European Council of Doctoral Candidates and Junior Researchers asks academics to share their stories
The European Council of Doctoral Candidates and Junior Researchers is planning a campaign to promote greater gender equality in academia.
Eurodoc’s initiative, timed to coincide with International Women’s Day on 8 March, aims to promote the belief that “everyone, men included, should be encouraged to stand up to create greater gender equality in their research environment”.
The group, an international federation of organisations representing PhD candidates and junior researchers across the EU, is asking researchers who want a more inclusive academia to contribute through social media or by filling out an online form.
Participants are being asked to answer four questions, including about why they went into research and why gender equality is important to them.
The initiative expands on the group’s Women in Research campaign, which launched in 2023 with the aim of challenging stereotypes.
Common human quest
Announcing its plans on 17 February, Eurodoc highlighted various forms of gender discrimination, including against women and against people with a gender identity or sexual orientation that differs from “the one expected on the basis of culturally established rules”.
“This is why we want to gather and share the stories to showcase how [everyone] contributes in a significant way to research both as a profession and as a common human quest for knowledge,” it said.
“The role models we will showcase in the next weeks are common people who care about research, who have experienced the difficulties of being an early career researcher, who met abuses and injustices and [who are still] committed to improving the research system to ensure a more inclusive academia.”