HIGHER IMPACT
Addressing Obstacles for
Women in Science Will Accelerate
Humanity’s Progress

Findings and implications froma survey of women in scienceFondation L’Oréal

Table of contents
FOREWORD —PROGRESS FOR WOMEN IN SCIENCE: FORWARD STRIDES BUT MILES TO GO

INTRODUCTION —THE STATE OF PLAY FOR WOMEN IN SCIENCE, BY THE NUMBERSRESULTS —WOMEN IN SCIENCE, IN THEIR OWN WORDS❙❙

Biased workplace cultures are commonplace, hindering success❙❙Long, unstable academic career structures are stumbling-blocks❙❙

Institutions fail to support women balancing family, relationships and work❙❙

Harassment and sexism create hostile workplace environments

RESULTS —WOMEN IN SCIENCE CALL ON LEADERS AND INSTITUTIONS TO MATCH
AMBITION WITH ACTION❙❙

Recognising challenges: collecting data, then building on successes❙❙

Closing implementation gaps: childcare and harassment policy are critical❙❙

Stepping up: what alumnae seek from male leaders and champions of
women in science

CONCLUSION —INACTION HOLDS RISKS, CHANGE AFFORDS OPPORTUNITY❙❙

Inaction has consequences for science and society❙❙

Collective action for systems change offers opportunities for impact

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS AND BIBLIOGRAPHY

1

Fondation L’Oréal
Foreword

Foreword —Progress for womenin science: forward strides
but miles to go
Thesteadybeen fought and won, and thatlife and environmental sciences,improvements in female literacy,

world

the remaining issues are just aphysical sciences, mathematics,

childbirth mortality rates, women

matter of fine-tuning a policy here

computerandin leadership positions and life

or an institutional culture there.

sciences,

engineering

expectancy.

has

seen

Likewise,

there

information
sciencesand technological sciences.

has been gradual progress forThis view is risky. Many challenges

women in science. Across a range

and barriers for women in science

If I could highlight one result ofof metrics, and across different

remain. The numbers of women inthis research that struck me, it

geographies,

thenumberofsome fields is faltering, and sexism

would be the need for greater

seniorpositionsinand harassment persist. From

recognition

academic and other scientificwork-life challenges to harassmentthat remain. When asked if they

institutions is rising. Efforts are being

to

care

agreed with the statement ‘Onmade to address critical gendered

responsibilities, these obstacles are

the whole, academic institutions

issues amongst student and staff

deep-rooted and widespread.

have recognised the extent of

women

in

women’sincreased

at universities, particularly of sexual
harassment and consent.

of

the

problems

problems regarding gender in their
To pinpoint and redress the extent

institutions’, fewer than half (45%)

and impact of the barriers thatof respondents agreed to any

while

women face today more clearly,

extent. This held true for all age

welcome, risks obscuring systemic

the Fondation L’Oréal conductedgroups, and the number of seniorissues. There is a perception in somea

L’Oréal-alumnae who agreed completely

parts of the scientific community

UNESCO For Women in Science

with the statement was zero.

that institutions have recognised

programme alumnae — high-Younger respondents were more

the extent of the problem, that

achieving women who have been

likely to strongly disagree with thethe battle for gender equality has

recognised for their excellence instatement.

Yet

this

advancement,

surveyofthe2Fondation L’Oréal
Foreword

Alexandra Palt
Executive Vice President of
the Fondation L’Oréal.

Only when institutions recognise

climate change, disease, andandresource scarcity.

acknowledge

women’schallenges as systemic ones, canthey begin to creatively manage

With this research, we hope to help

them. Organisations now needleaders of institutions, men andto move from fractional changes

women, to advance women in

to broader structural and culturalscience for the good of our society.

change; to double down on the

Clearly, organisations which aim to

examples of men advocating forlead on advancing the frontiers of

women, of family-friendly sharedhuman knowledge should lead inleave and childcare policies within

the fight for gender equality too.

certain institutions; and to makeThose that succeed will acceleratethese changes the norm.

the progress of science and theirimpact on humanity.

For more than two decades,
L’Oréal and the Fondation L’Oréal
have supported women in scienceandefforts

toadvancetheirstanding. We believe the world
needs science, and science needs
women. Science needs women’s
diverse perspectives, innovationand creativity to tackle the world’s
existential

challenges,

including3

Fondation L’Oréal

Introduction
The state of playfor women in science,by the numbers

4

Fondation L’Oréal
The state of play for women in scienceW

hile women are entering
academia
ingreater
proportions than ever before, thenumber of women graduating
and pursuing academic careersin science is faltering. Though
women held 40.6% of academic
positions in European Union
countries in 2014, the share ofuniversity graduates in Natural
Sciences, Maths and Statistics
globally has stuttered, droppingfrom 5.2% in 1999 to 4.5% in
2017.1 In OECD countries, fewer
than one in three engineering
graduates and fewer than one infive computer science graduates
is a woman.2
Despite over half of all PhDs
being awarded to women, thepercentage of female tenured
faculty lies between 20% to 33% in
the EU and US and falls to as low
as 5% in fields like engineering.3 In
the EU-28, only 15% of Grade A
positions in Science, Technology,
Engineering and Mathematics(STEM) fields are occupied by
women.4 Other regions may
be further behind: one study of

Mexico’s scientists found womenat universities and research
centres even had higher-quality
publications with longer-term
impact on their fields, but wereless likely to be promoted tosenior ranks.5
Whilst the #MeToo movement has
provoked widespread changes
in university policies and theseriousness with which issues ofsexual harassment and consent aretreated, instances of sexual assault
and inappropriate behaviour
remain high. A range of studies
from European countries foundthat 47% to 68% of women students
were sexually harassed verballyor with threatening unwanted
advances during their higher
education studies.6 Some of theperpetrators are academic staff:
for example, a BBC investigation
recently exposed extensive abusesof power by male university staff in
Nigeria and Ghana.7

Of the 600 Nobel prizes awarded
for sciences, just 20 have gone
to women. However, the paceof change is quickening: four of
twelve women Nobel laureatesin physiology and medicine,
two of the five in chemistry, andone of the three in physics wereawarded in the last decade.
The numbers are clear: while
growing numbers of women
advance and excel in science,at a systemic level, equality is not
yet a reality. Universities and otherscientific research institutions must
continue to work hard to becometrue meritocracies.
This research provides uniqueinsight into the views of some of theleading women in science today.
The results indicate overwhelming
agreement among For Women in
Science alumnae that women are
still held back from advancing inscience because of their gender.

There
has
been
growingrecognition of the achievements
and value of women in science.

1. Tartar, A. & Sam, C. (2019). How Big Is the Global Gender Gap? Depends Which Number You Look At. Bloomberg, 27 March 2019.
2. Where are tomorrow’s female scientists? OECD. Accessed at: http://www.oecd.org/gender/data/wherearetomorrowsfemalescientists.htm
3. Yoder, B. L. (2018), ‘Engineering by the numbers.’, American Society for Engineering Education.
4. European Commission (2019) ‘SHE Figures 2018’. Accessed at: https://op.europa.eu/en/publication-detail/-/publication/9540ffa1-447811e9-a8ed-01aa75ed71a1/language-en
5. Leeming, J. (2017) ‘Women aren’t failing at science, science is failing women’ Nature. Accessed at: http://blogs.nature.com/
naturejobs/2017/03/20/women-arent-failing-at-science-science-is-failing-women/
6. ESHTE (2017). Ending Sexual Harassment and Violence in Third Level Education: A Review of Data on Prevalence of Sexual Violence andHarassment of Women Students in Higher Education in the European Union. European Union, 22 November 2017
7. BBC News Africa (2019) ‘Sex for Grades: undercover inside Nigerian and Ghanaian universities - BBC Africa Eye documentary’5Fondation L’Oréal
The state of play for women in science

About the study
This study set out to chart theindividual experiences of womenin science as they progressed
through their careers, thechallenges to their advancement,
and how those challenges havebeen overcome. In the survey,
women were asked to share theirexperiences and interactions withthe cultures and structures of their
institutions. In particular, sciencehas for years grappled with theissues of parenthood and of sexual
harassment, and these are priority
areas for the Fondation L’Oréal tounderstand and help address to
support women in science. The
survey delved deeper into these

two issues to investigate how
alumnae experience and havebeen affected by them.
The survey was answered by 327
out of 668 recipients (49%), amuch higher response rate thanis typical. Women from over 65
countries wrote over 49,000 wordsof vivid, deeply felt, answers.
Their insights and anecdotes
suggest there is still much work
to be done. They paint a pictureof women paddling upstream
against a current of entrenchedunconscious and conscious biases,
borne of social attitudes andinstitutional structures. At the sametime, they capture many positive
stories of women succeeding
and flourishing with the supportof colleagues, institutions andthrough their own dedication totheir missions and disciplines.
These results cannot claim torepresent the experience of all
women in science. After all, thealumnae of the L’Oréal-UNESCO
For Women in Science programme
are a uniquely accomplishedgroup. Despite the particularitiesof these experiences, it is likely thatmany women and men working inacademic science will recognise
what they read here.

About the survey
This study was commissioned by the Fondation L’Oréal and carried out by Kite
Insights. This research combined an online survey and telephone interviews ofalumnae of the For Women in Science programme of the Fondation L’Oréal and
UNESCO. An invitation to the online survey was sent to 668 alumnae, receiving
327 responses. The survey ran from January 29th to February 11th, 2019. Fivequalitative interviews were carried out during this same time period.
The questionnaire was informed by an extensive review of professional andacademic literature on the subject of women’s advancement in academic
science and other professional disciplines and designed in consultation with
the Fondation L’Oréal. The work is also informed by the Fondation L’Oréal’s
previous publication Tectonic Movements.

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Fondation L’Oréal
The state of play for women in science

About L’Oréal-UNESCO
For Women in Science
Since 1998, L’Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science programme has celebrated
eminent women in science throughout the world. Each year five Laureates fromfive different regions around the world are rewarded for their contributions
to their field. This International Awards are given out in alternate years towomen in life & environmental sciences and physical sciences, mathematics
and computer science. The L’Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science programmealso supports more than 250 talented, young scientists through its fellowship
programmes every year.
The respondents to this survey comprised both L’Oréal-UNESCO For Women in
Science Laureates and Young Talents. Laureates made up 12% of respondents
to this survey. The remaining 88% of respondents were the fellows.
Thus, the respondents of this research consisted of women across a spectrum ofscientific disciplines, at all ages and stages of their scientific careers, from thefinal years of doctoral studies to the most senior positions of universities andother institutions.
For further information about this study and the work of the Fondation
L’Oréal, please contact: ForWomeninScience.info@loreal.com

7Fondation L’Oréal
The state of play for women in science

Our respondents
88% fellows
12% laureates

81% university /academic institution

58% life sciences

6% government
6% private group

34% physical sciences,mathematics orcomputer science

7% other
39%

11%

Europe*North America

10%
Asia

15%
Africa5%South America

21%

Middle East andNorth Africa
8*61% of respondents in
Europe from France (24%of overall sample)

Fondation L’Oréal
The state of play for women in science

30%

20%

assistant prof / associate

lecturer / associate prof

24%

14%

PhD / post-doc

professor / chair

55%

79%

with
childrenno otherdependents

45%

19%

withoutchildrenotherdependents

42%

54% married

25-34 years old

20% partnership40%

35-44 years old

20% single

7%

3% divorced

45-54 years old

1% widowed

11%

55+ years old

9Fondation L’Oréal

Results
Women in science,in their own words

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Fondation L’Oréal
Women in science, in their own wordsT

he empirical evidence ismounting for a widespread
range of gender biases throughout
science, including ways in whichmale and female job candidates
are described, stereotypes of whatthe ‘ideal’ scientist looks like, toother inequalities in hiring, funding
and promotion.8 Bias operates atmultiple levels: when presented withexperimental evidence of genderbiases in STEM, men are more likely
than women to think the quality of
the underlying research is poor.9

The survey began by asking
respondents about their experiencein their careers in science. The
questions explored both culturaland structural bias, whether
respondents had experienced
such biases and how thoseexperiences had affected them.
The survey dived deeper into two
issues of parenthood and sexual
harassment; areas identified as
particularly critical to advancing
women in science.

Likewise, For Women in Sciencealumnae survey respondents
observed
thatgendered
expectations are held bycolleagues, folded into the cultureof organisations, formalised by
the structure of careers andinstitutions, and implicit in theordinary interactions which makeup a normal workday. Leaders andemployees of scientific researchorganisations may genuinely
believe that sexism is a thing of thepast. However, these biases andtheir very invisibility present very
real career challenges, even for
women who have risen to or look
set to reach the very highest levels
within science.

Professor Kristi Anseth, 2020 For Women In Science Laureate for North America

8. Asplund, M., Welle, C.G. (2018) Advancing science: How bias holds us back. Neuron 99:635–639.
9. Handley, I.M., Brown, E.R., Moss-Racusin, C.A., Smith, J.L. (2015) Gender-biased evaluations of gender-bias evidence. Proceedings of the
National Academy of Sciences Oct 2015, 112 (43) 13201-13206; DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1510649112

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Fondation L’Oréal
Women in science, in their own words

Biased workplace cultures
are commonplace, hindering successRespondents were asked about
the range and examples ofgender-related experiences theyencountered, from unfair treatment
to harassment.
Close to two-thirds (62%) said
they had experienced prejudicefrom colleagues because of theirgender. Over half of the women in
the survey (55%) said they faced
gender bias in hiring, promoting,and funding decisions.
Such biases can manifest insmall interactions. For instance,

one woman with two decades’
experience as an adjunct was
told “I liked your talk; you think likea man” by a male professor after
a talk at a prestigious European
institute. Even when such remarks
are meant positively, they
reinforce the idea that the default
reference for scientific thinking
is male.
Another respondent describeda brief conversation with a male
professor who suggested she
go by her initials on a paper
rather than use her full name,for the paper to have a higher
chance of acceptance. “Thiswas unacceptable for me and,of course, I signed using my full
name,” she wrote. “The paper was
finally accepted. But the prejudice
was installed.”
Of course, women are caught ina bind. The reality is that identical
papers or job applications witha woman’s name attached areless likely to be accepted thanthose with a man’s, while papers
authored by women are less likely
to be cited after publication.10,11,12
This lack of authorship or visibility
affects women’s access toawards, jobs and promotions, withrepercussions that echo throughouta scientist’s career. Indeed, 54%
of respondents reported difficulty
attaining opportunities for visibility
in their career, such as becoming
a jury member, joining a journal
editorial board, or contributing
at major events; 61% had
experienced issues with ownershipor authorship position on theirprojects and publications.
Respondents were then asked how
their experiences and environments
affected their success.
Sixty-two percent of respondents
agreed to at least some extent
that a biased workplace culture
was a barrier to success. In themildest form, women are notexplicitly shut out, yet at the same

10. Fox, C.W., Paine, C.E.T. (2019) Gender differences in peer review outcomes and manuscript impact at six journals of ecology and evolution.
Ecol Evol. 2019; 9: 3599–3619. https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.4993
11. Moss-Racusin, C.A., Dovidio, J.F., Brescoll, V.L., Graham, M.J., & Handelsman, J. (2012). Science faculty’s subtle gender biases favor malestudents. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 109(41), 16474-16479.
12. West, J. D., Jacquet, J., King, M. M., Correll, S. J., & Bergstrom, C. T. (2013). The role of gender in scholarly authorship. PloS one, 8(7), e66212

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Fondation L’Oréal
Women in science, in their own words

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Fondation L’Oréal
Women in science, in their own words

time they may not feel part ofthe ‘inner circle’ — the informalsocial groups and networks bywhich scientists exchange ideas,learn of opportunities, and build
professional relationships.
More harmful microaggressions
such as sexist stories, jokes, andassumptions about gender candemoralise
anddisengage
women at work, and discouragethem from taking chances thatmight catalyse their rise throughthe ranks. Fifty-five percent ofrespondents ‘completely agreed’or ‘strongly agreed’ that theirself-confidence had affected
decisions in their career such aswhether to apply for a grant,with only 14% saying this had
never happened. Senior scientists
interviewed during this study also
highlighted the frequency ofyoung women in particular nothaving the confidence to apply
for opportunities that their malecolleagues did.

managers. Eighty-six percent ofrespondents said that they havebenefited from the support ofcolleagues in advancing theircareers. “I had the support ofvery good mentors (male in bothcases) who gave me unique
opportunities, such as sending
me in their place to conferences,which really allowed me to bebetter known in the field.”“When I began as a faculty
member, a senior woman professor
took the time to send me notes ofencouragement when I received

a fellowship or an accolade. I also
had a wonderful female colleague
to share experiences with and to
discuss and support each other’sscience and achievements.
These were crucial in framing my
confidence and my excitement
about science as a career.”
These insights demonstrate how
institutions and individuals can
support women in science, justas they indicate where obstacles
still exist.

These
challenges
aroundworkplace culture are notunique to science, but the maledominated environment thatmany women scientists inhabit isnevertheless having measurable
negative impact.13
By contrast, For Women in Sciencealumnae also shared numerous
examples of positive, genderconscious
andsupportive
behaviour from colleagues and13. Sneader, Kevin & Yee, Lareina. (2019) One is the loneliest number. McKinsey Quarterly, January 2019. Accessed at: https://www.mckinsey.
com/featured-insights/gender-equality/one-is-the-loneliest-number

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Fondation L’Oréal
Women in science, in their own words

Long, unstable academic career structuresare stumbling-blocks
The changing demands ofacademia are creating newchallenges for all young scientists,
male and female. Science careers
take ever-longer pathways, from
graduate studies to multiple, lowpaid postdoctoral fellowships14
and a series of research andteaching positions. Today there
are fewer permanent positions
available,15 more competition
for each, and a much greaterload of responsibilities beyond
research in academia.16 Global
figures are scarce, but in the
United Kingdom only three or fourin every hundred PhD students
will land a permanent staff
position at a university, and only
marginally more in the UnitedStates will do so.17 Half of all thosepursuing careers as scientists atinstitutions of higher education
drop out of the field after justfive years; by comparison, in the
1960s, half of academic scientists
remained in the field for 35 years.18

The shifting nature of science
careers today affects women indifferent ways from men, especiallywhere women are expected to be
the main caregivers for children
and family members, and when
this coincides with critical periodsin their careers.
Six in ten respondents (61%) agreed
that the way science careers andinstitutions are structured is a barrier
to women’s advancement. For
younger respondents in particular,
length of study and low pay without
employment security are among
the greatest hurdles they face: 41%of those aged 25-34 considered thisa major challenge. Fewer of theolder respondents (24% of thosebetween 35-44 years old, and 5%of over-45) faced these challenges,
partly because of their seniority, butalso because earlier generationsof scientists had more direct
pathways to permanent roles andthe number of tenured posts wasconsiderably higher.

Financial insecurity (cited by 39% of
respondents overall, 41% of those
25-34 and 47% of those 35-44) andcontract insecurity (32% overall and
39% of the youngest group) werealso among the most challenging
career hurdles. Respondents
wrote of short-term contracts asa hindrance to life and familyplanning, struggling to reconcile
low pay with high costs of living,and discovering gender pay gaps
relative to men at their institutions.
Other elements, however, may
be changing for the better. Fewerjunior respondents (19%) cited lackof mentorship and informal support
as a challenge during their careers,compared with more senior
respondents (29%).

14. Turk-Bicakci, L., Berger, A. and Haxton, C. (2014). The Nonacademic Careers of STEM PhD Holders. American Institutes for Research, April
2014. Accessed at: https://www.air.org/resource/nonacademic-careers-stem-ph-d-holders’.
15. Kaplan, K. (2010). Academia: the changing face of tenure. Nature, 468(7320), 123-125
16. Lynch, K., & Ivancheva, M. (2015). Academic freedom and the commercialisation of universities: a critical ethical analysis. Ethics in Scienceand Environmental Politics, 15(1), 71-85.
17. Woolston, C. (2017) ‘Graduate survey: a love-hurt relationship’, Nature, 550(7677), 549-552.
18. Milojevic’, S., Radicchi, F. and Walsh, J. (2018). Changing demographics of scientific careers: The rise of the temporary workforce.
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 115(50), pp.12616-12623.

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Women in science, in their own words

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Fondation L’Oréal
Women in science, in their own words

Institutions fail to support womenbalancing family, relationships and work
Becoming a parent is not only
a significant life milestone in aperson’s life; for individuals inscience jobs, it may mean leaving
the STEM workforce. Recent
research on US STEM workers
found that 43% of women leavefull-time science jobs after thebirth or adoption of their first child,compared with 23% of men.19 Overa quarter of women who leave
STEM go on to full-time positions in
non-STEM jobs where workplacecultures and policies may be more
accommodating of family life.
This apparent mismatch between
science careers and the demandsof parenthood was supported by
the survey findings. Over half ofthe survey respondents (55%) weremothers. Of this group, 59% said
they faced gender bias in hiring,promotion and funding decisions.
In contrast, 47% of respondents
without children said they faced
similar hiring, promotion andfunding bias; a difference of 12%
between the two groups. (SeeFigure 2; pg.13)

In all, 45% of respondents agreed toat least some extent that ‘Women
who choose to have children aretreated differently than those who
do not by their colleagues andsuperiors at my institution’. Manyof the verbatim answers confirmed
this. Respondents wrote that they
were rejected for promotions,ranked ‘below average’ inappraisals for the years they werepregnant, removed from projects
after returning from maternity
leave, or had salary docked forpoor ‘productivity’ that failed totake into account maternity leave.
One respondent said that when
she became pregnant, a professor
told her it was ‘irresponsible’ tohave a child during medical
residency, while another said her
non-permanent contract was notextended due to her pregnancy.
However, the main impact ofparenthood on careers, asreported by most respondents,
was the restriction it imposed on
the number of hours available forwork or networking. Women withcaregiving responsibilities had
to be more selective about theconferences and meetings they
could attend out of town or afterhours: 66% said that the travel
requirements and expectations
associated with a career inacademic science limited their

The impact or perceived impact
of children on women’s careers
did not vary by region: there waswidespread global agreement,
ranging from 61% in the Middle
East to 74% in North America, thathaving a child was guaranteed toaffect a woman’s career in science.
Overall, 67% of all respondents
agreed with this statement.
To some degree, parenthood has anegative impact on careers simply
because workplaces, managers orcolleagues treat parents differently.

19. Cech, E.A., & Blair-Loy, M. (2019) The changing career trajectories of new parents in STEM. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Mar 2019, 116 (10) 4182-4187; DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1810862116

17

Fondation L’Oréal
Women in science, in their own words“[Family and caregiving factors] have made me thinkstrategically about when to have children and [affected] mydecision about which institutions to join.

”

L’ORÉAL–UNESCO FOR WOMEN IN SCIENCE ALUMNA

ability to advance when they
had children. Even the short-term
fieldwork or conference travel
required of academics presents
challenges, especially for those withyoung children. Forty-three percent
of respondents with children said
that childcare at their institutions
was inadequate. Notably, 67% of
mothers cited work-life balance asa major challenge, compared to
43% of those without children.
Besides the impact of parenthoodon scientific careers, 60% of alumnae
also reported their career timing andgoals had an influence on whether

to become a parent, when to havea child, and how many children
to have. Family decisions such asthese influence and are deeply
influenced by career stability andprogression. Some respondents told
us they had ended relationships
or postponed having children toadvance in their career, or that theyfelt they had to choose between
having children and reaching theirmaximum potential career-wise;others chose to pass up fellowships
or job opportunities, especially inother countries, due to relationships
or care responsibilities.

18

Of the parents who said having
children did not affect their careers,
those who responded attributed
this to having childcare facilities inor near their workplace, a partner
who shouldered equal parental
duties and who understood
how important it was to them tofurther their career, or other family
members or friends who helped
out with childcare. The successesof high-achieving alumnae testify
to the value of this support.

Fondation L’Oréal
Women in science, in their own words

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Fondation L’Oréal
Women in science, in their own words

Harassment and sexism
create hostile workplace environments
Research has found that sexual
harassment in science, engineeringand medicine is present at similar
rates to other workplaces. In 2018,
the US National Academies of
Science, Engineering and Medicine
published a landmark reportwhich found more than 50% of
women faculty and staff and 20
to 50% of women students witness
or experience sexually harassing
conduct in academia.20 Such
conduct includes gender-basedharassment (verbal and nonverbal
behaviours that convey hostility,
objectification, exclusion, or secondclass status about members of one
gender), unwanted sexual attention(verbal or physical unwelcome
sexual advances, which can include
assault), and sexual coercion(when favourable professionalor educational treatment isconditioned on sexual activity).
Among survey respondents,
witnessing or experiencing sexual
harassment was common, with
53% of respondents saying thatthey had witnessed it over thecourse of their career and 47%
experiencing it at least once. These
numbers mirror the wider statistics,21
indicating the experience ofalumnae represents that of womenin science more broadly.

20. National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2018. Sexual Harassment of Women: Climate, Culture, and Consequences in
Academic Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. https://doi.org/10.17226/24994
21. National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2018. Sexual Harassment of Women: Climate, Culture, and Consequencesin Academic Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. https://doi.org/10.17226/24994

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Fondation L’Oréal
Women in science, in their own words

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Fondation L’Oréal
Women in science, in their own words

Beyond harassment directed atthemselves as individuals, alumnae
also encountered sexist remarks,
offensive jokes, or gendered
condescension. This was true
globally. In the last year, at least athird of alumnae in every region
had experienced this, rising to 52%
in North America. Most women(58%) had heard someone tell asexist story or joke which offended
them in the last year, while 56%
had heard someone referring topeople of their gender in offensive
or insulting terms. Over a third(34%) had had such remarks
directed towards them personally,
hearing offensive remarks about
their experience, body, or sexual
activities. These aggressions andslights may be subtle, but add
up to create a toxic atmosphere
for female staff that affects their
willingness and ability to progress attheir organisations.
Sometimes, harassment is morecoercive. One respondent wrote
about how she was sexuallyassaulted by a lecturer during her“

I was sexually assaulted by
my lecturer during my undergraduate
degree. He threatened to fail me
if I did not sleep with him.

”

L’ORÉAL–UNESCO FOR WOMEN IN SCIENCE ALUMNA

22

undergraduate degree and wastold she would pass the course only
if she complied with his demands.
When harassment has affected
respondents’ careers, it is most often
because they avoided specificmembers of staff, such as supervisors,
who were the perpetrators ofharassment — 51% of those
who experienced or witnessedharassment said they responded thisway. For instance, one respondent
said her doctoral supervisor
consistently made commentsthat made her uncomfortable,
but that she was able to change
supervisors. Overall, alumnae
observed a lack of understanding
and action around relatively“minor” instances of harassment,even though such incidents
cause discomfort, contribute to anegative environment and signal
deep-seated bias.
A smaller group report even more
drastic responses, such as feelingunsafe in their workplace orchanging jobs altogether. Eighteen
percent of respondents have seencolleagues or students leave asa result of sexual harassment, astatistic that should be of deep
concern to institutional leaders.

Fondation L’Oréal
Women in science, in their own words

23

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Results
Women in sciencecall on leaders
and institutions
to match ambition
with action

24

Fondation L’Oréal
Women in science call on leaders and institutions to match ambition with actionIn addition to asking For Womenin Science alumnae about theircareer experiences, the survey
also sought to understand to what
extent their institutions and leaders
are engaged in diversity issues. Do
institutions and leaders recognise
the extent of the challenges
women face? How effective
are current actions to address
women’s barriers and challenges?
How proactive are institutions
and leaders in addressing barriers
to women’s advancement inscience, and what steps by leaders
can make the most difference?
The survey uncovered theimplementation gaps where
women needed more andbetter policies than they currently
receive, notably in parenting andharassment-related domains. It
also identified bright spots, such asa growing awareness of women’schallenges and support fromindividual supervisors, mentors
and other colleagues.
While respondents called forchange, they also demonstrated
appreciation for decent treatment
they received, and gave credit
to individuals and institutions
which sponsored women andchampioned inclusion. Theirsurvey answers acknowledge
progress, but reveal that a great
deal is left to do; not just to put
policies in place and shift a biased
culture, but also to recognise theextent of the challenge remaining
for women to advance.

Doctor Menattallah Elserafy, 2018 International Rising Talent (Egypt)25

Fondation L’Oréal
Women in science call on leaders and institutions to match ambition with action

Recognising challenges:
collecting data, then building on successes
In the last decade and a half,
there has been gradual progress
for women’s representation in
STEM in some regions. Between
2006 and 2016, for instance, theproportion of women among
European researchers rose from
30% to 33.4%, according to theEuropean Commission’s 2009
and 2018 She Figures reports.22,23
And in the United States, aseminal 2007 National Academiesof Science, Engineering andMedicine report, Beyond Bias andBarriers, flagged institutional andsystemic obstacles to women’s
STEM advancement. The report
led to a number of publiclyfunded and institutional initiatives
to break down these barriers,
from eliminating bias in hiring to
improving work-life balance.24
In some contexts, the recognitionof challenges women faceconstitutes progress. In 2006,

theJapanesegovernment
acknowledged the nation’s
gender gap in STEM research,and set a target of 20% women
researchers in science and 15%
in engineering, though this target
has not yet been achieved.25
Survey results reflected this progress.
Close to eight in ten alumnae (79%)
agreed women’s experiences inacademia, including opportunities
for advancement, have improvedin the last decade.
At the same time, alumnae did
not believe that gender equality
in science was a system-wide
fait accompli. Only 45% agreed
that academic institutions on
the whole recognised the extent
of problems regarding genderin their organisations, while
76% of alumnae said that theirorganisations could do more toadvance women leaders.

As a start, alumnae called
on institutions to acknowledge
and measure gender gaps —something that has proveneffective at top institutions. In
the 1990s, women scientists at MIT
collected evidence that women
were being systematically excluded
as they moved up the career ladder,pushing the institution to change.26
Some For Women in Sciencealumnae have been involved insuch efforts at their institutions. In
the early 2000s, one respondent
wrote, she served on a campuswide committee that uncovereda gender pay gap and differencesin promotion. The committee
recommended policy changes
to extend mothers’ tenure clocks
and remove bias from hiring.
“These policy changes, alongwith increased awareness, havemade a big difference at ouruniversity”, she wrote.

22. European Commission (2010). ‘She Figures 2009’. Statistics and Indicators on Gender Equality in Science. Accessed at: https://ec.europa.eu/
research/science-society/document_library/pdf_06/she_figures_2009_en.pdf
23. European Commission (2019) ‘She Figures 2018’. Accessed at: https://op.europa.eu/en/publication-detail/-/publication/9540ffa1-447811e9-a8ed-01aa75ed71a1/language-en
24. Lieff Benderly, B. (2019). Mixed messages about women’s representation in science — and a missing piece of the picture. Science, 1April 2019. Accessed at: https://www.sciencemag.org/careers/2019/04/mixed-messages-about-women-s-representation-science-andmissing-piece-picture
25. Catalyst.org (14 June 2019). Women in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM): Quick Take. Accessed at: https://www.catalyst.org/research/women-in-science-technology-engineering-and-mathematics-stem
26. Birgeneau Robert J. (1999) MIT Faculty Newsletter: Special edition. Accessed at: http://web.mit.edu/fnl/women/women.html

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Women in science call on leaders and institutions to match ambition with action

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Women in science call on leaders and institutions to match ambition with action

Closing implementation gaps:
childcare and harassment policy are critical
Research on global corporate
workforces has found that while
companies invest in diversity andinclusion programmes, about
three-quarters of employees intarget underrepresented groups,
such as minorities and women,
did not feel they had personallybenefitted. The same research
has since uncovered ‘hidden
gems’, diversity measures thattarget groups found most helpful.
For women, such interventions
included tools to balancecareer and family responsibilities,
such as parental leave, healthcare coverage and childcare
support.27
In the same vein, respondents
were asked to rate the importanceof various institutional policies foradvancing women in academic
science, and also to rate how

27. Krentz, M., Dean, J., Garcia-Alonso, J., Taplett, F.B., Tsusaka, M., & Vaughn, E. (2019). Fixing the Flawed Approach to Diversity. BCG, January
2019. Accessed at: http://image-src.bcg.com/Images/BCG-Fixing-the-Flawed-Approach-to-Diversity-Jan-2019-R_tcm9-212433.pdf

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Fondation L’Oréal
Women in science call on leaders and institutions to match ambition with action

well-implemented the same
policies were in their institutions.
The difference between thetwo revealed where the largest
implementation gaps lie.

Childcare and parenting
On the whole, alumnae rated
childcare support as extremely
important (an average of 6.2 out of7) for advancing women. Parental
leave policies (6.1), flexible work
(6.0), and transparency in pay andpromotion decisions (6.0) were not
far behind. Least important werequotas and targets for women’shiring and promotion (4.9 out of 7),
formal mentoring programmes,and gender consciousness or bias
training (both 5.3), which may reflect
greater urgency around parenting
and childcare challenges.
Globally,
there
was
most
agreement on the importanceof childcare support, ranging
from 5.7 in Europe to 6.3 in Asia.
However, the implementation ofchildcare support was rated 2.9 outof 7, the widest gap for any policy,
meaning current policies do notmeet women’s needs. The travel
requirements of science, whether
short-term for conferences orlong-term for brief contracts, often
increase families’ childcare needs.
When providing written responses,
some respondents suggested
support to hire additional care or
bring nursing infants to conferences.
Others proposed childcare facilities
at the workplace, subsidisedchildcare, compulsory paternity
leave, and encouraging men tolead by example and split childcare
equally with their partners.

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Women in science call on leaders and institutions to match ambition with action

In contrast, parental leave
policies had the smallest gap
betweenimportance(6.1)
and implementation (4.8). To
some extent this may reflect
the widespread prevalence ofnational maternity leave policies for
employees around the world: 185
countries guarantee paid maternity
leave, with 106 of those providing atleast 14 weeks of leave.28
Some countries have designed
highly effective parental leave
policies that help women
advance. By making joint
parental leave compulsory andequal, Nordic countries haveincreased women’s participationin the labour force, increased theirpresence in senior positions, andoffered fathers multiple positive
benefits.29 Compulsory and equal
parental leave between men andwomen eliminates one sourceof gender bias in hiring: if all
workers take the same amount of
parental leave, employers andmanagers cannot discriminate
on those grounds.

always rely on these policies tobolster gender equality within
their organisations.

quality rather than volume as
criteria for promotion would
erase the disadvantage.

Finally, general policies canbe designed in ways that easethe structural challenges formothers. For example, critical
periods in academic careers
overlap with important life
events such as starting a family,
creating structural barriers towomen’s advancement. Whenacademics are assessed for
promotion or tenure based on
the number of publications,rather than their quality alone,
women who have taken timeout for maternity leave or otherfamily responsibilities are at a
disadvantage. Using publication

Sexual harassment
Institutional efforts to combat
harassment run the gamut fromnational to non-existent. In the
UK and US respectively, Athena
Scientific Women’s Academic
Network (SWAN) and the
National Academies of Sciences,
Engineering and Medicine haveissued comprehensive guidelines
for institutions to systematically
combatharassment,fromprevention and response to carefulmeasurement of impact.32,33 Other
similar efforts have started in Europe,such as those by the European

Yet even the Nordic countries are
not gender-equal in science. In
Sweden, 43.6% of parliamentaryseats are held by women,30 yet
women make up only 23.8% ofprofessors despite comprising 45%of those obtaining PhDs.31 Even
where national policies make iteasier to be a working parent,scientific institutions cannot

28. Gharib, M. (2019). Which Countries Guarantee That New Dads Get Paid Paternity Leave? NPR. Accessed at: https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsands oda/2018/06/14/619604235/which-countries-guarantee-that-new-dads-get-paid-paternity-leave
29. Nordic Information on Gender (2018) ‘In depth: Parental leave’ Accessed at: https://nikk.no/en/publications/shared-and-paid-parental-leave/
30. UNDP Human Development Data, Gender Inequality Index. Accessed at: http://hdr.undp.org/en/data
31. Salinas, P. and Bagni, C. (2017). Gender Equality from a European Perspective: Myth and Reality. Neuron, 96(4), pp.721-729.
32. Universities UK (2016). Changing the Culture: Report of the Universities UK Taskforce examining violence against women, harassment
and hate crime affecting university students. October 2016. Accessed at: https://www.universitiesuk.ac.uk/policy-and-analysis/reports/
Documents/2016/changing-the-culture.pdf
33. National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2018. Sexual Harassment of Women: Climate, Culture, and Consequencesin Academic Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. https://doi.org/10.17226/24994.

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Women in science call on leaders and institutions to match ambition with action

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Fondation L’Oréal
Women in science call on leaders and institutions to match ambition with action“

There should be more weight on the quality of thework rather than the number of publications. Focusing on
the number of publications over quality hurts women who
may have had to take time off for children.

”

L’ORÉAL–UNESCO FOR WOMEN IN SCIENCE LAUREATE

Platform for Women Scientists.34 Still,other institutions lack even written
policies to combat gender-basedharassment, as one Latin American
alumna told us in an interview.
Survey respondents rated sexual
harassment policies and procedures
a 5.5 out of 7 in importance towomen’s advancement. However,satisfaction with the creationand implementation of sexual
harassment policies, including
management engagement andstaff/student training, was very
low: only 25% of respondents
were satisfied with their institution’s
policies and only 23% were satisfied
with how these policies were
enforced in practice. Alumnae
from Europe and South America
had the lowest satisfaction of any
region on these measures.
Globally, only 29% of alumnae
agreed that their workplaces
had adequate mechanisms forreporting harassment and thatmanagement would take suchreports seriously; only 18% agreed
that staff and students at theirworkplaces received adequate
training on sexual harassment.
Of those who witnessed orexperienced harassment, 51%
avoided harassers, while 4% leftor changed jobs; 14% continued
to feel unsafe in their workplaces.
The need to take individual actions

such as these further underscores
the idea that institutions are
failing to take systemic action
against sexual harassment. One
interviewee noted that nothing
gets reported “unless it becomesa very dramatic situation”.
These results suggest there issignificant room for change.
The Athena SWAN and National
Academies
guidelinesoncombatting harassment may be
a useful starting point. Given theimpact of harassment on women’s
careers, adopting measuresagainst harassment could help
scientific research organisations
retain talent and empower
women to advance.

Other policies:
quotas, pay and promotion
Respondents
agreedonthe importance of pay andpromotion transparency (6.0),
but this measure too had alarge implementation gap (3.5
out of 7 for implementation).
In practice, the challenges
around transparency are likely
to extend beyond remunerationand promotion: research has
previously shown that womenscientists receive less start-up
funding from their universities thanmen, and also less first-time grantfunding from the US National
Institutes of Health.35

Beyond their home institutions,many respondents said that
initiatives such as the Athena SWAN
Charter and the L’Oréal-UNESCO
For Women in Science programme
had helped them to succeed: 42%of respondents cited the support ofsuch gender-related programmes
and institutions as a factor thatenabled success in their career,
and this figure rose to 55% in Asiaand 52% in MENA. Clearly, these
programmes encourage womenscientists that their hard work andeffort will be rewarded.
Finally, although there was generalconsensus among respondents that
more women scientists needed to be
hired and promoted to leadership
positions, alumnae expressed
mixed feelings regarding quotas
and other forms of affirmative
action. In some countries andcontexts, gender quotas havebeen deployed effectively,
such as in France to increase theproportion of women on large
corporate boards.36 Most of
those who mentioned quotas intheir written responses werein favour of using them toaccelerate change. However,others argued that they were
unfair and risk casting doubt
on the competence of womenin science, and that institutions
should hire and promote themost talented people, regardlessof gender.

34. European Platform of Women Scientists. (2019) Pisa Declaration on Sexual Harassment in Higher Education and Research. Accessed at:https://epws.org/pisa-declaration-on-sexual-harassment-in-highereducation-research/
35. Oliveira, D., Ma, Y., Woodruff, T., & Uzzi, B. (2019). Comparison of National Institutes of Health Grant Amounts to First-Time Male andFemale Principal Investigators. JAMA, 321(9), 898. doi: 10.1001/jama.2018.21944
36. Govotsos, K. (2017). “Gender Diversity in Corporate Boards in France: An Analysis,” Joseph Wharton Research Scholars. Accessed at:
http://repository.upenn.edu/joseph_wharton_scholars/29

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Women in science call on leaders and institutions to match ambition with action

Stepping up: what alumnae seek frommale leaders and champions of women in science
The leadership of top research
universities and other scientificinstitutions, who are mostly
men,37 have a major role to playin creating a level playing field
for men and women in science.
Dismantling entrenched structuralbarriers will take time, but avisible commitment by institutions
and leaders is vital to the effort.
Research from the corporate
world already offers examples
of best practices by CEOs forincreasing diversity and inclusion.
These include, inter alia, leadingby example, measuring diversity
and inclusion against published
KPIs, and setting targets to holdmanagers accountable.38

Survey results further outlined how
individual leaders and colleagues
can and have stepped up. Halfof respondents said most seniorcolleagues at their organisations
genuinely supported genderequality; those without children
were slightly more likely (53%) thanthose with children (45%) to say so.
Respondents were also given an
opportunity to suggest how malecolleagues could act on their beliefs
to improve women’s opportunities
for advancement in academic
science. Of those who provided
written responses, 40% said theyshould respect female colleagues
and proactively fight bias. Close

to a quarter (24%) said seniorcolleagues should make hiring andpromotion more inclusive, while 23%
named ways to support working
mothers, such as childcare andshared parental leave.
Alumnae lauded senior leaders
who sponsored and supported
women. One wrote of a Dean
who was willing to write letters of
support for women, appealed
for women to apply for researchand postgraduate opportunities,
and was generally proactive
and vocal about women’s
advancement. “He made coming
to work worthwhile,” she wrote.

“

Men should bear the load of childcare and runninga household more. Right now, both of these are on women’sshoulders. It’s hard for academia to change without thesesocial expectations changing too.

”

L’ORÉAL–UNESCO FOR WOMEN IN SCIENCE ALUMNA

37. ‘International Women’s Day: top 10 universities led by women’. (2019) Times Higher Education Supplement, 8 March 2019. Accessed at:https://www.timeshighereducation.com/student/best-universities/top-10-universities-led-women#survey-answer
38. Groysberg, Boris, and Connolly, Katherine. (2013) “Great Leaders Who Make the Mix Work.” Harvard Business Review 91, no. 9 (September2013): 68–76.

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Women in science call on leaders and institutions to match ambition with action

Further, systemic change is as
important as individual action.
Leaders who genuinely support
women can amplify change byencouraging men who encourage
women, another respondentsaid. These include men who
direct women’s research, finance
women’s work, lead laboratories
that offer opportunities for women— and who engage and convinceother men of the need to eradicate
systemic, invisible gender bias. For
example, the University of Michigan
deliberately strove for more than
50% men, particularly senioracademics viewed as credibleby male colleagues, on its facultydiversity committee.39 This built
engagement and support among
male colleagues, improving therecruitment and hiring of womenscience and engineering faculty.

39. Stewart, A., Malley, J. and LaVaque-Manty, D. (2010). Transforming science and engineering: Advancing Academic Women. Ann Arbor:
University of Michigan Press.

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Fondation L’Oréal
Women in science call on leaders and institutions to match ambition with action

What can male scientists and managers do
to help improve the opportunities for women’s
advancement in academic science?
These were common responses.

Regularly sponsor women
Actively put women forward, nominate them, include them on projects, ask
them to join teams. Use actions rather than rhetoric to show your support for
women.
Pursue inclusion
At regular intervals, stand back and think about the ratios of women: menon teams, publications, grant applications etc. Think about how this can be
improved and take steps to improve it.
Ask women what they need
Don’t make assumptions. Well-meaning managers, wrote alumnae,
often shielded women from responsibilities or did not offer them career
opportunities in an attempt to reduce stress or improve work-life balance.
This loss of responsibility is a barrier to women who wish to advance.
Sign a panel pledge (or something similar)
Refuse to speak at conferences or on panels where the representation of
women is below 50%. Offer your speaker spot to a woman instead to sharethe opportunities.

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Conclusion
Inaction holds risk,change affords
opportunity

36Fondation L’Oréal
Inaction holds risk, change affords opportunityT

he For Women in Sciencealumnae are a group of
the world’s most talented andtenacious women scientists, butthese survey findings show theyshare many common experienceswith other women in science,from maternity discrimination tosexual harassment. The anecdotes
they share support experimental
evidence for the range of ways inwhich gender bias manifests, fromfunding to publication.

minimise bias, and parental leaveand other support that lowers
the barriers for scientist-parents.
Normalising and accommodating
the needs of women scientists
would allow women’s abilities tobe fully unleashed.
The structural challenges that
confront women in science run
deep, however. To root themout and drive science towards
broader impact, universities,
scientific institutions and those who
lead them need a system-wide
evolution in attitudes, structures,
policy, and practice. As Harvard
President Lawrence Bacow has
remarked:40 “gender equality is
not a problem with a solution to be
engineered; rather, it is a change
to be continually managed.”

Their challenges also highlight aprevailing mode of thinking about
science and science careersthat is based on men as default
and women as interlopers. In thismodel, the ideal default scientist
is someone unencumbered bycaregiving responsibilities, who need
not plan their early career choicesaround a biological clock, and who
is unperturbed and unthreatenedby sexist environments. In this model,
women’s needs are a ‘problem’ tobe ‘solved’, rather than a normal
aspect of professional careers.
However, if scientific researchorganisations wish to advanceknowledge and bring it to bear on
humanity’s grand challenges, theymust tap the full and diverse rangeof human potential, including thatof women in science. To that end,
these findings also demonstrate
how much of a difference genderrelated initiatives and programmes
can make, such as guidelines
to combat gender-based andother harassment, hiring andpromotion processes designed toDoctor Caterina Vâlcu, 2019 French Young Talent

40. Bacow, L. (2019). Remarks at the Paris-Boston University Women’s Forum, 25 September 2019. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bt6NbedVWw437

Fondation L’Oréal
Inaction holds risk, change affords opportunity

Inaction has consequences for science and society
Science, and by extension society,requires diverse perspectives andtalents for maximum innovationand impact. For instance, when
women authors are involved in
medical research studies, thosestudies tend to include gender andsex analysis,41 thereby addressing
life-threatening gender biases indrug development, safety testing,medical diagnosis and other areas.42
However, science has not yet
harnessed the full potential ofgender diversity. This survey clearly
demonstrates the ways in which
women in science are affectedby their gender, from unequalfamily and care responsibilities,
to subtle bias and gender-basedharassment.
For scientific institutions, andfor science itself, the risk of notaddressing these genderedpressures is clear: the best andbrightest will leave and the qualityof science will be diminished. The
intrinsic motivation which propels
many researchers to pursue
humanity’s grand challenges goes
only so far, even among Laureatesand Fellows recognised by theirawards as scientists of the highest
calibre or potential. Many havepersevered, but others have left

for sectors that offer professional
stability, clear progression andbetter financial support.
These sectors include thecorporate world, which is moving
on apace. Companies are
adopting hiring practices that
combat gender bias, such as
eliminating gendered language
from job ads,43 taking steps toward
pay parity44 and implementing
policies such as parental leavethat make it easier to fit careers
around children. The proportionof US companies offering paid
parental
leave
has
grown
15% in the three years to 2018,according to a snapshot surveyof 423 employers conducted byconsultancy Mercer.45

changed the conversation andis changing expectations. For
instance, recent walkouts bytech-sector employees over thehandling of sexual harassment
claims are beginning to catalysechange. Universities and researchorganisations which do not keep
pace with other sectors in how
they handle gendered workplaceissues risk being viewed as out-ofdate, increasingly unattractive
options for future generations oftalented women. Unless scientificinstitutions change their practices
around hiring, promotion, andopportunities for visibility, improvefinancial and job security, andtake deliberate steps to create
salubrious work environments,
they will continue to bleed talent.

This shift has momentum and islikely to continue. This is true notjust of paid parental leave, butalso childcare provisions andsubsidies, shared parental leave,
and other policies which make aworkplace attractive.
A similar dynamic will play out
with issues of workplace culture
and gender-based harassment.
Some countries and industries
have undergone a radical culture
shift in recent years; #MeToo has

41. Nielsen, M. W. et al. (2017) ‘One and a half million medical papers reveal a link between author gender and attention to gender andsex analysis’, Nature Human Behaviour, vol. 1, p. 791_796
42. Fondation L’Oreal (2018). Tectonic Movements: how cultural shifts can lift up women in science. Novet, Jordan. (2018) Cisco is hiring
more women and non-white employees than ever, and they credit this start-up for helping. CNBC, 9 October 2018. Accessed at: https://www.cnbc.com/2018/10/09/textio-helping-cisco-atlassian-improve-workforce-diversity.html
43. Calfas, Jennifer (2018). How These Major Companies Are Getting Equal Pay Right. Fortune, April 9, 2018. Accessed at: https://fortune.
com/2018/04/09/equal-pay-companies-starbucks-apple/
44. Mercer (2019) ‘The Pressure is on to Modernize Time-off Benefits: 6 Survey Findings’. Accessed at: https://www.mercer.us/our-thinking/healthcare/the-pressure-is-on-to-modernize-time-off-benefits-6-survey-findings.html
45. T iku, Nitasha (2018). Google Walkout Is Just the Latest Sign of Tech Worker Unrest. Wired, 1 November 2018. Accessed at: https://www.
wired.com/story/google-walkout-just-latest-sign-tech-worker-unrest/

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Fondation L’Oréal
Inaction holds risk, change affords opportunity

Collective action for systems change
offers opportunities for impact
For some of the most fundamental
changesrequired,
institutions
will need to work together inpartnership to create new, fairer
systems. The current definitions ofscientific success disadvantage
women, especially those who areparents. Invisible and unconscious
biases, including those held by
women themselves, pervade theculture of science and affect key
steps in career progression, frompublication to tenure. Redefining
science-career success anderadicating systemic bias is notaccomplished by the actions ofindividual leaders alone, but by
leaders and institutions working
collectively for change.
When asked to select what had
helped them to succeed, mostalumnae selected factors external
to their work, such as individual
perseverance and support fromfamily and friends outside their
institutions. Ultimately, womenshould not have to succeed bygoing beyond their institutions;they should be able to succeed
because of them.

society. For Women in Sciencealumnae and many other womenin science have proved themselves
so dedicated and passionate
about research and discovery
that they have overcome greatchallenges to get to where theyare. What could they achieve if
given complete freedom to excel?

“

What has aided my career?
Perseverance, standing up
for myself and seeking alternativemeans of support outside myinstitution.

”

L’ORÉAL–UNESCO FOR WOMEN IN SCIENCE ALUMNA

Those institutions which lead totransform science for women willreap the benefits for themselves,for science, for women and for39

Fondation L’Oréal

Acknowledgements
and bibliography

40

Fondation L’Oréal
Acknowledgements and Bibliography

We are grateful to the alumnae of the L’Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science Programme for their engagementwith and contribution to this survey, and to those interviewed for their time and generosity.

Asplund, M., Welle, C.G. (2018) Advancing science:
How bias holds us back. Neuron 99:635–639. doi:
10.1016/j.neuron.2018.07.045.
Bacow, L. (2019). Remarks at the Paris-Boston
University Women’s Forum, 25 September 2019.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bt6NbedVWw4
BBC News Africa (2019) ‘Sex for Grades: undercoverinside Nigerian and Ghanaian universities — BBC
Africa Eye documentary’Calfas, Jennifer (2018). How These Major Companies
Are Getting Equal Pay Right. Fortune, April 9, 2018.
Accessed at: https://fortune.com/2018/04/09/equalpay-companies-starbucks-apple/
Catalyst (2019). Women in Science, Technology,
Engineering & Mathematics. Quick Take https://www.
catalyst.org/research/women-in-science-technologyengineering-and-mathematics-stem/
Cech, E.A., & Blair-Loy, M. (2019) The changing career
trajectories of new parents in STEM. Proceedings of
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42

About The

Fondation L’Oréal

The Fondation L’Oréal works to support women across theworld, helping them to fulfil their potential in two major areasthat sit at the heart of the Group’s DNA: scientific researchand inclusive beauty.
Established in 1998 and managed by the Fondation L’Oréalin partnership with UNESCO, the For Women in Science
programme seeks to improve the representation of womenin scientific careers, strong in the conviction that the world
needs science, and science needs women. Over the past
22 years, the programme has supported and raised the
profile of more than 3,400 researchers from 118 countries.
Convinced that beauty is at the core of the process ofreconstructing lives and an important element of social
inclusion, the Fondation L’Oréal also develops outstanding
free training in beauty professions for people from vulnerable
backgrounds. The Fondation also provides access to beauty
and wellness treatments in medical and social settings,
supporting people undergoing physical, psychological orsocial suffering, as well as reconstructive surgery.

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