WITS Press release

Launch of the Talent Bank project (12th March 2003)

Calling all women scientists. If you want to have a say in policy and decision-making, then WITS, the association
for women in technology and science, wants to hear from you. 

The association's new 'talent bank' project is launched today [Wed March 12th] by Mr Willie O'Dea TD, Minister
of State at the Department of Justice, Equality & Law Reform.* 

WITS will spend the coming 12 months trawling the country to identify talented and experienced women willing
to serve on State boards. The aim is to overcome the system's 'institutionalised sexism', and dramatically increase
the number of women appointed to boards in the scientific, technological and industrial arena. The project is
funded by the Department of Justice, Equality & Law Reform, under the National Development Plan's Equality
for Women Measure.

According to WITS, on average only about 25% of those appointed to State scientific and industrial boards are
women, considerably less than the official minimum target of 40%, set by the government in 1991.

And the numbers of women appointed is, if anything, falling. Taking a sample of random 20 State boards in the
broad scientific and industrial arena [see list below], WITS found that on average 28% of board members were
women in 1997; today, that has dropped to 25%.

WITS chairperson, Dr Eucharia Meehan, said: "At this rate we'll never reach equality. If Brian Kerr were to select
the Irish soccer team and only look at half the available talent, there'd be uproar. And if this were Northern
Ireland, and we were looking at boards with only 25% nationalists, there'd be an outcry. But somehow, when it
comes to women, this appalling situation is tolerated."

Dr Clare O'Connor from UCD, senior researcher in lung disease and former VHI board member, says "scientific
boards are worse even than county councils. The VHI board, it must be said, was nearly 40 percent women, which
was a very positive experience, but it only highlights how bad the situation is elsewhere. In most other areas,
people now realise that women must be included. But in science there is still an institutional blindness to the
question of gender equality. They don't see that anything is wrong or needs to change."

The situation is not unique to Ireland, though this is small consolation. Last year, Britain's Ministry for Trade &
Industry published a major review of the difficulties facing women scientists there. The review, chaired by
Baroness Greenfield, found widespread evidence of institutionalised sexism throughout the British scientific
establishment.

This 'institutional blindness', and even 'institutionalised sexism', means we need more than a talent bank of names
to improve the situation. So the new WITS project will also examine what other measures might be introduced,
such as a more transparent appointment system, training for women who may not have served on boards before,
and perhaps even sanctions or incentives to encourage nominating bodies to put forward more women's names.

WITS believes that there are numerous talented and experienced women out there, but if they are not known, and
do not have a public profile, then no one will nominate them. This project will be proactive, in encouraging women
scientists, who were shy in the past, to step forward and gain a higher profile. The government is committed to
a target of at least 40% women on State boards . . . this WITS initiative will help them to achieve that.

Professor Jane Grimson, professor of computer science at TCD and outgoing president of the Irish Academy of
Engineering, says that "when nominations are sought, people generally look to their own. If you ask why they
don't nominate women, they say it is because they don't know any. This talent bank will mean they can no longer
use that excuse, and hopefully, it will change people's mindset." 

WITS chairperson Dr Meehan says that much is at stake. "This is about women having their democratic say in
decision-making, and in science today that can mean making important decisions about investments in research
and development. These are important questions, which affect us all."

Dr Ena Prosser, director of BioResearch Ireland (the national biotechnology commercialisation programme) said
it is not just women who lose out, but also science and society. "We are missing out on all those other voices." But
Dr Prosser, who is on the Irish Council for Science Technology & Innovation (ICSTI), and the interim board of
the funding agency, Science Foundation Ireland (SFI), warns that a talent bank alone is not enough. "We must
also look at other factors because, in science, men and women face different career issues. Science moves so fast
that if women take time out for a family, it is very difficult for them to get back in. That means we lose a great
many scientifically trained women. "

The Health Research Board, which funds much of Irish medical research, warmly welcomes the WITS talent bank. 
HRB chief executive, Dr Ruth Barrington, believes it will be a valuable resource when it comes to appointing
people to research committees and interview panels. "People have to apply to sit on our research committees, but
not enough women come forward. With a talent bank, we can write to those women involved in scientific research
and invite them to apply. Where we can, we involve women as much as possible and encourage them to come
forward."

The predominantly male composition of State boards, and the old stereotype of the male scientist, could partly
explain why so few young women are attracted to science as a career.

Dr Mary Upton TD (Labour) is one of the politicians who has welcomed the new WITS initiative. A
microbiologist, and former chairperson of the Radiological Protection Institute's board, she believes "we should
be targetting young women as our future scientists . . . We need to attract young women to rewarding science-based
careers". Upton adds: "It is a matter of on-going disappointment that State boards fall short of the 40%
representation that should be afforded to women. How can Government agencies do their jobs properly when
women are so poorly represented on their boards?"

Senator Mary Henry said that "60% of medical students now are women, and it is very important to provide them
with strong role models." Senator Henry, who is also a medical consultant in Dublin, said she hoped "to see some
attempt at gender balance when the new Science Foundation Ireland board is set up". She was horrified, she said,
when she learned that the current [interim] board is only 19% women (four women out of a total of 21 seats).

The WITS Talent Bank project is funded by the Department of Justice, Equality & Law Reform, under the NDP's 
Equality for Women Measure. 

Read the British Greenfield report

Appendix: 
Composition of a sample of 20 State boards