Additional resources

The Women in Neuroscience Repository is to help you identify and recommend female neuroscientists for conferences, symposia or collaborations.

Read the related article by Schrouff J., Pischedda D., Genon S., Fryns G., Pinho A.L., Vassena E., Liuzzi A. G. , Ferreira F. S.: "Gender bias in (neuro)science. Facts, consequences, and solutions.", which was published on the International Women's Day 2019 on how to ‘debunk the myths’ related to gender bias and to affirmative actions in academia.

You want to know more about the pool of talent, working conditions and career advancement of women and men in European research institutions? Explore the statistics and background informationoffered in the European SHE FIGURES 2018.

Gender and other diversity aspects are not only important for teamwork but can also be essential elements in scientific research projects leading to additional insights and knowledge or far-reaching results. In line with the European Commission's RRI guidelines and the gender agenda for Horizon 2020, the HBP aims to play a pioneering role in promoting awareness and advancing gender equality in research teams and decision-making, as well as in research content and innovation.

Get to know the European Commission’s Gender Equality Strategy 2020-2025 and the EU Anti-Racism Action Plan 2020-2025. They outline policy objectives and measures to achieve a Union of Equality, which offers all women and men, girls and boys, in all their diversity, the chance to freely pursue their goals and to have equal opportunities and possibilities of participation. The Gender Equality Strategy tackles several levels to accomplish this objective, among others gender-based violence, challenging gender stereotypes (for example in Artificial Intelligence), gender pay and pension gaps, and many more. For the implementation, intersectionality is a key principle, in order to support all genders alike, in all their diversity. This is also key for the EU Anti-Racism Action Plan: The EU is built on diversity and on fostering a society of pluralism, tolerance and non-discrimination. Therefore, the EU anti-racism strategy uses an intersectional approach to acknowledge and act against the prevalence of racism and racial discrimination on different levels, from EU legislation to racism in everyday life, where each of us can contribute and make a difference.

The EU also supports Open Science approaches and thus, GENDERACTION, another Horizon2020 project, published a Report on Strategic Advice for enhancing the Gender Dimension of Open Science and Innovation Strategy to examine possible intersections between gender and Open Science/Open Innovation. Among others, the report reveals that most analyses and policy documents related to Open Science and Open Innovation adopt a gender-blind approach. Based on these and other findings, several recommendations for further development are outlined.

Did you know that 13 HBP Partners are also members of the League of European Research Universities (LERU)?

LERU offers amongst others excellent Advice and Position Papers

ADVICE PAPER by Jadranka Gvozdanović J. and Maes K. (2018): Implicit bias in academia: A challenge to the meritocratic principle and to women’s careers – and what to do about it.

"This paper looks at the role of implicit bias as a mechanism behind the gender gap and a potential threat to academic meritocracy. It focuses on implicit gender bias, examining how it plays a role in working conditions for women at universities, in recruitment and career advancement processes, and in research funding situations."

POSITION Paper by Buitendijk S., Curry St. Maes K. (2019): Equality, diversity and inclusion at universities: the power of a systemic approach.

"This position paper examines the issue of equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) at universities. It is firstly a manifesto which makes the case for why universities should and how they can engage with EDI. It also analyses the opportunities and benefits for universities to engage with EDI and it contains several research-based contributions on specific EDI challenges. Finally, the paper has a section with many examples of what LERU universities are actually doing to build equal, diverse and inclusive organisations."

Explore the collection of research articles related to diversity and gender at PLOS:

PLOS Editor's Picks: Understanding the Gender Imbalance in STEM Fields