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HSP II and III funding programmes in support of higher education and
research
The HSPII Programme was originally meant to run from 1990 to 2000. It
has been replaced by HSPIII for the years 1996-2000. The aim was to
design promotion procedures (in particular doctoral studies and habilitation)
to suit women’s needs, to provide systematic information and to develop
specific measures for women scientists (such as those promoting re-entry).
This was in order to increase the proportion of women over the various
levels of qualification continuously, starting out from the number of women
graduates, which was about 40% at that time. In this way, the special funding
programme was to contribute to ensuring a sufficiently large number of
women candidates for chairs that will become vacant at the end of the
1990s. The programme provided performance-related parameters for the
first time. It was designed to achieve a dynamic increase in the proportion
of women appointed in line with the proportion in the previous level of
qualification. It also involved the general abandoning of age limits, the
introduction of flexible working hours (i.e. part-time contracts, including
the possibility of extension), child-care supplements to fellowships, measures
supporting the re-entry of women into science after a family phase and
contact fellowships granted, for example, to women on parental leave.
The special funding programme, launched by the Federal Government and
the Länder in 1990, had an initial budget of DM 4 billion for the period
until the year 2000. A special programme for the new Länder was added in
1993. Three years later, the programmes for the old and the new Länder
were combined (HSP III) and funding was again increased. Thus for the
period 1996-2000, 3.6 billion DM were provided by the Federal
Government and by the individual states. The HSP II/III Programme has so
far been the most important mainstreaming programme to implement
equality of opportunity in science. It has contributed to a marked increase
in women’s participation in doctoral studies and habilitation procedures.
Initial effects on appointments can now be seen. In 1998, for example, more
than 10,000 women scientists received funding under the programme. In
1998, over 210 million DM were provided for women in science although
originally only 144 million DM had been allocated in their budget.
A new programme – Programme to support equal chances for women in Research
and Education will be introduced from the year 2000 with a budget of 60
million DM. Its goals are to increase the number of women in top positions,
to remove the structural barriers that prevent women from making an
academic career and also to increase the number of women scientists at
lower levels. The budget will be divided so that 75% of the funds go to
support women scientists trying to obtain the necessary qualifications for an
academic career, 15% to gender studies and 10% to strengthen women’s
participation in natural sciences and technical subjects. This programme,
together with other measures supported by the Federal Government
including the Emmy Noether Programme, mean that the amount of money
earmarked to support women in science in 2001 will exceed that available
in 1998.
Appendix 1
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Science policies in the European Union
5 International Commission on the German Research Association and the
Max Planck Society
An international commission charged with investigating the DFG and the
Max Planck Society, recommended the removal of structural barriers to the
appointment of women to top positions in the universities and research
institutes. Their  report  Forschungsförderung in Deutschland (1999) recommends
introducing more flexibility into the system by providing‘assistant professor’
and ‘tenure-track’  positions.
6 Conclusions
The implementation of equal opportunities for women in science is a very
complex long-term project. Experience has shown that progress can only be
made if various activities are meshed together. These should include
reporting systems, continuous information and awareness-raising up to the
highest government level, equality of opportunity as a management task,
legal framework, structural changes, improvement of overall conditions,
establishment of equal rights structures in the institutions, supra-regional
networks and supporting measures. The central points in the
implementation of equal opportunities in Germany are:
•
increasing the share of women in leadership positions;
•
promotion of young scientists;
•
finding an alternative to habilitation.
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Appendix II
Women and science: Networking the networks
Brussels – July 8th & 9th, 1999
Declaration of Networks Active in Europe
We:
•
the representatives of networks of women scientists and organisations
committed to the improvement of the gender balance in research policy;
•
present at a meeting in Brussels on July 8 and 9, 1999;
Welcome the initiatives being taken on women and science by DGXII.
State that:
•
The gender balance in research policy is to be perceived from three
different perspectives: research by, for and about women. Progress has to be
made in these three perspectives, i.e. (i) promote women’s participation in
research activities, (ii) ensure that women’s needs and interests are taken
into consideration when setting research agenda, (iii) promote the
understanding and the inclusion of the gender issue.
•
The under-representation of women in science and decision making
bodies is both wasteful of human resources and a serious obstacle for the
development of the sciences and for European society as a whole.
•
Scientific development leads to new frontiers for human responsibility
and implies increasingly fundamental ethical choices. This also calls for
the need for an improved gender balance in the field of research.
•
Networking among women scientists is essential to empower women
scientists in their respective fields.
Recognise that:
The rationale for the networking of women scientists is:
•
To support, enhance and empower members in their careers;
•
To inform, encourage and motivate girls and young women to choose
scientific subjects; to campaign to make scientific careers more attractive;
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