The present project “Practising Gender Equality in Science (PRAGES)” consists of an action of coordination aimed at comparing the various strategies implemented for promoting the presence of women in decision-making bodies relating to scientific research in public institutions.

This project fits into the context of the Seventh Framework Programme for research and technological development, "Capacities" programme, part 5 "Science in Society", activity 5.2.1. "Gender and Research", area 5.2.1.1. "Strengthening the role of women in scientific research". Within the context of this area, it provides for a Survey of positive action schemes in the area of research decision-making which sets itself the general purpose of monitoring the participation of women in scientific and technological development, identifying effective mechanisms in order to support women researchers, in particular in relation to their access to decision-making positions in the sphere of public research. A specific feature of this proposal is that its comparative focus will consider both European and other OECD countries.

Regarding the above-mentioned general purpose, the coordination action pursues the objective of collecting, classifying and evaluating good practices and positive actions (with a special focus on those where a positive contribution from men is recorded) that can be found in OECD countries of the parties that participate in the consortium, both at the national level and at the level of the individual both decision-makers and other relevant stakeholders.

The specific objectives of this project are the following:

• to create a favourable environment by establishing an extended network within which it will be possible to identify, evaluate and circulate good practices for the promotion of the presence of women in scientific decision making;
• to identify, organise and disseminate to a wide and diversified audience information relating to events promoted not only in a European context but also in the international dimension, inherent to the presence of women in scientific decision making;
• to produce an empirical base that will enable the integration and coordination of the most interesting results to emerge from studies, research and experiments conducted in OECD countries on the promotion of the presence of women at decision-making levels, in public scientific research, but also in other professional and social contexts;
• to devise operational (that is, directly applicable) indicators, whose success potential has already been evaluated in the promotion of the presence of women at decision-making levels, in public scientific research;
• to prepare a series of guidelines relating to the promotion of insertion of women at top levels of decision-making in public scientific research in Europe;
• to favour the reception (through their dissemination) of these guidelines by the broadest and most diverse public possible;
• to increase the awareness of the institutional actors on the importance of overcoming gender discrimination in relation to top-level decision-making positions in research.

Participants:

• Dipartimento per i Diritti e le Pari Opportunità – Presidenza del Consiglio dei Ministri del Governo italiano (Coordinator)
• Assemblea delle Donne per lo Sviluppo e la lotta all’Esclusione Sociale ASDO, Italy
• Tetalap, Hungary
• Università degli Studi di Milano Bicocca, Italy
• Aarhus University, Denmark
• University of Manchester, UK
• Università degli Studi di Milano, Italy
• Simmons College School of Management Center for Gender in Organisation, USA
• New York University, USA
• The Chancellor, Masters and Scholars of the University of Cambridge, UK
• The Australian National University, Australia
• European University Institute, Italy

The project is funded by:

• European Commission, FP7
• Presidenza del Consiglio dei Ministri - Dipartimento per i diritti e le pari opportunità, Italy

Publications:
PRAGES News Bulletin no 1

PRAGES Guidelines for Gender Equality Programmes in Science

Project leader (Denmark): 
Associate professor Evanthia Kalpazidou Schmidt 

Other project participants:
Postdoc Stine Thidemann Faber