www.FESTA-EUROPA.eu
FESTA
Female Empowerment in Science and Technology
Academia
Improving the institutional environment for
female researchers
Minna Salminen-Karlsson
Uppsala University
Minna.Salminen@uadm.uu.se
These activities and FESTA have received funding from the European Union,
Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) under grant agreement n° 287526
www.FESTA-EUROPA.eu
Who we are:
Who we are:

Uppsala University, Sweden
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Syddanske Universitet, Denmark
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RWTH Aachen Universität, Germany
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University of Limerick, Ireland
Gender researchers
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Fondazione Bruno Kessler, Italy
Science/technology researchers
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Istanbul Teknik Universitesi, Turkey

South-West University, Bulgaria
Personnel/faculty administrators
Gender equality officers
In different positions in our institutional
hierarchies
These activities and FESTA have received funding from the European Union,
Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) under grant agreement n° 287526
www.FESTA-EUROPA.eu
What we want to do
EU agenda
FESTA agenda
More women into research,
in particular more female
professors
Better working environment
for female researchers on all
career stages
Lasting change
Work with structures and
processes, not with women
European added value
Try out same measures in
several European contexts,
compare
These activities and FESTA have received funding from the European Union,
Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) under grant agreement n° 287526
www.FESTA-EUROPA.eu
What are we doing – our actions
Awareness raising
Gender equality indicators – statistics
Individual awareness raising
Decision making and communication processes
Formal decision making processes
Informal decision making and communication processes
Perceptions of excellence
Hiring processes
Perceptions of excellence in working environment
Interaction
Meeting culture
PhD supervision
Analysis of resistance
These activities and FESTA have received funding from the European Union,
Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) under grant agreement n° 287526
www.FESTA-EUROPA.eu
What’s in it for the rest of Europe?
Publications:
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”Toolkits” and products from different actions
web decision support system for female researchers
hiring criteria guidelines
study material for PhD education
handbook for managing resistance
These activities and FESTA have received funding from the European Union,
Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) under grant agreement n° 287526
www.FESTA-EUROPA.eu
Raising organizational awareness – using
statistics
• Denmark, Sweden, Germany, Italy
• Collecting and understanding statistics
– What is our question?
– Can we measure? How?
– Effort/value ratio
• From figures to awareness
– How to make statistics interesting, easy to read?
– How to communicate them and to whom?
– How to make action plans?
These activities and FESTA have received funding from the European Union,
Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) under grant agreement n° 287526
www.FESTA-EUROPA.eu
Excellence in hiring processes
• Germany, Bulgaria, Turkey, Ireland, Italy
• Interviews with different parties in three selected
appointment processes each
• The concept of ”fitting”
– One of us
– Safe investment
– More of the same
These activities and FESTA have received funding from the European Union,
Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) under grant agreement n° 287526
www.FESTA-EUROPA.eu
Excellence in hiring processes
•
Scientific achievements – easiest to measure
– But do not take into account the conditions under which they are produced
•
The best fit
– knowing the rules of the game
•
Soft skills – not rationally measured but important
– Often decisive, but not transparently assessed
•
Local logics
– what is valued varies according to national contexts
– ”care ceiling” varies but exists everywhere
These activities and FESTA have received funding from the European Union,
Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) under grant agreement n° 287526
www.FESTA-EUROPA.eu
Excellence in the daily working environment
• Sweden, Germany, Bulgaria
• The quest for excellence:
– Excellence brings large money
– Excellence is measured quantitatively
•
•
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The quest for excellence influences the working environment
Good working environment is necessary for reaching excellence
The quest for excellence affects women and men differently
These activities and FESTA have received funding from the European Union,
Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) under grant agreement n° 287526
www.FESTA-EUROPA.eu
Problem areas
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•
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Informal power
Independence
Teaching
Research and life outside research
Requirements of mobility
Networks, visibility
Contrast between excellent and marginalised research areas
These activities and FESTA have received funding from the European Union,
Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) under grant agreement n° 287526
www.FESTA-EUROPA.eu
Thank you!
(and wish us good luck)
These activities and FESTA have received funding from the European Union,
Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) under grant agreement n° 287526
www.FESTA-EUROPA.eu
These activities and FESTA have received funding from the European Union,
Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) under grant agreement n° 287526