The II Women and Science Program 2016-2020 of Xunta de Galicia had a direct impact on the professional careers of 544 women: 520 joined the research field and 20 were promoted to develop management positions. The balance of this programme, of which Xunta is the third edition, shows its effectiveness in strengthening the presence of women in these sectors and in bridging the gender gaps that still exist.
Thanks to the II Women and Science program promoted by the Women and Science Unit, more than a hundred procedures have been developed in Galicia by different departments of Xunta which have reached more than 10,000 people from different groups, despite the limitations imposed on face-to-face activities due to health crisis.
The actions were directed mainly at the school and university environment and allowed, among other purposes, the training of teachers; Activate measures to “connect” girls to technological careers and make them more involved in the information society through successful programs such as ADA, Diana or Athena; Or implement projects like Nin + nin – which encourage boys and girls from high school and baccalaureate centers to meet with unique women in traditionally male sectors.
During the validity period, more than 242 million euros were allocated to fund these measures. Just last year (2020), the budget was 60.3 million euros, 25% more than in 2019.
The Women and Science Unit was created 15 years ago with the aim of bringing a gender perspective to the fore in scientific activity. It consists of representatives from the Ministry of Labor and Equality; economics, business and innovation; culture, education and university; the health; Agency for Technological Modernization of Galicia; As well as from women experts in the social, educational, scientific and technological fields.
Since 19, it has become a defining element of Xunta’s budgets, which in 2022 will mean more than 46,000 euros. Its establishment decree will be amended this year to update its composition and objectives, with the aim of responding to new needs and challenges such as integration into the same Galician public universities and the trade union feminist movement, which in recent years has worked to remove obstacles in the development of the professional careers of scholars due to pregnancy and/or maternity and other gender issues.
One of the goals of the Women and Science Unit is to launch Galician women and science programmes. In the first and second conclusions, Xunta is designing the third program (2021-2025), which is based on the participation of women from the scientific and technological field in Galicia through work schedules and surveys about their perceptions and experience. In this framework, meetings of the four established schedules have already taken place: the procedures reviewed in the independent department; associations of scientists, researchers, companies and technology centers; Table of summary and conclusions.