Rueda highlights that the Third Women and Science Program 2022-2025* will increase fivefold the budget of the previous program to 45 million euros to reduce the gap and place female researchers at the head of the teams.

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Rueda highlights that the Third Women and Science Program 2022-2025* will increase fivefold the budget of the previous program to 45 million euros to reduce the gap and place female researchers at the head of the teams.

Today, during the Consillo press conference, the President of Xunta, Alfonso Rueda, highlighted that the Third Program for Women and Science 2022-2025 promoted by the Ministry for the Promotion of Employment and Equality will have the largest budget in its history, 44.7 million euros. With the aim of realizing the Galician System of Science, Technology and Innovation that effectively integrates the principle of equal opportunities for men and women.

He added that it is estimated that about 600 women may join the field of research and about 30 may choose to develop management positions. “It is about achieving a equitable Galician scientific system, making visible the enormous female talent in science and encouraging more girls to develop their scientific careers. In short, he insisted on achieving a more equal science and a more competitive country.”

The document will contribute to the promotion and dissemination of the contents of the so-called Ánxeles Alvariño Law of 2021, which represented a quantum leap in the consolidation of a framework calling for the creation of new chairs, the strengthening of women’s leadership in this field, the search for talents and female professions and the removal of barriers that women in these sectors were experiencing for reasons of reconciliation or care. From a comprehensive approach, he said, Xunta will take action up to year 25 that aims to contribute to increasing the current percentage of women among its research faculty by 5 points, going from 42 % to a minimum of 47 %. It also aspires to increase the percentage of female professors by at least three points to 27 . %.

In this sense, she emphasized that the program would prioritize women’s needs with the aim of advancing respect for diversity and the retention of female talent as a driver of technological, economic, social and sustainable development in Galicia.

Four axes of action

To achieve this, he added, Xunta has just designed a document containing 20 specific goals and 50 actions to advance the inclusion of women, on an equal footing, in the scientific and technological field. Each of them is clarified around 4 priority axes.

The first axis (769 thousand euros) aims to highlight female workers in these sectors, with the aim of raising awareness in society, enhancing knowledge of female models, and training female teachers to encourage girls in their profession.

The second axis, which has the largest endowment, and a monopoly of 33.9 million euros, focuses on equal access to and promotion of women in the field of science. It provides procedures to support careers in secondary school and a monitoring system in the early stages of a research career with the help of associations of scientists and researchers. It will also contribute to the promotion of the Ánxeles Alvariño law and the setting of affirmative action standards: in evaluating the performance of research staff, projects, in women-led teams and in promoting principal investigators as well as promoting female industrial PhDs.

Third Axis (9.7 M€) to work with public and private institutions, with specific measures such as agreements so that they have equality plans, anti-harassment measures, promotion of special assistance for the care of minors and dependents, or even promotion of women’s entrepreneurship initiatives in technological and scientific projects especially in rural areas.

As for the fourth and final axis (187,000 euros), it will focus on following up on the status of women in the scientific field through periodic evaluation of the degree of commitment to the program and its indicators.

In order to design the Women and Science III programme, Xunta opened a participatory process that included contributions from various departments of the Galician government, associations of women scientists and representatives of technology companies and centres.

talent development

The new strategy builds on the successes of its predecessor, the Second Women and Science Program 2016-2020, which allowed the implementation of 135 activities that reached more than 14,000 people. These measures were mainly directed at schools and universities.

In addition, the second program had a direct impact on the careers of 520 women who entered the research field and another 20 who were promoted to management positions.

The Third Women and Science Program is part of the Eighth Strategic Plan for Equal Opportunities, which has a budget of 935.5 million euros, 138.8 % more than its predecessor, being the largest in the history of a planning document for these properties.

In addition, it is in line with the new Galician Law on Equality between Women and Men drawn up by the Government of Galicia, with the aim of continuing to promote equality on the basis of a union of public authorities to address discrimination and integrate a gender perspective in all. areas of society.

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