Women and Science
The establishment of the Centre in 2001 was based on our belief that although gender issues and the question of equal opportunities were beginning to enter the consciousness of the general public in the Czech Republic, the area of research and development was still untouched by this issue. The Centre aims to contribute to shaping gender discourse in R&D, to shaping science policy and human resource policy in the Czech Republic, especially with respect to the position of women in science. It also functions as a place for various opinions and concepts to meet at the crossroad of scientific research and gender, and as a place where Czech female researchers can meet and exchange experiences.
On an international level, the Centre has established close ties with Unit C-5 Women in Science at the Directorate for Science, Technology and Innovation, as well as with similar organisations. At present, the Centre is involved in the development of the European Platform for Women Scientists.
The project is funded by Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports and is hosted by The Institute of Sociology of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic.
The Central European Centre for Women and Youth in Science (CEC-WYS), funded by the European Commission under Structuring the ERA priority of Framework Programme 6, was established in spring 2004 with the goal of promoting and supporting women and young people in science in Central Europe. The consortium brings together partners from Hungary, Slovakia, Slovenia, the Czech Republic, Romania, France and Italy.
In CEC-WYS we concentrate on areas of action aimed at achieving equal opportunities in research and development in four Central European countries and on examining and improving the position of young people in science. To this end, the Centre will be active at the level of development of recommendations for equal opportunities policies in R&D in the region and at the level of active assistance to women and young people in science in the region. Besides creating a user-friendly information-laden website, we will also develop a database of women experts from the Central European region with a view to increasing the participation of women scientists in the European Commission’s expert database. Additionally, we will provide training on responsible conduct of science to the young generation of scientists, develop a website section for young scientists from Central Europe and a manual on how to include gender dimension in research projects.
The main aim of the Infomat project (web pages for high school and university students and young scientists) is to provide virtual space for university study, science and research. The portal should provide information about study opportunities, grants and fellowships because study abroad and scientific fellowships seem to be an important instrument not only for development of individual knowledge, abilities and individual growth but it is important for creating the European research area as well. The European research area is one of the aims of European politics in science and research. Another important aim of the portal is to create a high quality information base referring to professional literature resources, and to create a place for reflection on one’s study and scientific work.
Gender Studies at the School of Humanities at Charles University in Prague offers BA study program and MA study program. The aim of the programs si to provide an opportunity of systematic academic study of teoretical and methodological tools for examining gender issues in historic perspective and with regard to cultural and etnic aspects of gender.
Gender Studies program specializes in the description and study of causes and consequences of the gendered social structure. The program offers courses in the theories, methodologies and applied sociological foundations of gender, as well as in cultural studies. It also provides skills for gender mainstreaming as a method of implementing equal opportunities for women and men in the Czech Republic and as an increasingly important priority of the European Union policies and principles.
Based on the Resolution of the Government No. 6 dated 7 January 1998 the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs was charged to take over the responsibility for implementing equal opportunities policies for women and men. It was also charged to prepare a document titled Priorities and Procedures of the Government for the Enforcement of Equal Opportunities for Women and Men, which is assessed and updated on an annual basis (see below). Although in these reports the government generally finds the situation regarding the implementation of equal opportunities as satisfactory, Czech NGOs have a different opinion. For this purpose they have prepared a shadow report on the governmental report.
More information available at CEC-WYS.
|
