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Individuals were encouraged to apply for the Expert Advisory Groups with
the final choice of membership being made by the Commission in
consultation with the Member States.  80/303 (26%) of members of the 17
advisory groups are female.   7/17 of the groups are chaired by women.
Individuals were required to apply to be considered for the assessment
panels charged with evaluating proposals for the Fifth Framework.  The aim
of the Commission is to see that women form 40% of the members.  Exact
statistics are not yet available but it is clear that women are well represented
on these panels.
In summary the Commission has begun to make significant strides towards
including women on its science and technology committees both in terms
of percentages and absolute numbers.  More women now have the chance
to gain experience at EU level.
Member States
It is important to look at numbers for the EU and elsewhere in relation to
those for committees within the Member States and in other European
countries.  Some Scandinavian countries require national committees and
equivalent bodies, including the National Research Councils, to have a
minimum of 40% of each gender (see for instance the amendment to the
Gender Equality Act in Finland, 1995).  In the UK, in 1998, the Committee
for Science and Technology had 4/15 (27%) female members, while 17/98
(17%) positions on individual Research Councils were occupied by women.
For the individual Research Councils, the proportion ranges from 6.3% to
28.6%.  Alternatively EASO, a committee of senior officials with policy
responsibility for science and technology, has only 1 female out of 14
members (7%).  In 1998, 10/71 (or 14.1%) members of the Swiss National
Science Council were female, including its President.  In Germany, in 1998,
6/38 (16%) of the members of the DFG Senate are female.  Ten of the 16
German States have female Ministers responsible for education and science.
The Federal Minister for Science and Education is also a woman.
However many top scientific committees in Germany, and in other
countries such as Italy, have much lower numbers of women.  For instance,
in 1994, the President, the President’s Board (15 members) and the
President’s Scientific Board (11 members) of the Italian Research Council
(CNR) were all men, even though 30% of CNR´s researchers are female.
In 1999, only one out of eight members of the Presidency Council was a
woman and the 24 members of the Scientific Board were all male.
Numbers for important committees in other countries have been given and
discussed in the previous chapter on funding and in Appendix VIII.
This review of the position of women on important scientific committees
shows that while some Member States have made significant progress in
increasing their participation (eg Finland and the UK), others lag behind.
Boards running charitable institutions in the private sector seem often to
have fewer women than those in the public sector.  It is particularly striking
that several private charities that provide large amounts of money for
medical or cancer research have no women on their boards of trustees  (e.g.
the Wellcome Trust has 0/10), or on their current scientific advisory board
(eg Imperial Cancer Research Fund 0/10) or their medical advisory board
(eg the Mildred Scheel Foundation of the Deutsche Krebshilfe 0/10).
Shaping scientific policy
French scientific education
and elite formation
In order to achieve a gender
balance in senior decision-
making, it is necessary that boys
and girls follow the same type
of education and training.  In
France, most people in top
positions are members of the
alumni of the Grandes Ecoles
(High Schools).  Grandes Ecoles
specialise in administration,
science, or management.  Entry
is through a very selective
entrance examination.  In
French society, the situation of
Grandes Ecoles has achieved a
somewhat mythical status: many
families dream of having a son
entering Ecole Polytechnique or
Ecole Nationale d’Administration,
but up until now, very few
entertain such hopes for their
daughters.  The Ecoles, besides
providing privileged conditions
for study, offer students a very
useful entree into the ‘old boys
network’ for the rest of their
career.
Claudine Hermann
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Science policies in the European Union
The increase in the number of women on boards that set policy at the EU
level is a powerful spur to Member States to increase the representation of
women on important committees at national level in those Member States
where they currently are poorly represented. The EU Parliament, as well as
the Commission and the Member States should make sure that this is done.
As a recent article in Nature, stated, ‘If the Commission is intent on
encouraging women in science it should also seek to stimulate new
standards in the national programmes of EU Member States’ (Nature vol
400, p 195).
The European Science Foundation
The ESF acts as a catalyst for the development of science by bringing
together leading scientists and funding agencies to debate, plan and
implement pan European initiatives.
None of the seven members of the ESF Board in 1999 are female.  There
are just two women on the executive council whose 27 members are all
nominated by individual countries.  The composition of the committees is
given in Appendix VIII.
Table 5.2: Women Members of the European Science Foundation (1997-98)
1997
1998
F/Total
% F
F/Total
% F
Statutory Meetings*
15/108
13.8
11/98
11.2
Associated Committees**
5/123
 4.1
4/118
  3.4
Standing Committees***
15/148
10.1
14/124
11.3
Source: ESF
* Executive Committee, Finance Committee, Electoral Commission, Network Committee,
EURESCO Committee
**CRAF, NuPECC, ESSC, EMaPS and its review Panel
***Members nominated by ESF Member Organisations
For abbreviations, see page 115.
 The involvement of women in ESF activities is described in the next table.
The first column shows the number of women involved out of the total
number.  The second shows the number of activities in which these women
are involved out of the total number of activities of that committee.  On the
left are numbers for 1997, on the right numbers for 1998.
Table 5.3: Women’ Involvement in the European Science Foundation
Activities (1997-98)
1997
1998
Activities F/Total
F/activities
% F
F/Total
F/ activities
% F
PESC
9/200
8/20
4.5
9/173
7/15
5.2
LESC
37/327
11/22
11.3
33/304
16/24
10.9
SCH
23/161
9/11
14.3
22/110
7/9
20.0
SCSS
25/148
4/12
16.9
12/157
6/11
7.6
EMRC
3/60
2/3
5.0
12/72
4/5
16.7
EURESCO
N/A
N/A
N/A 1,410/4,781
N/A
29.5
Note: N/A = not available, for other abbreviations see page 115.
Source: ESF
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