As several central and eastern European nations and Baltic states prepare to join the European Union (EU), the European Commission is scheduled to complete a report on the status of women scientists in such countries by the end of 2003, according to the Commission. The report, by the Enwise Expert Group, is in advance of the EU's first batch of 10 new members, due to enter in 2004: the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Cyprus and Malta. If all goes according to plan, they will be joined by Romania and Bulgaria in 2007. Negotiations with Turkey are beginning, and other countries may follow.

"It seems timely, on the eve of enlargement, to give women scientists from Central and Eastern European countries and the Baltic states an opportunity to report on the situation they are facing in universities and research institutes, after the fall of Communism and more than 10 years of transition to the market economy," Brigitte Degen from the EC's Women and Science unit, told The Scientist. Degen said she hopes the report will "contribute to increasing gender equality in scientific research in a wider Europe, by raising awareness and putting forward recommendations to the Commission and all other stakeholders in the targeted countries."

Raw statistics on the numbers of women working in research in the central and eastern European states suggest that these countries are actually ahead of the EU in this area. About 40% of researchers in education and government in such states are women, compared to only about 30% in existing EU member states, according to statistics tracked by the EU. Similarly, women make up 15% of full professors in central and eastern European nations, but only about 11% in EU member states. However, the Commission believes these figures may paint a misleading and rosy picture because women are not always working in what they term "favorable conditions" and may not be well-represented in leadership. A first indication of this came in a series of national reports on the situation of women in science in Europe, published from 2000 through 2001.

"In Soviet times, gender equality was officially postulated, but in reality was not true," explained Ene Ergma, chair of the ENWISE Expert Group. "Our historical background is very different from that of the EU countries and large economic changes have taken place," Ergma told The Scientist. "We need to know how social and economic changes have influenced women's careers in science. My own scientific career is successful, being the only woman member of the Estonian Academy of Sciences and its vice president, but I know I am an exception."