Swiss researchers join gender equality strike

Funders and researchers in Switzerland have joined a national strike to achieve gender equality, highlighting the imbalance of men and women in senior positions in academia.

Angelika Kalt, director of the Swiss National Science Foundation, said in a statement that gender inequality in Swiss academia, as well as being unfair, had negative impacts on the nation’s innovation potential.

“Lack of gender equality will adversely affect the competitiveness of Swiss research in the medium term, thereby hampering economic and social progress,” she said. Kalt will strike alongside SNSF colleagues in a national protest on 14 June, the statement said.