Gender Equality=>Sustainability
When preparing the Gender Action Plan as a project deliverable, I encountered several statistics reflecting on the underrepresentation of women in research and senior positions. To hear about some suggestions to change this situation I participated in the “Women in Science, Innovation and Technology in the Digital Age” conference in Budapest on 7-8 March altogether with Sara Coelho who introduced EGI to people interested in our booth.
ECTW, the main organiser of the conference, aims to bring together institutions and companies with high-level excellence to collaborate in order to facilitate the presence of qualified women in ICT.
The carefully selected sessions in the programme showed that dealing with gender balance does not equal with contemplating over poor proportions. It is more about making recommendations to help everyday practice at workplaces as it is an important factor in promoting economic sustainability.
As EGI.eu is an umbrella organisation for European research institutes, we have the responsibility in exposing and sharing ideas about Gender Equality in our community. Our resources are not only middlewares & disk storage capacities but also human resources. So we would like to investigate and promote best practices that can help women in and towards a professional career.
I personally believe that the excellence and the sustainability of an organisation also depends on the capability of reflecting on these kind of human dimensions. And practically speaking: You can never know who and where innovation may come from…
