Insights from international agreements in STI
Has gender mainstreaming reached international STI agreements?
The Gender STI project investigated 528 international bilateral and multilateral STI agreements from 1961 – 2021 and only 81 agreements (15%) included gender-related content. This finding shows that gender content in the STI agreements is far from mainstream. A positive sign is that gender content is observed more from 2015 onwards.
The study included STI agreements from 51 countries, the emphasis was however of the Gender STI consortium countries. Based on the data, Canada, India, and South Africa provide good practices in gender inclusion in international STI agreements, while also Spain and Finland have relatively large amounts of gender-related content in their agreements. In turn, Brazil, Argentina, and Portugal show in a negative light in our sample given that these countries have very little gender content in the STI agreements.
What kind of gender content is included in the international STI agreements?
The STI agreements referred most often to ‘gender equality’ in one form or another. This phrase was most often used to improve gender equality or promote gender balance in STI-related activities. Second used terminology related to women, for example empowering women participation in STI.
Women or females are seen as specific target of the activity that the STI agreement addresses. However, it was delightful to see that inclusion and intersectionality were also mentioned in some extent in the STI agreements.
The following example shows how gender is addressed in a health science related grant agreement between Canadian RTO and European Commission signed in 2019.
[Organisation x] is committed to include a gender perspective in all applicable activities and try to involve both women and men. Moreover, in compliance with Articles 21 & 23 of the Charter of the Fundamental Rights of the European Union, women will be encouraged to participate in the project activities. Equal opportunities will be ensured throughout the whole project activity, namely the Expert Groups and RTI stakeholder workshops, especially new therapy methods or new applications or robots underlie gender specific considerations and these need to be voiced in the expert group discussions and future policy design efforts.
Related Project Publications and Best Practices
If you want to find best practices on STI agreements that address gender, check these out:
Mapping on gender equality in STI bilateral and multilateral agreements
This report explores global STI policy documents to see how gender mainstreaming has materialised in national STI policy making in Europe and outside, adding a new dimension to the previous mapping study of how gender equality was addressed in STI related bilateral and multilateral agreements, Memorandum of Understandings (MoUs) and STI implementation activities.
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Gender STI & EU Horizon Programme
Gender STI final conference presentation by Jorge Molina, from the European Research Executive Agency (REA) on EU Research & Innovation Programme (2021-2027)
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Gender in STI: New frontiers in the application of a gender lens
Presentation at Gender STI final conference, by Alice Abreu, Professor at Federal University of Rio de Janeiro. The slides illustrate how diversity is central to scientific excellence and that institutional structural change is the only way of reaching gender equity in science.
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Advancing Gender Equality in STI dialogues.
Gender STI Final conference presentation by Gabriela Ferreira, Brazilian partner from “University of São Paulo” on the perspective of non-European countries towards advancing gender equality in STI dialogues.
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Recommendations for implementing Gender Equality in STI
Gender STI final conference presentation by Silvia Kochen, Argentian partner from “Red Argentina de Genero Ciencia y Tecnologia” (RAGCYT) outlining recommendations for implementing gender equality in STI.
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Gender STI Findings and Results
Gender STI final conference presentation by project’s coordinator, Yolanda Ursa, summarizing the projects findings and results, identifying barriers preventing the inclusion of Gender Equality in STI Agreements and thus, advancing gender equality in STI dialogues.
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Policies and trends
Policies
National Program for Gender Equality in Science, Technology and Innovation
National Program developed in June 2020 by Argentina’s Ministry of Science, Technology and Productive Innovation for equal participation of women and the LGTBI + population at all levels and areas of the scientific-technological system.
Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on combating violence against women and domestic violence (EU Commission)
The proposal developed in March 2022 seeks to introduce targeted minimum rules on the rights of this group of crime victims, and to criminalise the most severe forms of violence against women and of cyber violence.
Gender Equality National Policy in Science, Technology, Knowledge and Innovation
First Gender Policy for the scientific, technological, and innovation system in Panama. It seeks to increase the access and development of female researchers under equal conditions and in safe environments.
Trends
Diagnosis on the situation of women in science and technology 2023
This report presents the update, as of March 2023, of the annual diagnosis on the situation of women in the Argentine National Science, Technology and Innovation System that is regularly produced, since 2020, by the National Program for Gender Equality in Science, Technology and Innovation under the Undersecretariat for Institutional Assessment of the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation.
Buenos Aires Commitment
The Buenos Aires Commitment (March 2023) charts a path towards a care society, with agreements in new areas for transformative recovery with gender equality and sustainability. It recognizes care as a right to provide and receive care and to exercise self-care.
Athena Swan Charter on Gender Equality
Established in 2005 to encourage and recognize commitment to advancing the careers of women in science, technology, engineering, maths and medicine employment, the Charter is now being used across the globe to address gender equality more broadly, and not just barriers to progression that affect women.
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