes to female members; 57% of members are women.
The report makes several recommendations to strengthen gender representation and equality globally. These include developing and maintaining a central repository of gender-related policies and actions as well as in-depth work with disciplinary associations where women’s representation needs to be improved.
Key Findings
Research coordinated by GenderInSITE (Gender in Science, Innovation, Technology and Engineering), an initiative to promote the role of women in these fields and demonstrate how the application of a “gender lens” leads to effective development. more efficient, equitable and sustainable. It’s a collaboration with Cooperation InterAcademy and International Science Council.
The institutions and disciplinary organizations surveyed are all members of the InterAcademy Partnership or the International Science Council. In total, they represent more than 250 unique organizations. That means the results we collect provide fundamental information critical to taking conversion action on a global level.
Here are some key findings:
- Young academies are setting the pace when it comes to gender equality. On average, the membership rate of women is 42%; ten youth academies were ranked ahead of the highest ranked senior academy in terms of percentage of female members.
- The highest-ranked senior institution is the Cuban Academy of Sciences. It has increased its market share from 27% in 2015 to 33% in 2020.
- There is a big difference in discipline in representing women. This lasts familiar patterns also clearly represented by women in the field of study. For example, representation is relatively higher in the biological sciences (28%) and the social sciences, humanities and arts (27%). It is lowest in the mathematical sciences (8%).
- The Tanzania Academy of Sciences has one of the highest representation rates of female scientists, increasing from 4% in 2015 to 12% in 2020. The Ethiopian Academy of Sciences now has an under-representation rate. The lowest women on the continent, at 9%.
We also noticed a big difference between actions and words. For example, 68% of international disciplinary organizations say they are committed to diversity and inclusion. But only 32% said they are taking action, for example, by developing policies to promote diversity and inclusion. Only 16% of these organizations said they had a budget for activities related to gender equality.
One of our most disappointing findings was that only six of the 72 academies last participated discussed the 2015 survey report and its recommendations at a meeting. strategic planning. This has led us to recommend that the IAP and ISC establish centralized monitoring and evaluation frameworks that require member organizations to report regularly on gender statistics.
Recommendations
The new survey includes a number of recommendations that GenderInSITE, the InterAcademy Partnership and the International Science Council are committed to implementing.
One of our next steps is to expand the survey to other global scientific institutions. This will contribute to a more comprehensive and inclusive understanding of gender equality in global science. The report also recommends developing and maintaining a central repository of gender-related policies and actions as a way of encouraging organizations committed to gender transition to learn from best practice examples. .
GenderInSITE, InterAcademy Partners and the International Science Council are all committed to using their regional presences to gain insights and advance the gender equality agenda. This is especially the case in countries or regions that are lagging behind. The same kind of work will be done in disciplines that are said to desire the representation of women.
Our three organizations will also establish centralized monitoring and evaluation frameworks that require our member organizations to regularly report relevant gender statistics. This report will happen at a high strategic level. In this way, we hope that the gender transition takes precedence.
It’s important to note that we’re not just focusing on the numbers, as this is only part of the picture. Scientific academies and disciplinary organizations are also being encouraged to focus on making diversity and inclusion central to their institutional culture.
Roseanne Denise DiabDirector: GenderInSITE, Unesco and Peter McGrathResearcher, Biological Scientist, Cooperation InterAcademy
This article was republished from Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read original article.
© Inter Press Service (2022) – All rights reservedOrigin: Inter Press Service
