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Almost half of British women scientists fear their gender might harm their promotion prospects, according to a new survey conducted by the Athena Project, a UK initiative to advance women in science.
The survey, which questioned over 2000 university scientists and engineers in the United Kingdom, found women sat on fewer committees and held fewer positions of responsibility both within their department and their institution. At institution level, 93% of women held no positions of authority.
The survey asked lecturers, senior lecturers, and readers whether they had received encouragement to apply for a promotion. At both levels, men were more likely than women to have received such encouragement.
The results also suggested some women do not feel valued in their departments. Over one fifth of female professors felt their senior colleagues were unsupportive, and almost a third of women did not feel that their department celebrated successes in their working lives.
The findings will add weight to the Greenfield report on women in science, commissioned by the Department of Trade and Industry and published last November. This highlighted institutional sexism, a career system out of tune with family life, and a glass ceiling blocking women's progress.
Jan Peters of the Royal Society, who coauthored the Greenfield report, told The Scientist it was essential to keep raising awareness of women's position in science.
“The key is going to be persuading department heads and people leading research teams. It is about getting the message through to line managers,” she said.
The Greenfield report pointed out that taking time out to have a family exposed women researchers to the dreaded “publications gap,” which counted against them when they tried to reenter the jobs market.
The Athena survey backed this up. It found 30% of women had real difficulties returning to work after a career break.
Jennifer Wooley, the director of the Daphne Jackson Trust, a charity that helps women break back into science, said: “It's a difficult situation. Things move on so quickly in science and engineering that it is hard for women to keep up when they take some time out.”
Jo Turner, a contract lab scientist at Pfizer, found there were many barriers preventing her from resuming her environmental science career after a 5-year break to raise her family. “I tried all over the country but couldn't get back in,” she said. “I don't know if employers look at the whole picture.”
Pfizer employed Turner on a short-term contract, following a fellowship organized by the Daphne Jackson Trust. But while she felt industry was becoming more progressive, she warned the culture in universities was a deterrent for many women. “The university academic environment is like an old boys'; network, so it is harder to get in or move on if you are a woman,” she said.
In April, the UK government announced £1.5 million funding to try and encourage women to start and stay in science. £500,000 of this money will be used to encourage women to return to science after a career break.
Just a week ago, the European Commission noted that the situation for women was bad in industrial science as well, where just 15% of researchers are female.
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