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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Gender push in science

Gender push in science

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published Published on Jan 27, 2010   modified Modified on Jan 27, 2010


Government science institutions across India may be able to earn labels that certify them as gender-friendly places under new proposals from a national task force on women in science.

The 14-member government task force has also called for an end to some unwritten rules widely practised during recruitment to scientific institutions, including one that denies a spouse appointment in the same institution.

The recommendations from the task force, which was set up by the department of science and technology four years ago, are intended for implementation by more than 150 scientific laboratories and research institutions under different government agencies.

The task force report released tonight by the science and technology ministry has proposed the introduction of an “institute transformation award” for institutions that move towards a gender-enabling environment.

“These awards would serve as labels to show which institutions are already gender-friendly and which still have to take steps to get there,” said a senior department of science and technology official who requested anonymity.

The task force has said the “unwritten barrier” on employment of a spouse in the same institution should be torn down. Although there is no rule that bars spouses from being recruited, a scientist in a research institution under the department of biotechnology told The Telegraph such an appointment was “actively discouraged”. “When this happens, it’s the woman who’s more likely to try and find an alternative career.”

The task force has also asked scientific departments to develop a code of ethics to stop women candidates from being asked personal and family-related questions which male candidates are typically not asked during the recruitment process.

“Questions such as who will look after the children or whether a candidate plans to get married reveal prejudices,” the official said. The task force has said such issues should not be raised by the selection panel even when a candidate is not present in the room.

The panel, which included leading women scientists and science administrators, has also iterated its preliminary suggestions for creches, campus housing and safe transportation to improve work conditions for women researchers.

“What the task force has suggested will be crucial to retain highly trained and talented women in research,” a senior scientist said. Surveys suggest women postgraduates and even doctorates tend to quit promising scientific careers for various reasons.

A survey conducted more than two years ago suggested that while about 37 per cent of PhD scholars in the sciences were women, the proportion of women researchers in the scientific institutions was about 20 per cent.

“Some of our proposals such as those related to appointments of a spouse or the code of ethics to stop personal questions during job interviews don’t require any funding — only a change in attitudes,” a member of the task force said.

If the recommendations are accepted, they are intended to be implemented by institutions under the departments of space, atomic energy, science and technology, scientific and industrial research, medical research and agricultural research.

A department of science and technology official said several institutions under the department were in the process of setting up creches and the science agency was also implementing an earlier recommendation to provide grants worth Rs 10 lakh for five years to young women researchers who are associates of the Indian National Academy of Sciences. An earlier proposal for flexible timings, however, has remained unimplemented.

“The government instead introduced the two-year child care leave for mothers,” the official said.


The Telegraph, 28 January, 2010, http://www.telegraphindia.com/1100128/jsp/nation/story_12036827.jsp
 

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