Women in Physics in Spain: Changes Since 2002

Abstract

Upon returning to Spain, the Spanish team attending the First IUPAP International Conference on Women in Physics in 2002 translated into Spanish, published, and spread the recommendations of the conference. The team also managed to form a Women in Physics Division of the Spanish Physical Society (RSEF) in December 2002. The Women in Physics Division has pursued several initiatives: 2003: A Women in Science round table was organized within the conference celebrating the first 100 years of the RSEF. It was the first time that the gender issue was addressed in a meeting of the RSEF. The closing remarks for the conference were made by a woman physicist, the only woman invited for a plenary speech. 2003: An article about the First IUPAP Conference analyzing the status of women in physics in Spain was published in the journal of the RSEF. 2004: A workshop, “Development of the Professional Career of Women in Physics in Spain,” was attended by 65 persons. 2005: M.J. Yzuel, a member of the Women in Physics Division, was invited to give a talk in the opening ceremony of the Physics Year held in the Spanish Parliament. She addressed the status of women in physics beyond her own speciality. 2005: A book about the pioneering women of experimental science in Spain was published by the Spanish Research Council. 2005: Several members of the division have been invited to give talks at universities and institutions about the status of women in physics. At present we are organizing a session for the general conference of the RSEF, scheduled to take place in September. During these three years, the recommendations made by the European Commission to improve the situation of women in science have produced some changes in academic life. In 2004, the Spanish Ministry of Education and Science published gender-disaggregated statistics about the staff of the Spanish universities. The Spanish Research Council has established an Advisory Committee on Women in Science and publishes periodically the genderdisaggregated statistics of its scientific staff. The Spanish government approved equality measures on March 8, 2005, directed at improving the status of women in society. These measures will affect the composition of evaluation panels that hire and promote scientific personnel at universities and public research organizations. During July, 2001, a group of women scientists introduced a private nationwide association, the Association of Women Scientists and Technologists (with 300 members), to fight for equity and the rights of women in the scientific specialties. Thanks to the activities of this association, the Ministry of Education and Science has created a new division to focus on women and science. Another important achievement was the granting of maternity leave for doctoral students, as a result of efforts by the doctoral student association. Tables 1 and 2 show the changes in the percentages of women at different levels in the two most relevant scientific organizations in our country: the Spanish Research Council and the universities. We compare the 2001 data that were published at the first IUPAP Conference with current (2005) data. Data from the Spanish Research Council (Table 1) show that women’s status has improved. The total number of women remains about the same, but more women are in higher positions. However, the percentage of women relative to the total number of scientists is the same for all the levels.