Women in science − how does the Czech Republic rate?
Masaryk University, and therefore also our faculty, is currently collecting data as part of research on the position of female researchers working here. We are aware that gender is an area where there is still room for improvement. Information from the most recently published Monitoring Report of the National Contact Centre – Gender and Science for 2022, which examines the position of female researchers in the Czech Republic, shows us which areas are useful to focus on in terms of gender.
What needs focussing on in the field of gender?
In 2022, a total of 86,125 people worked in research and development, of whom 28.7 % were women.
The representation of women among researchers is on a declining trend.
- In research and development, men outnumbered women.
- Between 2005 and 2022, we observe a slightly declining trend in the representation of women.
- In international comparison, the representation of women among researchers in the Czech Republic is among the lowest in all EU countries.
Representation of women in Master’s studies is slowly increasing, while in doctoral studies the ratio is balanced.
- The proportion of women among Master’s students has been slowly increasing over the past 20 years (reaching 60.2 % in 2020).
- Among doctoral students, the ratio is more or less balanced, except in technical sciences. However, this balance has not had a long-term effect on the situation in research itself.
Decline in the representation of women after completing doctoral studies
- The greatest decline in the representation of women on the study–career path occurs between doctoral graduates and researchers themselves (a loss of 30.7 percentage points).
What is the representation of women in technical and natural sciences? In the Czech Republic there are:
- 23% women in technical sciences
- 26% women in natural sciences
Representation of women along the academic career path is as follows:
- Lecturers: 58%
- Assistants: 47%
- Assistants Professors: 42%
- Associate Professors: 27%
- Professors: 15%
The data therefore clearly show that the higher the academic rank, the lower the representation of women.
Women in decision-making bodies in science and research
Decision-making roles are still held predominantly by men. Women are not sufficiently represented in advisory groups and evaluation bodies of scientific and research institutions and also participate less in shaping research and development policy. For example, only 14% of rectors of public universities are women.
Gender equality pays off
In the HR Award Project Action Plan, the Faculty paid special attention to the issue of the position of women in science and has implemented measures to improve the present situation. At the same time, the faculty highlighted a number of positive aspects which, according to the Report on Monitoring of ERA Priority 4 Implementation, 2019, are:
- There is a positive correlation between the innovation potential index, the excellence indicator and the gender equality index.
- There is a positive correlation between the share of research organisations with a gender equality plan and the indicator of innovation potential and the indicator of excellence.
- There is a strong positive correlation between the Gender Equality Index and a) the number of research organisations that have gender equality plans, and b) with the representation of women in the decision-making bodies of research organisations.
Source: Report on Monitoring of ERA Priority 4 Implementation, 2019.
