PowerPointPrsentation

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ELSO 2003 Policy, Career Structure, Expectations
making a difference to European Science Isabel
Beuter, M.A. Center of Excellence Women and
Science CEWS University of Bonn Fon 49 - 228
- 73 48 35 Poppelsdorfer Allee 15 Fax 49 - 228
- 73 48 40 53115 Bonn www.cews.org
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• Structure
• I About CEWS
• II Facts Figures
• Leaky Pipeline and Glass Ceiling
• III Individual and organisational approach
• IV What can be done?

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• Center of Excellence Women and Science CEWS
• CEWS is an information, service and coordination
  centre
• and advisory office set up in 2000 with three
  main objectives
• Increasing the proportion of women in executive
  positions in science and research
• Increasing the efficiency of measures for equal
  opportunities at universities, research
  institutions and in industry
• Implementing gender mainstreaming in science
  and research

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• Facts Figures Role Models
• By 2003 only 10 women had received a Nobel Prize
  in physics, chemistry or physiology medicine
• Marie Sklodowska Curie (2x), Marie Goeppert
  Mayer
• Irene Joliot-Curie, Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin
• Gerty Radnitz Cori, Rosalyn Sussmann Yalow,
  Barbara
• McClintock, Rita Levi-Montalcini, Gertrude
  Elion, Christiane Nuesslein-Volhard

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• Facts and Figures
• Leaky Pipeline / Glass Ceiling
• decreasing proportion of women
• (German data for 2003)
• Full professors
• Habilitation
• PhD
• Graduates
• First year students

12,6 22,0 37,9 48,4 48,2
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• Facts and Figures
• Leaky Pipeline / Glass Ceiling turned upside
  down
• increasing proportion of men
• (German data for 2003)
• Full professors
• Habilitation
• PhD
• Graduates
• First year students

87,4 78,0 62,1 51,6 51,8
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• Facts and Figures
• Figures vary across Europe and across
  scientific fields
• Glass Ceiling also known in business sector
  with few top management positions held by women

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• Problems faced by women
• Two main approaches
• Individual based
• Focus on female scientists background,
  behaviour and
• personality
• Organisational based
• Focus on excluding mechanisms of organisations
  and their formal and informal rules

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• Outcomes with regard to individual based
  variables
• Biography and Living Situation
• Female academics are more likely to have an
  academic family background
• Female academics are more likely to remain
  childless and live as singles
• Career Development
• Career progress is slower and less determined
• Tendency to ascribe success to fortunate
  circumstances

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• Outcomes with regard to individual based
  variables
• Motivation
• Subtle differences in professional motivation
  
• Women put more emphasis on subject matter than
  on position status
• Tendency to avoid highly competitive situations

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• Outcomes regarding organisational based variables
• Myths and Male Substructure
• Belief of academia and research as most
  challenging professions requiring unconditional
  commitment and unlimited availability
• Conceived structural incompatibility of
  femininity and academia and research
• Structural Discrimination
• Exclusion of reputation building networks
• Missing role models / mentors

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• Turning 30
• The time around 30 is when
• (Academic) women might want to have children
• Parents are getting older
• The PostDoc phase begins
• Running independent groups should start
• Missing support concerning childcare and
  flexible working hours / part-time work becomes
  an issue
• Dual careers are getting even harder to juggle

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• What can be done?
• Networking
• Mentoring
• Database of female scientists
• Tackle the question of academic vs. biological
  age

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Thanks! For more information please
contact Center of Excellence Women and Science
CEWS www.cews.org info_at_cews.uni-bonn.de
University of Bonn Poppelsdorfer Allee 15
Fon 49 - 228 - 73 48 35 53115 Bonn
Fax 49 - 228 - 73 48 40