Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2008-05-20-Speech-2-468"
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"en.20080520.34.2-468"2
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"Mr President, let me first of all express my gratitude to the European Parliament and especially to the rapporteur, Mrs Thomsen, for their support for the Commission policy on women and science. I should also like to thank the rapporteur from the Committee on Industry, Research and Energy, Mr Dover, for his constructive approach.
We agree with Mrs Thomsen’s explanatory statement that the elimination of gender discrimination in science heralds a new era of excellence for European research and academic growth, and a boost for innovation. The Commission is well aware that there is a serious imbalance between female and male researchers. The latest available statistics show that whereas women represent more than 50% of graduates in all university departments, only 15% of professors are women. In the field of science, engineering and technology, the corresponding figures are 34% female graduates and 9% female professors. The Commission agrees that this is a serious waste of talent and resources, as it is contrary to the principle of equality.
Since 1999, the European Commission has been attending to the issue of the lack of women in research. In the Fifth Framework Programme, the Commission gave financial support to studies and projects in the field of women and science. Since 2003, the Commission has also been publishing the ‘She Figures’ statistics, which show the participation of women in European research. The next issue will be published in 2009.
More to the point, in her report, Mrs Thomsen supports the target of at least 40% women and 40% men on the various committees under the Framework Programme. This non-binding target has been in place since 2000 and has brought very good results. For example, women’s participation in committees evaluating research work has increased from 10% in the Fourth Framework Programme to 34% in the Sixth Framework Programme. This shows that when the issue is adequately highlighted, progress can be achieved even when there are no binding targets. Indeed, the existence of binding targets could, in the long term, prove counterproductive, as it signals discrimination against men, and most men and women do not agree with such targets.
The report underlines the negative impact of an interruption in employment on women scientists’ careers. In the context of the European Research Area, the European Commission shares these concerns and supports the adoption of policy measures facilitating greater coordination between professional and family life. Networking among women scientists may also contribute substantially towards attracting more women into science and key jobs. This is why we have created the European Platform of Women Scientists, which serves as a catalyst and creates role models in scientific research.
One of our main targets is to increase the number of women in key research posts. This is directly linked with the target agreed by the Member States in 2005: 25% of senior posts in public research organisations should be occupied by women. A report on this issue was recently published under the title ‘Mapping the maze: getting more women to the top in research’. It concludes that transparent and fair assessment is not in itself enough to increase the representation of women in decision-making mechanisms. We need a change in the prevailing perceptions. Specialists make proposals about how existing scientific mentality and culture can be broadened and made more open, but the challenge now is to put that into effect. These projects are continuing in the Seventh Framework Programme; they are now linked to the implementation of the European Research Area. The conference to be held in May 2009 under the auspices of the Czech Presidency of the EU will undertake a survey of the successes of the last 10 years and will also identify the areas in which further efforts are needed. The European Parliament’s contribution here will be invaluable.
In March 2006 the Commission adopted the Roadmap for equality between women and men 2006-2010. This roadmap forms the framework for action by the Commission and is an expression of our commitment to promote gender equality in all our policies, both internally and externally. Our priorities are: reconciling private and professional life; promoting equal participation of women and men in political and economic decision-making bodies, as well as in science and technology; and eliminating gender stereotypes in the fields of education, training and culture, and also in the job market."@en1
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