Science and Innovation

The research has identified a number of everyday practices that contribute to maintaining the inequalities experienced by women researchers. However, the degree of recognition and identification of these practices is quite uneven among the different members of the scientific community, both among men and women. For this reason, sharing and pooling the factors that contribute, on a daily basis, to maintaining these inequalities can help to make them visible, to publicise their causes and the ways in which they are realised and, consequently, to reverse them. It is therefore necessary to undertake measures to raise awareness in the scientific community of the daily practices and stereotypes that contribute to maintaining the inequalities suffered by women researchers.

The scientific context is governed by a masculinised academic culture, which is materialised in a communicative style that is, to a certain extent, aggressive and taxing. This style can be expressed in the form of cancellation of discourse, occupation of discursive space or lack of recognition of contributions, among others. For this reason, it would be advisable to provide tools for managing and regulating communicative styles with recommendations adapted to the different research contexts (seminars, congresses, meetings, etc.).

The qualitative data show that, while some female researchers have a certain internalised insecurity, which makes them doubt the consistency of their contributions, some researchers overestimate their competences, which can lead them to express themselves with a certain arrogance and immodesty. Empowerment actions are therefore necessary to help reverse learned insecurity and provide greater confidence and security in their abilities. On the other hand, these actions must also ensure that they promote models of interaction and debate based on prudence, consideration and modesty.

Despite the existence of visibility measures, there is still a lack of female researchers. It is therefore necessary to continue promoting equal participation in dissemination and media spaces, as well as in relevant scientific events. It should be noted that in highly masculinised fields of research, parity may be difficult to achieve due to the lack of women and the overload of the few women who work. In these cases, the objective may be reduced to ensuring that women are present in all papers.

Existing measures to raise the visibility of women scientists focus primarily on showcasing women scientists in senior research positions. Although this measure is essential, there is a need to go further and also address leadership models and the existing diversity of women scientists. In this sense, it is necessary to reinforce actions to make women scientists more visible, incorporating a reflection on the communication, leadership and management models of research groups. Thus, it is necessary to promote more assertive, cooperative and competent styles that move away from the more aggressive and competitive masculinised model. In the same way, it is also important to publicise female researchers who are at different stages of their academic careers, as they can become points of reference for young women who are starting out in the field of research.

There are certain fields of knowledge (care and attention to people, social sciences, etc.), as well as types and uses of knowledge (applied knowledge, knowledge transfer, etc.) that enjoy less recognition and reputation; and which, precisely, are highly feminised fields. These areas of knowledge tend to receive less recognition both from the public and from the scientific community itself, affecting, among other things, the degree of visibility of female researchers and access to funding. It is therefore necessary to support visibility measures that give recognition and prestige to these more feminised fields of knowledge.

The characteristics of a research career, intertwined with gender mandates, make it difficult for female researchers who decide to become mothers to progress on equal terms. The consequence of having to take on more caring tasks at the end of working hours, among other things, can be an obstacle to a research career with an uninterrupted logic, which demands total dedication both inside and outside working hours. It is therefore necessary to take measures to facilitate family reconciliation and to reduce the gap in scientific output that occurs due to the unequal distribution of care tasks.

Women researchers tend to be less present in informal spaces for different reasons (reconciliation with care tasks, discomfort with the space, etc.). These spaces are essential in the scientific trajectory because they become nuclei for decision-making and facilitate the creation of synergies between researchers and the search for opportunities, among others. Consequently, it is necessary to undertake measures that contribute to guaranteeing the effective participation of women researchers in informal and decision-making spaces.

Women researchers tend to take on tasks for which, according to gender stereotypes, they are socially assumed to be better qualified, such as organising meetings, collecting and recording information, applying for grants, routine laboratory or fieldwork tasks, or designing the visual part of reports. Taking on such tasks is detrimental to the performance of those tasks that are more highly valued in the academic environment. To address this, action should be taken to ensure an equal division of tasks and roles in each of the research activities.

The research has shown that existing actions to address sexual harassment have considerable room for improvement. Although the research was not specifically aimed at identifying cases of harassment, first or third person cases have emerged, and it has become clear that the protocols are not yet sufficiently effective. The lack of training on the part of the people responsible for applying them, or the lack of points of reference to turn to in the event of harassment, are some causes. For this reason, a firm commitment is needed not only to design and approve protocols against sexual harassment, but also to ensure their effective deployment and to implement evaluations to ensure accountability.