Gender Balance

The Gender Balance Advisor will establish and coordinate monitoring of gender equality in participation of the COST Action, and in coordination with ESR Advisor, will establish a mentoring programme.

We aim to redress the imbalance in gender in this action by ensuring equality of opportunity for participation, mobility and training. In particular we will:

  • Elaborate and disseminate a set of principles that define a woman-friendly environment
  • Monitor gender-related participation and gather data from COST members’ institutions
  • Develop a code of best practice to be disseminated to members’ institutions
  • Ensure family-friendly practices apply to activities within the COST action.

Links on gender equality issues

The March 2016 issue of the webzine EuroScientist has a special issue on Gender Balance with several interesting articles.

Why do self-made women rely on mentors?

Four Nobel Laureates speak on women in science

Quota or no quota

The UK Royal Society have made a youtube video with some advice about counteracting unconscious bias

https://royalsociety.org/topics-policy/publications/2015/unconscious-bias/

We all have some unconscious bias. Test yourself with this well-established test from Harvard.

https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/selectatest.html

Gender equality in STEM subjects was discussed at the European Science Open Forum (ESOF) Conference in Toulouse during a panel session organized by the COST Association and the COST Action MP1403.

Quantum technologies: a chance for women to take their place in science?

Coinciding with the International Day of Women and Girls in Science, 11 February, European Cooperation in Science and Technology (COST), hosted a working lunch event at their office in Brussels, on Women in Quantum Technologies. The event discussed the current state of play for women’s careers and innovative ways to ensure greater levels of equality in the future.

https://www.cost.eu/news/the-challenges-for-women-in-quantum-technologies/

Below are some pdfs on various articles in the scientific press on the topic of gender equality.