Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Commission (EDI) starts its first session approaching gender biases in science for a future improvement of different habits at the institute
30th March 2021
The first activity organized by the IFCA (CSIC-UC) Equity and Diversity Commission took place online last Friday. The Commission, created one year ago, initially saw its projects traversed by coronavirus pandemic but is now recovering its goals and hoping the right conditions for live actions may soon arise.
This program of activities, which is expected to set more talks at the institute, intends to include the feminist perspective in the daily tasks of scientific work, as well as to emphasize the importance of diversity to ensure everyone is comfortable at their workplace. IFCA's Equity and Diversity Commission works to safeguard the rights of all people at IFCA, taking into account the possible inequalities that may arise and trying to prevent possible situations of discrimination in the exercise of the scientific profession. The commission was created with a dynamic and proactive vision, with monthly meetings in which everyone is welcome to participate and get involved.
The Commission considered as the first session an approach to the detection of our own biases towards gender in science with a view to a future improvement of our habits. Before the talk, an implicit association test (IAT) was proposed to assistants in order to measure the attitudes and beliefs we may not be willing -or able- to distinguish. Specifically, the Harvard test was performed and the results were discussed later.
To inaugurate the conference planning, starting this March, the Equity and Diversity Commission had Eulalia Pérez Sedeño, expert in gender and science and a strong defender of the power of education to incorporate a new perspective towards the world surrounding us. In her talk, "Stereotypes and capacities: questions of sex and gender in science" she reviewed the sexual stereotypes present in our lives since we are born and commented on some of their consequences in the careers of women and men.
