COST Action CA16101: Progress Report On Gender Balance And Inclusiveness.pdf

Key Findings:

- Inclusiveness Target Countries (ITCs):
- The percentage of Participating countries classified as ITC increased from 36% to 53%, exceeding the COST policy requirement and the average for all other actions.
- 55% of Management Committee (MC) members are from ITCs, also surpassing the policy and AFAOA.
- Despite efforts, no ITC has taken on a leadership role so far.

- Early Career Investigators (ECIs):
- MC member percentage of ECIs aligns with the AFAOA.
- With the dissemination officer role considered, ECIs hold 33% of leadership roles, significantly higher than AFAOA.
- Relative representation of ECIs in leadership is much greater than the AFAOA average, indicating active promotion of ECI participation.

- Gender Balance:
- Female representation on the MC has improved from 22% in the Network of Proposers to 33% currently (not 31% as reported).
- Leadership roles are gender balanced (50/50), with plans to maintain and improve this balance.

Implementation of SC Recommendations:

1. Active Promotion of Female Leadership:
- Successfully encouraged two female professors to take on leadership roles in WG1.
- Efforts to increase MC female representation were hindered by lack of consultation from Country Node Committees (CNCs) during the first year.

2. ITC Recruitment:
- Met ITC policy through current MC composition.
- Plans to actively recruit ITCs for balanced participation and encourage them to take on leadership roles based on expertise.

3. ECI Promotion:
- Superior ECI representation compared to AFAOA due to individual engagement by the Chair.
- Successfully encouraged two ECIs (Trivillini and Ognjanovic) to take on WG2 leader and dissemination roles.
- Plans for balanced STSM awards, training school participation, invited talks, and MC support roles to prepare ECIs for leadership.

Future Plans:

- Maintain gender balance in leadership roles through proactive recruitment and engagement.
- Ensure balanced ITC representation by encouraging one ITC addition for each non-ITC country joining the Action.
- Continue promoting ECI participation through balanced STSM awards, training schools, invited talks, and MC support roles.