The second European Gender Summit 2012 – Agenda for exellence
The meeting was held in Brussels, 29-30 November 2012. It brought together top-level researchers, science leaders, and policy makers. The summit aimed at developing a systematic implementation strategy to advance the EU policy on gender equality in science, as part of the three major policy initiatives – HORIZON 2020, European Research Area, and Innovation Union.
Over 400 participants from 30 countries, representing over 200 science institutions and other organizations reviewed the latest research in gender issues in the eight plenary sessions and four thematic sessions.
Among the topics presented was a report on research assessment that showed that the success rates in grant applications to the European Research Council is lower for women than for men, across all disciplinary submission areas. It was also noted that among the 30 progress indicators in the Innovation Union Scoreboard none addresses gender issues although almost 50% of PhDs are awarded to women.
The summit also endorsed the following statements:
- HORIZON 2020 “Gender Equality” Article 15 and national research programmes should include specific conditions for addressing gender issues in project proposals
- The processes used for awarding research grants should be scrutinized for possible sources of gender bias
- The Innovation Union Scoreboard needs a gender equality indicator.
More information on the presentations at the summit is available on the summit website.
