Women in ResearchWomen in Research

Yafit Stark PhD, Vice PresidentChief Clinical Officer

Innovative R&DGlobal Innovative Resources

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries, Ltd.

IntroductionIntroduction

• The relatively low number of women in science, in particular in senior positions, is an unacceptable and unaffordable waste of human resources and a distortion of the relationship between science and society.

• Industry plays a leading role in research, innovation and development. About 56% of research and technological development investment in the EU Member States – R&D expenditure – is funded by industry.

• The situation of women in industrial research in Europe has never been analyzed before. The results are alarming. The first official statistical data show that the participation of women in industrial research is less than half that of the higher education sector.

Women in industrial research – an Women in industrial research – an overviewoverview

• Women make up between 18% -28% of industrial researchers in eight out of ten Member States

• The statistics show the untapped potential of women in industrial research

• The proportion of women among science and engineering students has grown

Women Lag in Scientific ResearchWomen Lag in Scientific ResearchA non-European Gender SurveyA non-European Gender Survey

• Women lag significantly behind men in scientific research• Fewer women are found in higher positions• Roughly equal numbers of men/women start off in science• 83.6% of men are employed on a permanent basis as opposed to

56% of women• Women concentrate on subjects like biology and medicine• Male scientists - much more diversified• EADGENE Network of Excellence and SABRE project seem to

suggest that women who approach science accept lower status for themselves

Numbers & Proportions of Female Numbers & Proportions of Female Researchers in Industrial Research (BES), EU, Researchers in Industrial Research (BES), EU,

19991999

CountriesAll researchers ranked by total

number

Number of women

% of women

Germany*150,14914,4149.6

Denmark11,2922,21819.6

Greece3,93194023.9

Spain17,3103,35319.4

France86,21517,78720.6

Ireland1,90053628.2

Italy29,7065,49018.5

Luxembourg**1,217No dataNo data

Austria13,9661,2589.0

Portugal3,32879323.8

Finland22,5153,99917.8

Sweden**39,921No dataNo data

UK**98,587No dataNo data

EU (10)340,31250,78914.9

Source: DG Research, Unit C5

Data: Eurostat, new Cronos; DG Research, WiS database

Exceptions to the reference year: Austria (1998); France, Italy (2000); Ireland (2001)

* = Full time equivalent

** = No gender differentiation data available

No data for Belgium & The Netherlands

Female proportion of industrial scientists & Female proportion of industrial scientists & engineers in scientific & technological engineers in scientific & technological

occupations, 2000occupations, 2000

0 5 10 15 20 25 30

Spain

Portugal

Greece

Ireland

Denmark

France

Italy

Finland

EU

Netherlands

Austria

UK

Belgium

Germany

Luxembourg

Median annual salaries of employed scientists & engineers, Median annual salaries of employed scientists & engineers, by broad occupation & sex in the US (1999)by broad occupation & sex in the US (1999)SourceSource: NS, Sciences & Engineering Indicators (2002): NS, Sciences & Engineering Indicators (2002)

0

10,000

20,000

30,000

40,000

50,000

60,000

70,000

All S&Eoccupations

Computer &maths

scientists

Life &related

scientists

Physical &related

scientists

Social &related

scientists

Engineers

Do

llars

Female Male

Women in Industrial Research (WIR)Women in Industrial Research (WIR)

• WIR is concerned with Europe as a whole, but concentrates on the 15 European Union (EU) Member States in the year 2002

• The European Council agreed at the Barcelona summit that the proportion of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) spent on R&D in the European Union (EU) should increase from 1.9% in 2000 to 3% by 2010. This will mean substantially increasing the numbers of researchers: indeed, investment in industrial R&D is expected to double by 2010. Given that it plays the leading role in R&D, this is a major challenge for industry

• In this report the position of women in industrial research is analyzed and recommendations as to how this talent pool could better be used are presented.

• At present, women constitute only around 15% of industrial researchers in the EU. As significantly more women are graduating in science and engineering, they are an obvious source of new recruits. In addition, the disproportionate loss of women from scientific careers needs to be overcome

Industrial Research – WIR InitiativeIndustrial Research – WIR Initiative

• Leading role for research and development• 56% of all research in Europe is undertaken by industry• Every second researcher in the EU-15 is working in industrial R&D• More women graduate below 30 years of age than men• In European research women are under-represented, especially in senior

positions• In the public sector – universities and research institutes – proportion of

formal researchers is about 30% on EU average• In industry – only 15% are women• Some industries have implemented specific strategies to raise

attractiveness for high potential females researchers and engineers• 76.6% of women agree that “research is ruled by men”• Only 47.3% of men judge the situation in the same way• 57.4% of women respondents believe that “female research lacked the

competitive behavior required to reach more important positions”• Work ambition reduced after having children

Why focus on women for science Why focus on women for science & development& development??

• Women constitute about 50% of the population world-wide

• The labor supply in Europe is getting smaller and is ageing

• Young people are making different lifestyle choices from that of their parents

• Different countries offer very different framework conditions for employment, such as parental leave, childcare, eldercare, etc.

• The “leaky pipeline” in academic life: qualified women disappear in disproportionate numbers from every stage in the hierarchy and as a consequence, are under-represented in senior decision-making positions

• Research shows that larger numbers of women have expanded the entry and middle ranks of science, and have earned Ph.D.’s in ratios approaching men.

• Only a relatively small number of these women have reached the upper tiers of their profession as evident by the numbers of women becoming tenured professors, running large laboratories, or presenting keynote addresses at major scientific meetings of their peers.

• ‘Girls’ self-esteem, confidence in their abilities, expectations for life, interest in challenging courses and rewarding careers, and pursuits in math and science decline as they get older.'

• Contrary to commonly held public opinion, parents, rather than peers or the media still have the greatest influence on their daughter's lives and life choices.

• Studies show that expectations and experiences from family and community members are more likely to influence girls' decisions to go into science, technology, engineering, and math, than even their innate abilities.

• Despite the hundreds of programs and millions of dollar devoted to increasing the numbers of women in science, technology, engineering and math, studies indicate that in many science careers, the number of women has actually stayed the same, or in a few instances, dropped.

• Some organizations working to increase these numbers claim they are fighting an uphill battle against mass media and hormones.

The Lifeblood of the EU EconomyThe Lifeblood of the EU Economy

• The number of women-owned businesses in Europe is growing

• Information and communication technologies (ICTs) are a top growth business and employment area. Despite the fact that 19% of new PhDs in computing in the EU area are awarded to women, few have so far started an ICT business enterprise

• The biosciences might seem to be an obvious area for women

• The challenges facing women entrepreneurs include the fact that they are likely to start with less finance than men

• Recommendations focus on creating a better understanding of the challenges faced by women entrepreneurs

BiotechnologyBiotechnology

• Biotechnology is a natural career choice for life science students, a discipline which for some years has shown higher percentages of female than male students

• Biotechnology is a recent industry and thus free from past burdens and patterns of gender segregation

• The number of women in management positions is very low both in start-ups of up to 10 employees as well as in companies established over 20 years ago

• An analysis of the presence of women in the 17 companies quoted on the American Stock Exchange Biotechnology Index (BTK) shows that only 16.4% (29 out of 141) of middle to top management positions are held by women

• Out of the 17 companies that have most recently completed Initial Public Offerings (IPO) in the US, only 8 out of 124 company directors were women (6.5%) and there were no women board chairs

• However, the number of women occupying middle to senior management positions is increasing and could serve as a pool on which to draw in the future

• Nevertheless, today the presence of female entrepreneurs or even chief executive officers in biotechnology companies continues to be insignificant in Europe

Biotechnology Biotechnology (contd.)(contd.)

What can companies do to increase diversity What can companies do to increase diversity & the number of women in industrial & the number of women in industrial

researchresearch??

Detailed recommendations for companies to become leading edge in diversity management and in the employment of women:

• An attractive work environment• A commitment from the top to gender equality, diversity policies and

dignity at work values – integrated into strategy and action plans, reporting mechanisms and performance review systems

• A high degree of transparency and two-way communications systems

• Sound work/life balance policies: maternity and paternity leave, child-care facilities or subsidised child-care costs and emergency leave for caring for sick family members

• Flexible work schedules

Women & The Nobel PrizeWomen & The Nobel Prize

• Approx. 500 men have received the Nobel Prize for Science since 1901

• In the course of almost a century, only 10 women scientists have won Nobel prizes (2%)

• Religion: Half of these women had Jewish backgrounds, and particularly influential parents and relatives

• Behind many of these successful women stood a man – more than 50% of the women married and raised children

• These women had to overcome many barriers

Marie CurieMarie CurieBorn Warsaw Poland November 7, 1867Born Warsaw Poland November 7, 1867Died France July 4, 1934 Died France July 4, 1934

Her early researches, together with her husband, were often performed under difficult conditions. The discovery of radioactivity by Henri Becquerel in 1896 inspired the Curies in their brilliant researches and analyses which led to the isolation of polonium, named after the country of Marie's birth, and radium. Mme. Curie developed methods for the separation of radium from radioactive residues in sufficient quantities to allow for its characterization and the careful study of its properties, therapeutic properties in particular.

Mme. Curie promoted the use of radium to alleviate suffering and during World War I, assisted by her daughter, Irene, she personally devoted herself to this remedial work. She retained her enthusiasm for science throughout her life and did much to establish a radioactivity laboratory in her native city - in 1929 President Hoover of the United States presented her with a gift of $ 50,000, donated by American friends of science, to purchase radium for use in the laboratory in Warsaw.

Mme. Curie, quiet, dignified and unassuming, was held in high esteem and admiration by scientists throughout the world. She was a member of the Conseil du Physique Solvay from 1911 until her death and since 1922 she had been a member of the Committee of Intellectual Co-operation of the League of Nations. Her work is recorded in numerous papers in scientific journals and she is the author of Recherches sur les Substances Radioactives (1904), L'Isotopie et les Éléments Isotopes and the classic Traité' de Radioactivité (1910).

Mme. Curie received many honorary science, medicine and law degrees and honorary memberships of learned societies throughout the world. Together with her husband, she was awarded half of the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1903, for their study into the spontaneous radiation discovered by Becquerel, who was awarded the other half of the Prize. In 1911 she received a second Nobel Prize, this time in Chemistry, in recognition of her work in radioactivity. She also received, jointly with her husband, the Davy Medal of the Royal Society in 1903 and, in 1921, President Harding of the United States, on behalf of the women of America, presented her with one gram of radium in recognition of her service to science.

Marie Curie, née Maria Sklodowska, received a general education in local schools and some scientific training from her father. In 1891, she went to Paris to continue her studies at the Sorbonne where she obtained Licenciateships in Physics and the Mathematical Sciences. She met Pierre Curie, Professor in the School of Physics in 1894 and in the following year they were married. She succeeded her husband as Head of the Physics Laboratory at the Sorbonne, gained her Doctor of Science degree in 1903, and following the tragic death of Pierre Curie in 1906, she took his place as Professor of General Physics in the Faculty of Sciences, the first time a woman had held this position. She was also appointed Director of the Curie Laboratory in the Radium Institute of the University of Paris, founded in 1914.

Rita Levi-Montalcini Rita Levi-Montalcini Born April 22 1909Born April 22 1909Rita Levi-Montalcini is an Italian neurologist, who, together with colleague Stanley

Cohen,received the 1986 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for their discovery of Nerve Growth Factor. Since 2001, she has also served in the Italian Senate as a Senator for Life.

Today she is the oldest living Nobel Laureate and the first ever to reach the 100th birthday. On April 22, 2009 she was feted with a 100th birthday party at Rome’s City Hall.

Born in Turin to a Sephardic Jewish family, together with her twin sister Paola she was the youngest of four children. Her parents were Adamo Levi, an electrical engineer and gifted mathematician, and Adele Montalcini, a talented painter described by Levi-Montalcini as "an exquisite human being".Levi-Montalcini decided to go to medical school after seeing a close family friend die of cancer. She overcame the objections of her father — who believed that "a professional career would interfere with the duties of a wife and mother" — and enrolled in the Turin medical school in 1930, studying with Giussepe Levi . After graduating in 1936, she went to work as Levi's assistant, but her academic career was cut short by Mussolini's 1938 Manifesto of Race and the subsequent introduction of laws barring Jews from academic and professional careers.During World War II she conducted experiments from a home laboratory, studying the growth of nerve fibers in chicken embryos which laid the groundwork for much of her later research. Her first genetics laboratory was in her bedroom at her home. In 1943, her family fled south to Florence, and she set up a laboratory there also. Her family returned to Turin in 1945.In September of 1946, Levi-Montalcini accepted an invitation to Washington University in St. Louis, under the supervision of Professor Viktor Hamburger. Although the initial invitation was for one semester, she stayed for thirty years. It was there that she did her most important work: isolating the nerve growth factor (NGF) from observations of certain cancerous tissues that cause extremely rapid growth of nerve cells in 1952. She was made a Full Professor in 1958, and in 1962, established a research unit in Rome, dividing the rest of her time between there and St. Louis.

• From 1961 to 1969 she directed the Research Center of Neurobiology of the CNR (Rome), and from 1969 to 1978 the Laboratory of Cellular Biology.

• On August 1, 2001 she was appointed as Senator for Life by the President of the Italian Republic, Carlo Azeglio Ciampi.

• On April 28–29, 2006 Levi-Montalcini, aged 97, attended the opening assembly of the newly-elected Senate, at which the President of the Senate was elected; she declared her preference for the centre-left candidate Franco Marini. Levi-Montalcini, who is the senior member of the Upper House, chose not to be the temporary president on this occasion. She actively takes part in the Upper House discussions, unless busy in academic activities around the world. Due to her support of the government of Romano Prodi, she was often criticized by some right-wing senators, who accused her of "saving" the government when the government's exiguous majority in the Senate was at risk. She has been frequently insulted in public, and on blogs, since 2006, by both center-right senators such as Francesco Storace, and far-right bloggers for her age and Jewish origins.

• Levi-Montalcini is currently the oldest living and the longest-lived Nobel laureate who, though hard of hearing and nearly blind, recently vowed to remain a political force in her country.

A Vision for 2010 A Vision for 2010 Opportunities & ApproachesOpportunities & Approaches

• There should be a gender balance of men and women in laboratories and in senior management

• Work cultures and organizations will need to change to embrace more women

• Sensible work/life balance• Women need to exercise equal obligations, rather than

equal rights• Women should not consider themselves as a minority –

they are 51% of the world population• In biblical times, women were very strong and

demonstrated leadership• The sky is not the limit for women (women astronauts)