Survey on “Network of Women Scientists”: MCFA response

AIM/ROLE OF EUROPEAN PLATFORM
The main aims of a European Platform are seen as being the following:
· Policy shaping
· Networking and coordination
· Supporting women scientists
· Information and awareness-raising / Concrete actions in all these areas
(which are linked and complement each other) have to be taken, in order to promote the role of women in science. One has to start by appropriate monitoring and information access, which will become the basis for coordinated actions towards policy shaping and establishment of appropriate framework conditions
(2) Are there other aims which are important to your network - please note this is different to activities which the Platform carries out which are listed in the next section. / Promotion of women especially in areas where they are currently underrepresented. Specific actions, such as enhancing the participation of women in expert panels, statutory committees and decision making bodies have to be envisaged. The same applies to job selection committees (where for instance it should at least be ensured that the number of female candidates interviewed
is proportional to the corresponding numberof female applicants).
(3) The following are some of the proposed activities to enable women scientists to influence research policy. Please rank them in terms of importance to your network from 1-5 (or 0 if you feel they are of no relevance to such a Platform). / ·1 Influencing policy at national/EU/ and institutional level
·1 Monitoring policy developments
·2 Evaluating policy
·1 Getting others involved in the policy debate
·2 Policy/strategic development
(4) Please list any practical ideas you have on how to carry out these actions. / Young people (and particularly young women, who
tend to be less involved in policy discussions)
should be enabled to become more active in the policy debate. This can be achieved by providing easily accessible information and by underlining that the only way to see one's ideas becoming reality is through his active involvement. Setting-up an e-mail distribution of current awareness, combined with appropriate Web sites, will significantly facilitate information flow.
(5) Are there other actions you would propose in this area? If yes, please list them in the space provided. / 1) National States can be urgent to provide lists of contact points and persons for gender-related work. This will be important, since in fact it is at the national level that many problems related to gender will have to be resolved. Universities and other types of academic institutions can play an important role, since a lot of the gender-related research is carried out there.
2)Being involved with funded research projects, the Commission has a database of projects and partners from earlier Framework Programmes. It should be possible, therefore, to contact and bring together people who have been working on gender issues.
(6) Is your network already involved in this type of activity? If yes, please provide brief details in the space provided. / MCFA tries to get its members involved in the debate of "hot topics" in European science policy including Gender Issues, and a Web site has been constructed for this purpose (http://mariecurie.org/science). Moreover, some of our members have jobs or fellowships linked to gender aspects.
To add value by networking at a European level a European Platform could help facilitate exchange of experience and good practice within sectors and across different scientific disciplines.
(7) Please list any ideas you have on practical actions in this field that would add value at a European level. / - The creation of a European Database of female experts that could be consulted whenever a speaker or an expert for a specific topic is needed (often, due to a lack of visibility for women, there is a gender imbalance even
among gender panel "experts"!). Along these lines, the steps indicated in item 5 can help towards creating such a Database.
- The organisation of conferences on gender aspectswould be a most efficient way to share information and bring people together.
(8) Is your network already involved in this type of activity? If yes, please provide brief details in the space provided. / MCFA has recently extended its database in order to include more information on the areas of expertise of its members.
It is important that the activities undertaken by the European Platform add value at a European level and do not duplicate or substitute those carried out by other bodies.
(9) Some actions to help support women scientists in the development of their activities and career are listed below. Please rank these actions in terms of priority to your network from 1-5 (or 0 if you feel they are of no relevance to such a Platform). / ·1 Training for career development e.g. management, interview technique, 'springboard' to key positions.
·4 Training on womens' issues
·1 EU level training to access European funding
·3 Legal/counselling advice/support
·2 Mentoring
(10) Please list any practical ideas you have on how to carry out these actions. / - Promotion of Special training seminars and courses that pay attention to women, but are not necessarily only for women.
- Supervisors must be encouraged to identify high potential men AND women among their staff, and provide them with equal opportunities to develop their skills.
Management training seminars and courses should involve/be addressed to supervisors as well, in order to raise awareness on gender issues.
- Assignments to positions of responsibility and advancement statistics in science jobs must be monitored, and any possible cases of gender-based discrimination have to be investigated.
(11) If there are any other actions you feel are important in this area please list them in the space provided. / A supportive professional environment for working parents has to be provided, promoting flexibility with regard to working hours, and exploring ways to respond
to the evolving personal and family needs of scientists. The hours of operation of Nursory Schools would have to be extended, to match the needs of working parents.
(12) Is your network already involved in this type of activity? If yes, please provide brief details in the space provided. / See item 6.
(13) Some activities that have been proposed for a European Platform are listed below. Please rank them in terms of importance to your network from 1-5 (or 0 if you feel they are of no relevance to such a Platform). / ·3 Information source: library
·1 Database of experts
·3 Awareness-raising activities
·4 Campaigns
·1 Information services: newsletter, web-site
(14) Please outline how you think these activities could be carried out to ensure European added-value. / Comments on how to create a database of experts and promote information services and flow, have been included in items 5 and 7 (lists of contact points on gender issues
to be provided by National States and Universities,use Commission's databases on projects and partners from earlier Framework Programmes, promote the organisation
of conferences on equal opportunities).
(15) Are other actions you would propose in this area? If yes, please list them in the space provided. / A Web library would also be useful (extension of the first item in 13). In general online information is more accessible and therefore should be promoted.
(16) Is your network already involved in this type of activity? If yes, please provide brief details in the space provided.
(17) One of the issues regarding the organisational structure of a European Platform will be how the networks are grouped. Do you have any preference at this stage? / Grouping by scientific discipline
(18) Do you have any comments on these organisations being involved with the European Platform? If yes, please insert you comments below each organisation. / · Non-European networks of women scientists:
· Key individuals:
· Interested organisations e.g. women's lobby groups:
· 'Embryonic networks' (e.g. University-based groups) in countries where there are no/few active womens' networks:
· Stakeholders:
ALL THE ABOVE should be involved in the European Platform. In order to effectively promote equal opportunities it is important that there is a wide involvement of all parties concerned.
(19) If there are other bodies or types of organisation you feel should be included please provide brief details under the following headings. / · Member:
· Associate:
(20) Would you, in principle, support the following potential sources of funding for a European Platform? / · Membership fees
No.
The Platform should be funded mainly from public sources,
since its work is of European interest.
· In-kind contribution
· Public sector - national/European
It may be difficult to attract interest from the private sector for such a project, but if the situation arises, some sponsoring may be envisaged.
· Private sector - direct e.g. sponsorship
See above.
· Private sector - indirect e.g. secondment
If a European Platform was set up with funding from the European Commission, the Platform would need to be sustainable after approximately three years, no longer relying on the European Commission as its key source of funding.
(21) If you have any comments on this please list here: / The national states, where a lot of the policy work and actions have to take place, ought to support the financing of the platform. Some sponsoring or secondment from the private sector could be envisaged, especially after the first 2-3 years, where concrete results that can be of interest to the private sector as well will start coming out.
The setting up of a European Platform will be an evolving process. This stage of the study is for gathering preliminary information. It is obvious that not all networks will be able to devote the same resources to a European Platform. The purpose of this question is to get a first idea which networks are in a position and willing to commit resources and energy to the development of a Platform at this stage. This does not, of course, exclude other networks from becoming involved as the process develops.
(22) In principle, at this stage would you categorise your network as: / · Member
We believe that MCFA can provide very useful input in the network. However, we also believe that no membership fee should be applied, for the reasons discussed above.
(23) If you have indicated "pro-active member" please provide further information on how you envisage this involvement in the space provided.
(24) Approximately what percentage of your funding comes from the following sources: / ·100% Membership fees, due to lack of alternative source of funding
(25) Please indicate the number of your staff which are:
(26) Please indicate the number of your staff which are:
(27) Please indicate the number of your staff which are: / All voluntary
(28) Network Office - Does your Network: / No, we operate through the Bureau des Relations Internationales, Université Libre de Bruxelles
(29) If there are any other comments you wish to provide on the organisation or funding of your network please do so:
(30) If there are any other issues you would like to address regarding the establishment of a European Platform please complete the box: