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The National Strategy for Research, Technology and Development of the Austrian Federal Government includes objectives for the reconciliation of work and family-life, gender balance in research professions, as well as requirements on gender budgeting regarding all research funding and provision for the support of young women scientists.

Many attempts have been made to improve the under-representation of women in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) careers in the UK. Yet currently only 17 per cent of STEM professors are women. It is astonishing that despite clear imperatives and multiple initiatives to improve diversity in STEM, women still remain under-represented at senior levels across every discipline. One compelling reason to tackle this problem is that the UK economy needs more STEM workers and we cannot meet the demand without increasing the numbers of women in STEM.

There is no single explanation for the lack of gender diversity in STEM; it is the result of perceptions and biases combined with the impracticalities of combining a career with family.  Scientists often consider themselves to be objective and unbiased, yet studies have shown that scientists are susceptible to the same biases as the rest of the population.  Therefore we have recommended that diversity and equality training should be provided to all STEM undergraduate and postgraduate students. It should also be mandatory for all members of recruitment and promotion panels and line managers.

Early academic STEM careers are characterised by short term contracts, which are a barrier to job security and continuity of employment rights. This career stage coincides with the time when many women are considering starting families, and because women tend to be primary carers, they are more likely than men to end their STEM career at this stage.  We call on the Government to work with the higher education sector to review the academic career structure and increase the number of longer-term positions for post-doctoral researchers. We have found that what benefits women benefits everyone in the STEM workplace.

Emphasis is often placed on inspiring young girls to choose science, which is commendable, but such efforts are wasted if women are subsequently disproportionately disadvantaged in scientific careers compared to men. The Government recognises the importance of gender diversity in STEM, but its efforts appeared to be largely focused on encouraging girls to study STEM, with little focus on enabling them to stay and progress in STEM careers. We were disappointed that BIS spending dedicated to improving diversity in STEM was virtually halved in the 2010 Spending Review and we recommend that the Government should monitor the effects of its policies on cutting and "mainstreaming" diversity funding.

The main focus of the work involved gathering a comprehensive set of statistics.  The starting point for the collection of relevant data in order to establish a set of gender indicators is to obtain accurate gender-disaggregated data for the number of women in SE from undergraduate through to full professor.  The overall results are:

• While 43% of the undergraduates in SE are women, only 4% of the full professors are women

• There is a small increase in the participation of women from PhD to postdoc level (35% to 39%); this falls back dramatically at the Lecturer grade, the career entry point for academics.

Women are then lost at each successive stage of the academic career ladder, leading to the now (in) famous “scissors” diagram

It is clear from the engagement with the College community during the process of conducting this self-assessment, that there is a widespread realisation of the importance of addressing the issue of improving the participation and retention of women in SE. While the original motivation may be one of equality and social equity, there is a growing realisation as numbers of women increase in SE even if only slowly, that women do indeed bring a different perspective not only on management and decision-making but also on the science itself. 

It is also apparent that there is no quick-fix solution but rather a requirement for cultural and organisational change if gender mainstreaming is to become a reality. The scale of the problem is evident when analysing academic staff data from 2005. There are currently 31 women at lecturer level and 114 men. Therefore in order to achieve equal number of men and women, it would be necessary to appoint 83 female lecturers and no male lecturers! 

The Austrian Federal Finance Law (BFG) provides the legal framework for the allocation of financial resources in all Austrian federal states. Provisions regarding gender equality in science include a balanced representation of women and men in academic leadership positions and boards, as well as in young scientist positions. They also include a better use of skilled labour through raising the share of women in science, technology and innovation.