Women are notably underrepresented in the higher echelons of any career. For academia this has been brought from the anecdotal to fact with the publication of the tri-annual SheFigures by the EC. According to the SheFigures from 2012, less then 20% of the full professorships are held by women in the EC member states. Progress has been noted in the last decades, but is it enough to change the numbers significantly in the long run ? What are the underlying reasons why women seem to actively decide against high-level positions ? What can be done by the individual and by government, funding bodies and institutes to change the situation ?

Biography

Gerlind Wallon is the deputy director of the European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO). A German native, she graduated with a PhD in Biochemistry from Brandeis University, Waltham, Massachusetts, USA, followed by a 4 year post-doctoral period at EMBL in Heidelberg.

At EMBO she is responsible for the EMBO Young Investigator Programme, the EMBO Installation Grants, the Women in Science activities and The EMBO Meeting. Gerlind has developed the EMBO Laboratory Management Courses for leadership development, started the Career Day that offers transferable skills training at The EMBO Meeting and authored peer-reviewed studies on the selection processes and the effects of gender on application success at EMBO.

Contact : pellegrini@embl.fr