Women in Science, Engineering and Technology Initiative (WiSETI) Dr Esther Haines Dr Alison Maguire

Points Unconscious Bias SWAN Charter Springboard Fixed Term Working

Recruitment and Retention Positive action “Head hunting” Seminars Website SWAN charter pilot Unconscious Bias conference Workshops

Project Evaluation Which areas should be given greatest priority (1= high priority, 5 = low priority)? Average score  Recruitment at lecturer level1.5  Promotion/retention at lecturer level and beyond 2.5  Recruitment at postdoc level3.2  Retention at postdoc level3.3 What centrally provided support would best assist your department’s efforts to attract and retain women? 1.Advice on career breaks/flexible working 2.Sharing best practice 3.Facilitating mentoring 4.Facilitating networking 5.Advice on career progression

Workshops 3 half-day workshops: Responding to Merit: Performing to Potential

Workshop objectives 1.To consider the current equality situation in departments 2.To consider issues which might underlie a lack of equality 3.To consider measures which will remove unconscious barriers to establishing equality 4.To consider strategies to encourage minority groups or under-represented groups to apply for “mainstream” jobs and promotion

Responding to merit: Performing to Potential

Participant feedback Positive Understanding of unconscious bias Small group exercise Negative No definitive solutions to solve the under- representation of women in SET

Evaluation bias Lowered success rates Performance is underestimated From the University of Michigan, NSF Advance Project Accumulation of disadvantage Lack of critical mass Gender Schemas

Small group exercise

Recruitment Retention Promotion Advert wording, design Positive action Selection panels Advertise benefits, flexibility etc Wording of references Evaluation of CVs Encourage applications Practice and sell Department/University as employer of choice Flexibility Seminar speakers Appraisal, feedback Mentors Networks Information Support How can we achieve equality? Acknowledge there is inequality Acknowledge gender schemas exist

Participants’ action Review wording of advertisements and further particulars Encourage all involved in recruitment to attend course on recruitment and selection Ensure advertisements are formulated positively to encourage women to apply

Critical Mass Research shows that the proportion of women in a group affects how they are evaluated: women who are in a small minority are evaluated more negatively.

‘…mountains are molehills, piled one on top of the other.’ Valian, 1998 Accumulation of disadvantage

Evaluation of CVs Identical CVs sent to academic psychologists Some with male names, others with female names. Both men and women more likely to vote for male candidate.

Gender Schemas Implicit hypotheses about sex differences Held by both men and women Cognitive necessity for making sense of the social world - they may contain errors but they are indispensable. Can lead to lower expectations for women