Prague, Feb 22 (CTK) – Support for the emerging generation of scientists and providing assistance in dealing with the unequal position of men and women in research is the aim of a new programme of the Czech Technology Agency (TACR), which staged a seminar on related problems on Monday.
The programme is called ZETA and it is now being evaluated by the government research council.
The Czech Republic has long had one of the lowest shares of women directing research projects.
In 2014, women accounted for 27.2 percent of all researchers, which was the lowest number from 2010, and the situation has not been improving for many years.
The number of women among students and university graduates has been growing according to available data, while their share among scientists has been decreasing, the National Contact Centre – Gender and Science of the Sociology Institute of the Science Academy, said.
This proves big wasting the talents of most qualified and able women, Marcela Linkova, from the contact centre, said.
Between 2013 to 2014, the number of research workers rose by 3038 people, but only 278 of them were women.
The updated National Research, Development and Innovations Policy has set the goal of raising the share of women to 30 percent translated into full-time employment, which is the current EU average, by the year 2020.
More than two fifths of researchers are active in the business sphere. At the beginning of the millennium, women created almost one fifth of researchers in the sector, but the percentage dropped to 14.9 percent by 2014.
Universities employ more than two fifths of researchers, with the women’s share standing at 34.9 percent. Since 2011 this percentage has been decreasing.
Female researchers have the strongest representation – 43 percent – in the non-profit sector.
