Equal Opportunities and Diversity Management Plan. CERCA Institute April 2014

The activities of the CERCA centres and the people working in them are based on respect and equality among all those involved. The management of research together with policies on recruitment, employment opportunities, institutional representation, the allocation of resources and evaluation must be based on assessing people fairly and preventing any potential bias or discrimination. In the European Union, 50% of university students and 45% of doctoral students are women, but only one third of research staff. This situation has seen practically no change in the last ten years. Although women researchers are now entering some scientific fields in increasing numbers, this is not evidence of an absence of gender bias. To the extent that faculty gender bias impedes women’s full participation in science, it may undercut not only academic meritocracy, but also the expansion of the scientific workforce needed for the next decade’s advancement of national competitiveness (Corinne A. Moss -Racusin et al., 2012). In some areas, analysis show s an unequal distribution of investments in research for men and women. There are fewer women receiving funding as principal investigators, with fewer studies funded with lower funding amounts when successful (Michael G Head et al., 2013). The implementation of appropriate measures should bring about a situation in which the imbalance is corrected, leading to more outstanding creative work in science and technology at CERCA centres. A committee was therefore set up, which met in the second half of 2013 and early 2014 to discuss and design the Equal Opportunities and Diversity Management Plan. This plan is intended as a guideline for the CERCA centres, each of which will adapt it and implement any measures needed.