PRESS REPORT PRESENTATION MAY 15, Barcelona Women in Science and Technology Conference. Barcelona, June 11, 12 and 13

Transcription

1 PRESS REPORT PRESENTATION MAY 15, 2008 Barcelona Women in Science and Technology Conference Barcelona, June 11, 12 and 13

2 1.- WOMEN IN THE INNOVATION AND KNOWLEDGE SOCIETY BARCELONA WOMEN IN SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY CONFERENCE June 11, 12 and 13 Barcelona will become the center of public debate on the role of women in business, science and technology at the Barcelona Women in Science and Technology Conference (WIST Barcelona) in the auditorium of the Barcelona Biomedical Research Park. This conference is an international meeting organized by the Network of Science and Technology Parks of Catalonia (XPCAT), the Barcelona Chamber of Commerce, the Barcelona City Council, the Catalan Foundation for Research and Innovation, Newcastle University Business School, University of Tampere (TASTI), Institute for Employment in Nuremberg (Germany) and the National Centre for Programme Management in Bucharest (Romania). More than 50 experts from around the world will meet to present the results of the latest reports and studies analyzing the new roles of women being developed in the innovation and knowledge society. 1. THE DEBATE Over three days, the participants in this conference will look at the following topics: 1. Comparative analysis of female participation in traditional and emerging professions in science and technology. 2. The position of women and men in transfer technology, incubation and entrepreneurship (TIE) professions. 3. New hybrid occupations at the intersection of science, business, law, politics, etc. 4. Balancing family and professional life in traditional and emerging professions. BARCELONA WOMEN IN SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY CONFERENCE 2

3 2. WIST PROJECT RESULTS The first edition of Barcelona Women in Science and Technology Conference will take a special look at the results and conclusions reached by the WIST project, which is the inspiration for this conference. The WIST project, directed by Henry Etzkowitz as part of the European Commission s 4 th Framework Program, spent eighteen months analyzing the new role of women today, when emerging professions in science, business and technology are changing feminine roles. Experiences in United Kingdom, Germany, Finland and Romania the countries the WIST project focused on- will be complemented with other studies and analysis in order to put the general topic of the conference in a global context. 3. WIST BARCELONA ROUND TABLE As part of the conference there will be a parallel event open to the public: a Round Table will take place on June 12 at 5:30 pm in the auditorium of the Barcelona Biomedical Research Park. Participants in this event will include representatives from different institutions, organizations and scientific and economic promotion agencies, as well as researchers and members of the media. The objective of this event is to share the main conclusions of the WIST project with local agents and debate these conclusions with women from the different sectors involved. Women from all levels of the value chain (from researchers to professionals and executives) will participate in the debate. BARCELONA WOMEN IN SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY CONFERENCE 3

4 2.- WIST EUROPEAN PROJECT: STUDY ON THE ROLE OF WOMEN IN SCIENCE AND ECONOMICS The European Union is very interested in policies that increase female participation in science and economics and emphasizes the following points: increasing R&D, working towards equality and promoting the creation of new technology-based companies. The European Commission has an area devoted to Science and Society that develops research activities. One of their main activities focuses on Women and Science. In this context, the 4 th Framework Program in Science and Society was created, which has been working on an international research project called Women in Innovation Science and Technology (WIST) since September This study focuses on the role of women in science and economics measuring female participation in professions generated by the knowledge society such as: technology transfer, incubation and entrepreneurship. Technology transfer is a mechanism that collects scientific knowledge generated through R&D and introduces it to businesses, incubators and entrepreneurs, which are the structures or people responsible for using these results to create companies capable of turning the ideas or knowledge into products and services that society can benefit from. These are the so-called TIE professions (Technology Transfer, Incubation and Entrepreneurship) This project has lasted 18 months and will culminate with the presentation of the results at the conference in Barcelona on June 11, 12 and 13. Data for the project was collected in four countries: the United Kingdom, Germany, Romania and Finland and was coordinated by Professor Henry Etkowitz, Head of Triple Helix Group and Chair in Management of Innovation, Creativity and Enterprise at the Newcastle University Business School. The research institutes involved in each country were: United Kingdom: Institute for Policy and Practice (IPP) - Women Innovation Science and Enterprise group Germany: Institute for Employment Research (IAB) Romania: National Centre for Programme Management (NCPM) Finland: Research Group for Science, Technology and Innovation Studies (TaSTI) BARCELONA WOMEN IN SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY CONFERENCE 4

5 Points analyzed in the study 1. Level of participation of women in technology transfer, incubation and entrepreneurial organization in the four participating countries. 2. Reasons why the role of women is affected in these organizations: factors related to structure/organization, gender or a combination of the two. 3. Comparison of the position of women in traditional organizations such as those in the academic or industrial sectors with that of women TIE professions. 4. Differences between the position of women in the four participating countries and reasons for these differences. Conclusions of the study Women hold a secondary position in science and technology regardless of the level of industrialization or political system of a country. The growing number of women with degrees is not totally reflected in the workplace. Women are excluded more from jobs that are considered vital to the country and, on the other hand, their presence is higher in those that are seen as less important. The more important a sector is to the country s economy, the less women are found in that sector. As a sector becomes more important to the economy, women are replaced by men. There are more women at lower levels of the career ladder. In the places where a high critical mass was found, there was an improvement in the occupation of women. There are very few entrepreneurial women scientists compared to the overall number of entrepreneurial women, who are found mainly in the service sector. This inequality is also reflected in salaries, where women earn less than men. BARCELONA WOMEN IN SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY CONFERENCE 5

6 Proposed action plan Based on this study, we have established the following proposals: Professions must acquire a status in which the role of women is perceived as glamorous both by men and women. Professions in the post-industrial era combine the need for both people and technical skills, which promotes equality. Professions combine masculine and feminine roles to be seen as neutral. Put into action policies to favor balancing family and work life. Women who arrive to management positions shouldn t take on masculine roles and should promote equality in the workplace. TIE professions must be situated in strategic places both in the university sector and in companies in order to favor the knowledge society. The need for qualified human resources means women will automatically be included in the knowledge society job market. And the following conclusions, which show that inequality persists in the post industrial era: The more important a sector is to the country s economy, the less women are found in that sector. As a sector becomes more important to the economy, women are replaced by men. Women are not as attracted to careers in science as they are to those with a social component. We propose that they work in positions that combine science and technology. In TIE professions roles traditionally linked with women are, for example, managing relationships or working as a team, which are key. Future of WIST: after studying the development of TIE professions in four countries, the goal is to create a profile of women in these professions. According to the 1993 data, the division of labor by gender has not changed. Men tend to work with men in typically masculine jobs and women with other women in professions that are predominately feminine. However, knowledge-based professions allow the established male and female roles to be broken down and move us toward equality. BARCELONA WOMEN IN SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY CONFERENCE 6

7 3.- THE LOSS OF FEMALE TALENT COSTS CATALONIA ONE THOUSAND MILLION EUROS PER YEAR Like the WIST study has shown, Catalonia also suffers from an important loss of female talent. More than 32,000 women with university degrees do not work, according to a study carried out by the Cirem Foundation. This study shows that professional marginalization of women with university degrees costs Catalonia one thousand million euros yearly. This figure was reached by multiplying the difference between male and female university graduates that are not working, 32,595 people in 2006, by the average salary of an executive or university graduate, 29,982 euros. The exact cost is 977 million euros, 0.5% of the 2006 Catalan GDP. This loss of qualified human capital adds up to 12,152 million euros over the lifetime of these women, equivalent to 6.2% of the Catalan GDP. This study is the result of a survey given to over 4,000 companies, which also showed women are more qualified than ever, yet continue to be underrepresented in executive positions. In Catalonia women hold 34% of these positions in the public and private sectors while only 31% in the business sector. To this inequality we must add the difference in salaries since, in Catalonia, female executives earn less than half of what their male counterparts earn. BARCELONA WOMEN IN SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY CONFERENCE 7

8 4.- THE ROLE OF WOMEN IN THE KNOWLEDGE SOCIETY Economic and social evolution relies on a knowledge-based economy as a way to surpass the industrial era. Knowledge is becoming a key factor to economic and social development in the world. It is generally accepted that new technologies can extend the benefits of knowledge to all segments of society and help reduce the gap in quality of life. Those countries that are able to move toward a knowledge-based economy, taking advantage of the growing avalanche of technological innovations, will have greater possibilities of being competitive in the global market. Another factor to take into account in this type of economy is talent management, as these people must lead to the creation, extension and use of knowledge to foster economic development. The challenge is to find a way to bring the results achieved in scientific and technological research into the economic sphere, through products and services that benefit society. This path is called the innovation value chain, through which knowledge reaches the market, and can be expressed through the science-technology-business-market sequence. However, there are different models of innovation. According to the Triple Helix model (formulated by Henry Etzkowitz and Loet Leydesdorff in 2000), the agents that make up the Innovation System are the University and Research and Technological Institutes, the Public Administration (local, regional, national and international) and Businesses (large, SMEs and start-ups). In order to complement the Triple Helix we must add other agents involved like the Market (demand) and the Financing Systems (Public and Private). This Model helps explain the role of new, hybrid organizations that are the result of contributions from all three agents, like Science and Technology Parks, Business Incubators and Capital Risk Funds. These hybrid organizations lead to the creation of professions in new areas of interest in the knowledge economy like: technology transfer, incubation and entrepreneurship. Technology transfer is a mechanism that collects scientific knowledge generated through R&D and introduces it to businesses, incubators and entrepreneurs, which are the structures or people responsible for using these results to create companies capable of turning the ideas or knowledge into products and services that society can benefit from. It is important to point out the role women hold in the knowledge economy, due to both the lack of qualified professionals and the profile necessary in these new professions, which require capacities and capabilities that are linked to characteristics traditionally attributed to female roles. The professions being generated by the knowledge society contribute to social and economic development and are an opportunity to achieve equality between women and men. BARCELONA WOMEN IN SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY CONFERENCE 8

9 5.- SUPPORT FOR THIS CONFERENCE Principal Sponsors: Organizers: Members of the WIST Project: Institute for Employment, Nuremberg National Centre for Programme Management, Bucharest, Romania Collaborating organizations: BARCELONA WOMEN IN SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY CONFERENCE 9

10 FOR MORE INFORMATION Technical Secretary Communication Office WIST Barcelona: Filloy Consultants Tel BARCELONA WOMEN IN SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY CONFERENCE 10