Gender Balance in HBP Recruitment and Management Sample Clauses

Gender Balance in HBP Recruitment and Management. Gender balance is one of a number of items that fall under the global heading of Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI). Gender balance is addressed in this section and other RRI topics are covered in a separate RRI section (see 2.5). Research in the Human Brain Project includes work in a broad range of disciplines, from molecular and cellular biology to mathematics, medicine, computer engineering, robotics and even philosophy. These disciplines are characterised by widely differing rates of female participation, often with large variations between countries. Nonetheless two tendencies stand out. First, in all major disciplinary areas, except engineering, manufacturing and construction, at least 40% of new PhDs. in the EU-27 countries are female (EC data for 2006). Second, in these same countries, the proportion of women decreases with each successive level from students to researchers to professors. A recent EU study found that in 2010 just 32% of scientists and engineers in the EU-27 were women. Only in three countries — Iceland (50%), Bulgaria (50%), and Poland (53%) — did the proportion of female scientists and engineers reach 50% or higher. The same study showed a worrying drop in women’s share of higher ranking positions: “from 35% of female PhD graduates, the proportion of women drops to 32% in grade C academic staff, 23% in grade B and just 11% in grade A” [1] This inequality is "largely due to employer policies and/or strategies" [2]. Many studies on female professional careers show, in fact, that activities designed to promote the advancement of women have no lasting effect without major changes in management and organisational structures [3] [4, 5], [1],[6]. In view of these findings, and of the high profile of FET Flagships in European research, the HBP will play a pioneering role in achieving a well-balanced share of male and female scientists at all hierarchic levels within the Project, in particular among Subproject and Work Package leaders and in the Project’s governing bodies. Since the original Project proposal was submitted, the HBP has modified its leadership structure to include more women. As a result, the proportion of women at Board level has increased from 15% at the beginning of the Ramp-Up Phase to 20% today. The HBP aims to increase the proportion of female researchers at different levels within the Project (PhD students, post docs, Work Package (WP) Leaders, Subproject (SP) Leaders, senior management positions) and for diffe...