On 22 June 2022 the British Council and the British Embassy in France co-organised a conference entitled “Women in STEM: Addressing the Gender Imbalance”, including panel discussions and interactive workshops, to explore the challenges and long-term solutions for women in science overcoming barriers to leadership, access to funding and inclusive, safe workplaces. Hosted by HMA Dame Menna Rawlings, with Guest of honour, Prof. Edith Heard, winner of the 2020 Unesco-L’Oréal Women in Science awards, and key note speaker Caroline Nokes, MP & Chair of UK Parliamentary Select Committee Women & Equality.

During the conference, the importance of equality, diversity, and inclusion in the STEM sector was emphasised, the challenges that women face were discussed within the scope of three different dimensions:

• Psychological (confidence gap, burn-out)

• Professional (the glass ceiling, leaky pipelines, glass cliffs, male-tailored success criteria, women’s networks)

• Societal (care responsibilities, leadership, gender segregation in the employment market).

Panel of experts:

- Elisabeth Kohler, Head of the Mission for Women, CNRS

- Dr. Roshni Mooneeram, Head of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Office, European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL)

- Dr. Karen Salt, Deputy Director for R&D Culture and Environment, UKRI

 

You can find the executive summary of this event here and the recommendations only here