Last year, throughout February, we promoted gender equity in science, technology, and innovation at Reincarnate through our communication activities. We joined the commemoration of the International Day of Women and Girls in Science and Technology, that takes place the 11 of February. Every year the United Nations observes this day to call for actions to strengthen equity in these fields that tend to face the hurdle of gender bias.
As a project funded by the Horizon Europe programme, we are one of the main instruments to reaffirm gender equality in research and innovation in the European Union. An equal representation of men and women has been promoted as far as possible in the frame of our project. At Reincarnate, 24 key persons – 50% of all proposed staff involved are female, holding different roles such as scientists, senior engineers, project managers, R&D specialists, technical support engineers, and communication managers. But more than that, we have women in leading positions and a gender approach in our innovations.
Women leading the Transformation of the sector behind Reincarnate
Promoting and supporting women in STEM has been a priority for the European Commission. In 2021 according to the last Eurostat report, 74 million people in the EU were employed in science and technology, of which 52% were women. This workforce has grown more, but 57% work in service-related activities. At Reincarnate, we have Iwona Wagner-Gajewska from partner CEMEX as part of this 52% of women. Moreover, we have a team of female engineers experts in leading positions, such as Professor Sabine Kruschwitz from partner Bundensanstalt für Materialforschung und-prüfung (BAM) and Samaneh Rezvani from partner Demo Consultants (DMO). They are part of the 41% women working in science and engineering in the European Union.
According to the last factsheet published by the Publications Office of the European Union, less than a third of undergraduate students in science and engineering in the EU are women (31.3%). Therefore, more efforts are needed to facilitate the entry of women and girls into the STEM sector, representing an increase in the EU’s GDP per capita to 3% in 2050. Still, more than that, we need social sustainability (gender equity) to tackle global challenges.
Gender approach in Reincarnate innovations
The gender aspect has been addressed within the innovation areas and activities of the project, especially concerning privacy and data security as a form of sensitive information. Furthermore, Reincarnate safeguards that all data collection and aggregation methods will be susceptible to gender and minority-related bias.
Specific consideration will be given throughout the work to increase the number of female construction workers in the office, as the construction sector has traditionally been a male sector due to the harsh conditions of employment. Based on the Eurostat report, only 10% of women work in this sector, facing difficulties and intrinsic labour market and social barriers. The European project co-funded under the Erasmus program called Women can Build is an excellent example of initiatives that activate and promote the feminization of the construction industry.
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