Digital Document (pdf, doc, ppt, txt, etc.)

Fraunhofer Society is one of the leading applied research organizations in Europe. Seeking to explore what kinds of organizational cultures might be most effective in attracting and retaining highly skilled and internationally mobile engineers, it conducted an exploratory study in cooperation with ETH ZURICH and the UNITECH INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY. This study included semi-structured individual interviews with 19 UNITECH alumni and a standardized online survey of 172 registered members of the alumni association about their career development strategies, motivators, sources of frustration, experiences with different organizations, etc. Due to their outstanding qualifications, international experiences, and broad educational backgrounds, UNITECH alumni constitute a unique and scientifically relevant
group. This booklet presents the conducted study, which is intended
— to provide scientific evidence about the workplace preferences of UNITECH alumni;
— to help individual organizations adjust their HR strategies, re-shape their cultures, and, ultimately, more effectively utilize the potential of diversity; and
— to better familiarize the UNITECH INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY with the preferences of their alumni and provide a solid basis for mutual communication.
OUR THREE MAJOR FINDINGS ARE:
1 — Corporate culture matters. By establishing an atmosphere of trust and personal and professional recognition and by ensuring intellectually stimulating work and opportunities for learning, organizations can more effectively attract and retain highly skilled employees.
2 — Workplace preferences may differ between men and women. Among surveyed UNITECH alumni, a significantly greater proportion of women than men prioritized job security and work-life balance. Among those who had more than five years of professional experience, a greater proportion of men had come to prioritize a high income over time.
3 — Priorities change with time. Respondents who had more than five years of professional experience agreed that they were now less mobile than in the past and a greater proportion of women than men among them had come to place a higher value on job security. Respondents with less professional experience expected for their priorities to change in a similar way in the future.

Economies, which display a trend towards greater dependence on knowledge, information and highlevel skills, compete on the basis of their research and innovation capacity and effectiveness. The underlying economic dynamics can be modelled using the concept of innovation ecosystem, which captures the relationships between the knowledge economy (i.e. people and organisations producing and applying science knowledge), the commercial economy (i.e. people and organisations who create markets for science knowledge), and the mechanisms enabling translation of knowledge into potential product solution (Jackson,
2011). We report on the results of a new study of women’s career patterns and analyse available evidence of women’s contribution to knowledge and commercial economies to show how gender dynamics and women’s careers can act as determinants of: 1) new directions for innovation that draw on scientific understanding of the significance of sex and gender differences; 2) intellectual and creative capacity of the human capital engaged in knowledge and commercial economies; and 3) ability of innovation processes and practices to facilitate effective transformation of ideas into products.

Since its founding in 1919, the ILO has been committed to promoting the fundamental rights of women and men at work. The ILO promotes gender equality, not only as a basic human right, but also as intrinsic to the goals of decent work and poverty alleviation and as an instrument for a more inclusive globalization. Gender equality is fundamental to the ILO’s four strategic objectives to achieve decent work for all women and men. These are to:
• promote and realize standards and fundamental principles and rights at work;
• create greater opportunities for men and women to secure decent employment and income;
• enhance the coverage and effectiveness of social protection for all; and
• strengthen social dialogue and tripartism among the ILO’s three constituents – governments,
and employers’ and workers’ organizations.
The ILO seeks to fulfil the various United Nations commitments concerning gender equality, including the UN Charter itself, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), the Beijing Platform for Action and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The ILO Bureau for Gender Equality supports the implementation of the Organization’s Policy on Gender Equality and Mainstreaming through capacity building, knowledge sharing and policy advice to constituents and ILO staff on measures to ensure that policies, legislation and institutions are more gender-equitable. The Bureau plays a leading role in conducting gender audits both within the ILO as well as among its constituents and other national international organizations.

The percentage of female professors at universities is lower in Denmark than in other Nordic countries, and lower than the EU and OECD average. This lower level of utilising female talent in Danish research does not benefit Denmark. We need to bring the best talents into play if we are to survive as a knowledge society in an ever increasingly competitive international arena. Simply put, this is the background for the formation of the task force for more women in research.
During the first three months of 2015, the task force has discussed what can be done in the short-term to increase the number of women in Danish research, especially at professor and management levels. Currently, only 18% of professors in Denmark are women and projections based on the current rate of increase show that the balance between men and women will only first be achieved in 45-50 years depending on which calculation model is used for the projections. On the basis of a number of available analyses, reports and statistics, we have identified six focus areas and propose a number of recommendations in these areas, which are aimed at universities, research councils, foundations and at the political level. We recommend that this advice is discussed and given consideration in the different environments, that it is then implemented where appropriate and that a simple national benchmarking tool (talent barometer) is introduced to follow the development. The task force proposes that the Danish Council for Research and Innovation Policy allows the issue of the effect of special initiatives aimed at women in Denmark and internationally to be part of the council's coming international analysis so that the Danish society of researchers, universities and decision makers have a solid, informed foundation for discussing this area.