Consultation on the ERA Framework Areas of untapped potential for the development of the European Research Area (ERA)

Transcription

1 Consultation on the ERA Framework Areas of untapped potential for the development of the European Research Area (ERA) 1 The Helsinki Group as the Advisory Committee to the European Commission on Gender and Research since 1999 welcomes this opportunity to answer the Public Consultation on the ERA Framework: Areas of untapped potential for the development of the European Research Area. The Lisbon Treaty has given a new shared competence to the European Union regarding ERA based on article 182.5; this new article provides a legal basis for taking "the measures necessary for the implementation of the European research area" beyond the mere adoption of a research framework program and its implementation tools. This European Commission consultation aims to make a diagnosis, with all the stakeholders, of the obstacles to overcome and the problems to solve for an optimal functioning process of the European Research Area. The consultation will help defining the potential opportunities for action of the European Union and their details of implementation. This response from the Helsinki Group is meant to contribute to the Commission s diagnosis by putting forward the elements that slow down the action of the European Union within the European research Area and the initiatives that have made it possible to overcome identified obstacles. One of the objectives of the European Research Area is the coordination at the European level of policies and initiatives conceived and financed by the Union which is the reason why this consultation takes place within the ongoing debates on the HORIZON 2020 program. A sub-part of section 9 Managing and Monitoring the ERA partnership, Cross-cutting issues and next steps is dedicated to gender issues ( Gender and ethics ). The on-line questions of section 9 will be answered in annex I to this paper. However, we wish to draw particular attention to issues related to gender in the whole of the European research Area. Ten years of action on the issue, Indeed, have proven that gender cannot be put aside as a specific field, or domain, or be taken into account when everything else has been settled. Gender, as it deals with men and women, with males and females, with sex differences and their perceptions in all societies, encompasses the whole of research, from human resources to the objects of research and its application on a gender-balanced market.

2 Gender balance and the gender dimension in content of research and innovation are already admitted to be of great importance for the EU Commission. They are issues on which the Commission must play a leading role in Europe if the EU is to meet the challenges of research and innovation in Europe in the current economic context of increasing competition by emerging global players. Progress made The European Commission has had a leading role those last ten years in developing and implementing equality policies at the level of the Directorate General for Research and Innovation thanks, notably, to the work of the Helsinki Group on Women in science and the Statistical Correspondents of the Helsinki Group, but also to the expert groups that have produced extremely valuable reports on gender and the place of women in science. 2 On the issues of the place and role of women in science and on the gender dimension and its added value to research, the European Commission has widely contributed to the emergence of analyses, data and indicators. Those have made it possible to assess the situation and the progress made, to propose concrete actions and policies, and to launch calls focusing on gender within the seventh framework program. The gendered indicators She Figures were born out of this strong European will and they have set common categories for all member states on the careers of women in science. They are today inevitable as their intention is to serve as a solid benchmarking tool for scientists, researchers, policy makers and human resource managers concerned by women and science. As the construction of the European Research Area framework is on its way, the assessment of the current situation of women scientists in Europe is rather mitigated. Despite equal opportunities and antidiscrimination policies led by the European Union unbalance and inequalities remain. In the field of science, ten years of action and research have showed that the quality of science, research and innovation depends on the research community s ability to create novelties and to be responsive to the needs of society as a whole: younger and older people, men and women, single people or in a family structure, disabled or abled, from less or more advantaged backgrounds. A precondition to meet this challenge is that the community must recruit and retain the best people but also reflect the realities, needs and expectations of the whole of society. Innovative capacity depends among other things on the scientific community s ability to compose genderdiverse research teams. Varied backgrounds and experiences increase the creativity which is a criterion for success in the innovation process; research institutions and universities that provide more than a unique masculine model become more attractive to a variety of researchers men and women included. The key obstacles to attracting and retaining the best talents are the employment conditions and career prospects in the European research sector (both public and private ) that are not sufficiently attractive to

3 women and to men alike. The deficit in young people choosing science as a career path is proof enough of the situation. Inequalities, as regards employment conditions of women, persist: women are largely under-represented in senior positions and boards, their career prospects suffer from the fact that they are entitled to maternity leave; their career evaluation, funding and recruitment are clouded by conscious and unconscious bias; mobility procedures and working conditions in general ignore the balance that must exist between their professional and personal life. Taking stock of the situation with figures General situation There has been, since 2000, broadly equal numbers of men and women working in science and technology occupations when a wide definition of S&T is examined. Locking at figures in a more detailed way makes it clear that women make up only 29% of those employed as scientists and engineers in 2004, 30% in Whereas the growth rate in their participation between 1998 and 2004 was lower than that of men (so that the differential between men and women in this occupational group was supposed to widen), from 2006 on, their proportion has been growing faster than that of men (6.3% annually over compared with 3.7% for men); the same goes for the proportion of women among scientists and engineers (6.2% annually compared with 3.7% for men). A detailed analysis also shows clear evidence that women have poorer access to R&D resources, receive lower pay on average, and have a disproportionately lower chance than men of reaching senior levels or holding positions of influence, for example through membership of scientific boards. Field representation In 2003, the first publication of She Figures revealed that there were strong common gender patterns in the distributions of women and men in the scientific fields across Europe, among PhD graduates, in research and in academia. In 2006, in the EU-27, 45% of all PhD graduates were women; they equaled or outnumbered men in all broad fields of study, except for science, mathematics and computing (41%), and engineering, manufacturing and construction (25%). Women were under-represented in engineering and natural sciences, in the Business Enterprise Sector (where there were 15% women in 2000, 18% in 2004, 19% in 2006), but represented the major part of people performing research in humanities and social sciences in many countries.

4 Their percentage, over the period , has increased in almost all fields of science in the EU-27: the most positive growth figures characterized the fields of the medical sciences (+5.6% in HES and +12% in GOV), the humanities (+6.8% in HES and +4% in GOV), engineering and technology (+6.7% in HES and +10% in GOV) and the social sciences (+6.5% in HES and +3% in GOV). Women in senior positions A common feature is also that in senior university staff, there are relatively few women in leadership positions, whatever the fields of science the fact that women are more numerous in humanities does not make them more numerous in top level positions. In fact there appears to be a serious dichotomy in career outcomes for men and women in academia. The indicators show that women are under-represented in all countries (with two exceptions) as regards their representation in scientific decision-making and presence in scientific boards. 4 The average percentage of women in senior academic positions in the Member States in 2000 was 13.2%. The overall percentage for all women in all academic positions was 31%. In Higher Education in 2004, only 15% of those at the highest academic grade (grade A) were women; and the gender imbalance at the senior grade was even greater in engineering and technology, where the proportion of women was just 5.8% in 2004, 7.2% in In 2006, the latest available EU-27 data, women s academic career remained markedly characterized by strong vertical segregation: the proportion of female students (55%) and graduates (59%) exceeded that of male students, but men outnumbered women among PhD students and graduates (the proportion of female students dropped back to 48% and that of PhD graduates to 45%). Furthermore, women represented only 44% of grade C academic staff, 36% of grade B academic staff and 18% of grade A academic staff. The under-representation of women was even more striking in the field of science and engineering: the proportion of women increased from just 31% of the student population at the first level to 36% of PhD students and graduates but then fell back again to 33% of academic grade C staff, 22% at grade B and just 11% at grade A. The Glass Ceiling Index stood at 1.8 in the EU-27 in 2007 (the higher the score, the thicker the ceiling). In 2006, the official measure of the overall gender pay gap covering the entire economy stood at 25% in the EU-27 in 2006, a slight improvement from 2002 when it stood at 26%. On average throughout the EU-27, 13% of institutions in the Higher Education Sector are headed by women and just 9% of universities have a female head. On average in the EU-27, 22% of board members are women. Attribution of research funds

5 She Figures 2003 revealed a general pattern whereby the success rates were slightly but consistently higher for men than for women (the differences are significant for several countries). She Figures, by revealing that there is persistent pattern of disadvantage or relative exclusion in the European Union raise central questions about social justice and the nature of the current research environment. More particularly, the figures suggest that the European Union s research capacity will be difficult to sustain and impossible to increase according to the Innovation Union and Horizon 2020 plans, if intellectual resources are not drawn from those with appropriate abilities and attainment on a more equitable basis than they are at present. Position The questionnaire proposed by the European Commission in the context of the public consultation asks two general questions in the introduction: «what are the most important gaps to be filled for the achievement of ERA where the European Union should step up its efforts most urgently and Which areas will be an issue for longer term efforts at EU level, even beyond 2014?. 5 The Helsinki Group strongly believes that gender equality is one of the issues that must be tackled by the Union. Equality, indeed, as a core value of Europe is not negotiable. Amongst the great societal challenges, the European Research Area must, by 2014, have a clear and innovative vision of the implementation of equality policies between men and women. Research on gender and gender studies fuel the reflection that must take place on issues linked to gender equality. This is why, for the Helsinki Group, the gender issue imposes to take into account two dimensions simultaneously: the place of women and the gender dimension in research. This means that measures have to be taken on the human resource level and on the research content. Gender research indeed sheds light on the existing inequalities between men and women in different areas of society and insists on the existence of a global system that produces inequalities. Moreover, the gender approach reports on those inequalities not in terms of nature but in terms of social construction and of hierarchical organization between men and women. This is why gender research is a valuable tool to think change and social evolution. If gender is today a well-developed approach in some Humanities and Social Sciences fields though some progress is still possible numerous examples also show that it is necessary to integrate the gender dimension in medical research (the case of ageing is particularly blatant), in environmental research, and in the development of new technologies.

6 In a global context where other countries have integrated the gender dimension for a long time the stakes are high for European research as the development and the spreading of the gender approach in all scientific domains is part and parcel of the quality of research and power of innovation. Data and indicators 1. In order to keep measuring the progress towards gender equality in science, the breakdown of data, not only by sex but also by field and by seniority, is crucial for an accurate overview of the situation in Europe. It is important to continue monitoring the indicators presented in She Figures in order to measure the changes occurring in the gender dynamics of the European Research Area. There are many areas in which it would be beneficial to have information from a greater number of Member States but also from non-european countries, and areas of employment in which it would be useful to have more systematic and comprehensive data so that the dynamics of gendered employment choices and career trajectories might be better compared and understood. 6 Harmonized and comparable data must be thought of, particularly regarding the gender pay gap and the measurement of full-time equivalent employment rates to illustrate the part-time trap for women scientists that may turn out to be a major determinant of the persisting problem of vertical segregation in the academic world. These indicators will also be developed as the quantity and quality of available sex-disaggregated data improves in each country. The European Union must make sure that statistical data in all member states are sex-disaggregated and that each country is able to publish regular and detailed reports. Benchmarking tools and instruments in policy development are essential. A wide communication on the data and analyses produced also is. One of the best examples is the White Paper on the Position of Women in Science in Spain, published both in Spanish and in English. Gender equality 2. As regards professional gender equality, the first proposal of the Helsinki Group is that it becomes possible, within the European Research Area, to set up coordination, implementation and monitoring of the structural changes initiated in the European policies those last years and formalized in the report Structural change in research institutions: Enhancing excellence, gender equality and efficiency in research and innovation. Inequality, indeed, largely derives from a structural organization of research built on a masculine model. This model i.e. a university or research institution created by men and for men--is obsolete and has to be modernized and diversified to take into account human resources and life as they are in today s society.

7 Those changes, it has to be underlined, are not only directed towards women but are indeed a gender issue: work/life unbalance affect both parents whatever the sex alike; cloning and nepotism in recruitment procedures disadvantage whoever has not been integrated into the right networks, whether men or women. Deep changes are thus necessary, and this requires a steadfast and firm position from Europe as well as from the Member states and associated countries. For a real efficiency, the monitoring and the adjustment of structural change measures will have to take into account the diversity of national research structures. Regarding structural change, the Helsinki Group reiterates its proposal ( Green Paper on a Common Strategic Framework for future EU Research and Innovation Funding ) of a new program on Gender in Research and Innovation whose main objective will be to implement the Structural Change. This program will contribute to fulfilling the Innovation Union objectives and to ensuring that the European Research Area uses the full potential of both male and female researchers. It will cover the pitfalls of mainstreaming as a single strategy for gender policy in science. Legal policy interventions on Structural Change need to be accompanied by a budget to ensure strong and sustainable implementation. The program must be funded in a way that allows every member state to carry out reasonable projects A global reflection on human resources and careers must be conducted. There is no research without researchers, no excellence without intelligent and innovative management. Within this context, universities and research institutions have to acknowledge that today single parents are a reality that shared parenting, adoption, partnership and paternal leave lead to rethinking the monolithic family structure and therefore the structure of their own institutions. A reflection on management implies policies for equal pay which take into account maternity and parental leaves as part of career development and evaluation regardless of age, innovative measures for work/life balance, rethinking mobility procedures and make them family-friendly and eventually questioning the fasttrack faculty careers. Transparency in careers and processes, (recruitments, promotions, mobility, etc.) favors a balance between sexes by showing inequalities, ensuring that no discrimination takes place, especially for top-level positions. Dual career positions must be advertized on EURAESS as attractive programs set up by universities. One of the best examples of efficient human resource management is the dual career network that has been set between France, Germany and Switzerland. 4. One of the major obstacles to structural change is unconscious bias and stereotypes that are anchored in European societies. Those systematically associate science with men, research with unrelenting work hours that are contrary to a satisfying family life. Therefore a considerable effort on training, raising awareness and communicating. 5. The Helsinki group reminds the Commission that it recommends the implementation of gender analysis in the evaluation criteria for research funding, by asking research proposals to give a gendered

8 analysis of the composition of their teams compared to the talent pool in their disciplines, and what gender action plans, within the global politics of the research institutions they are related to, they will be launching to attract new female talents / male talents according to the under-representated sex-- to tend towards equality. Gender in research 6. The gender approach is recognized today as a scientific approach that enriches scientific and technological knowledge and contributes to its quality. This is the reason why taking gender into account has to become a funding condition for European scientific projects in the same way as the balanced composition of teams. To encourage the gender approach (in the successive steps leading to the composition of teams, the choice of research objects, the research methodology used, the application and promotion of research) the Helsinki Group advises the European Commission to base its action on the «Gendered Innovations» project initiated by DG Research and Innovation together with Stanford University in order to train universities and research institutions before submitting European research funding to the integration of gender in research projects. One of the proposals from the Helsinki group is that within the European Research Area gender is incorporated as a scoreboard performance indicator in the Europe 2020 Innovation Union Research projects must be accompanied by gender experts from the very conception of the project. Member States should therefore have at their disposal a database of gender experts and gender studies and develop Pluridisciplinary Thematic Networks focused on gender studies and at the interface of several scientific disciplines for a better and sharper understanding of the gender dimension. The CNRS in France (Center for National Scientific Research) has set up a Pluridisciplinary Thematic Networks on Gender studies in order to produce a statement of strengths and weaknesses of the gender field in France, from the analysis of the national census of the research on gender and/or women performed by the CNRS in 2010 and to collect elements of comparison between various countries on the research potential on gender in the major disciplinary sectors (Social and Human Sciences, Biology, Chemistry, and Ecology-Environment), or between these sectors (cross-talk or transversal research on gender) and to collect information on themes studied and their methods of institutionalization. ERA Governance 8. For those two dimensions equality and gender in research--to be taken into account in an efficient and lasting way in the forthcoming European Research Area framework, the Helsinki group suggests that the European Research Area Committee (ERAC) should be provided with gender experts so that the governance of ERA does not overlook the issue. This group will make sure that gender is mainstreamed, integrated from the start, properly understood and will make sure that gender does not imply complexification. This group of experts will have a global vision of gender issues so that gender is present at every level and in every field of ERA.

9 9. The Helsinki Group also insists on the fact that the 40% target of participation of the underrepresented sex in all European instances has not been reached yet. Conclusion The Helsinki Group urges the Commission to take the opportunity which a new Framework offers to take the necessary and decisive steps to close the gap between female and male researchers. This however demands that the Commission establishes structures and measures that are sounder than they are today. This demands that the European Union sets up strong binding policy measures on gender equality in the future European Research Area Framework and that member states accept them as a necessary step to progress and justice. This demands the presence of gender experts in the decision-making positions of the European Research Area. 9 This demands that universities and research institutions include gender polices as part and parcel of their modernization process, thus bringing the research community to the heart of society. These are important elements in the EU commitment to structural change. This demands that the Gender perspective is acknowledged as an approach that strengthens research and innovation and helps transform Europe into a sustainable and inclusive society.

10 On-line questionnaire Annex I ERA Framework Public Consultation : Areas of untapped potential for the development of the European Research Area (ERA) 9. Managing and monitoring the ERA partnership, Cross-cutting issues and next steps 10 Gender and ethics 9.11) A higher involvement of women in science will increase the impact of research on European socioeconomic growth. A) Strongly agree, B) Agree, C) Disagree, D) Strongly disagree, E) No opinion 9.12) Mixed research teams enhance the quality and relevance of research outcomes. A) Strongly agree, B) Agree, C) Disagree, D) Strongly disagree, E) No opinion 9.13) Progress in achieving gender balance and integrating gender dimension in research content has been slow. Please assess the relevance of the following possible factors: (please rank each factor according to importance: 1-not important, 2-not very important, 3-medium importance, 4-important, 5-very important.) The benefits of gender equality are not sufficiently acknowledged by the scientific community Research institutions do not have gender equality strategies and/or adequate capacities to implement them Lack of top-level support in research institutions Slow progress in modernisation of research institutions Lack of collaboration between Member States' policies Inconsistent top level policy support to implement gender equality in science Inadequate implementation of policy related to gender in research Lack of quota No opinion

11 General persistence of gender stereotypes on the labour market Other (to be filled in, max 200 characters) 9.14) How could EU policy on gender in research be made more effective? By the European Union making policy measures binding and inescapable on gender equality in the future Research Area Framework. 11