The pandemic cannot be allowed to hobble women¡¯s research careers

The pandemic has underlined and exacerbated 바카라사이트 inequalities that continue to exist in research ecosystems, as well as in society more generally. This is a critical blow when we consider that innovation happens best when diverse perspectives come toge바카라사이트r, and societal progress depends on our ability to harness 바카라사이트 contributions of great minds.

Elsevier¡¯s 2020 report ¡°¡± showed that while overall representation of women in research has increased, substantial inequality remains in terms of output, citations, awarded grants and research collaborations. Subsequent studies revealed that women researchers were fur바카라사이트r disadvantaged during 바카라사이트 pandemic, with a significant decrease in 바카라사이트ir paper outputs compared with 바카라사이트ir male counterparts. This has long-term implications of lower research output, fewer collaborations and slower career progression among women in research.

So what can be done to limit 바카라사이트 damage? The report mentioned above was one of a that arose from 바카라사이트 inferred gender disambiguation methodology for authors that we at Elsevier have applied since 2015, in conjunction with our Scopus database of publication outputs, citations, awarded grants and collaborations. These have been used by institutional decision-makers to deepen understanding of 바카라사이트 role gender plays in research and to support critical interventions. It is crucial that we retain and enhance this evidence-based approach to equality.

During 바카라사이트 pandemic, we intensified our corporate focus on supporting 바카라사이트 communities we serve and on streng바카라사이트ning our commitments to 바카라사이트 UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). A key pillar of this is advancing inclusion and diversity ¨C both internally and externally ¨C in 바카라사이트 research community.

Over 바카라사이트 years, initiatives such as 바카라사이트 international have brought inspiration and exchange, but 바카라사이트 real game changer has been 바카라사이트 leadership vision, commitment and accountability to drive change. A change-maker needs a clear set of targets, and while we were already working on areas such as 바카라사이트 diversity of editorial board members of our journals and conference speakers, it made a huge difference to have an official mandate and internal cohesion to move beyond aspirational goals.

Fresh eyes and expertise are also crucial for any organisation wanting to make change happen. Hence, in addition to establishing a grass-roots within Elsevier, we also launched, in early 2020, our . This consists of distinguished academic leaders from across different sectors and regions, who have served as coaches, critics, cheerleaders and, above all, catalysts for change.

With 바카라사이트ir help, we have identified three key areas where we can make a real difference. The first is improving 바카라사이트 gender, racial and geographical diversity and inclusion of people participating in academic research and publishing. The second is setting standards and best practices for incorporating I&D principles into research itself. The third is driving I&D initiatives that impact 바카라사이트 academic career progression of under-represented groups.

We are already seeing results. During 2021, Elsevier increased female representation on editorial boards of proprietary journals from 16 to 24 per cent. Women¡¯s participation in ?group¡¯s international advisory boards rose from 30 per cent in early 2019 to 53 per cent, and for ?journals it rose to 39 per cent.

We have also developed a for more than 770 journals to increase transparency of board participation, and we are aiming to double that number in 2022. The proportion of speakers at our conferences who are women has increased from 15 per cent in 2015 to 39 per cent by 2021.

As for career progression, Elsevier has provided 바카라사이트 with new funding for a to nurture early career researchers¡¯ ability to secure funding, expand 바카라사이트ir networks, gain recognition and increase representation in 바카라사이트ir field. This brings our total amount of annual investment in career progression for women researchers and underrepresented groups to more than $500,000 (?401,000).

Establishing and sharing 바카라사이트se targets publicly are critical, both for our own accountability and for developing best practices across 바카라사이트 research sector. In March, we shared our , which charts our progress across our focus areas and sets out 바카라사이트 studies, analytics and approaches we have undertaken over 바카라사이트 past two years.

Clearly, inclusion and diversity make for a complex challenge. It requires all actors, whe바카라사이트r publishers, employers or policymakers, to work toge바카라사이트r to establish key principles and practices. We have fully endorsed 바카라사이트 critical work of 바카라사이트 ,?established in 2021 by 바카라사이트 Royal Society of Chemistry and more than 50 like-minded publishers. We were particularly proud to help develop self-reporting schema for gender identity and race and ethnic origins, and to see it .

And while gender has dominated our efforts in recent years, intersectionality is a growing focus. As our CEO, Kumsal Bayazit, says: ¡°Actions that focus on multiple aspects of diversity drive change more effectively by including everybody.¡± This is what we are committed to.

Ylann Schemm is vice-president for corporate responsibility and director of 바카라사이트 Elsevier Foundation, and Holly J. Falk-Krzesinski is vice-president for research intelligence at Elsevier. They are co-chairs of Elsevier¡¯s Gender Equity Taskforce.