Community News Archive
Project Juno to advance women’s careers in physics education
Institute of Physics
18 June 2007
Fixing the leaky pipe is no longer just a pipedream. Institute of Physics launches project Juno to advance women’s careers in physics higher education
The problem of “the leaky pipeline” in higher education - where 20% of new physics graduates are girls, but fewer than 5% of professors are female – has been well documented. Today (14 June), the Institute of Physics launches Project Juno, a code of practice for university departments to use to encourage more girls and women to develop their careers in higher education and research.
Project Juno sets out practical ideas in the form of five key principles to address the under-representation of women at all levels in university physics. Based on the findings of a series of visits to university departments over two years (note 2), it summarises the good working practices found in some university physics departments into a code of practice to which academic departments can sign up to become recognised as a Juno Supporter or Juno Champion.
“There are many benefits to a physics department in becoming a Juno Champion” said incoming Institute president, Professor Jocelyn Bell Burnell, at the project’s launch, “By meeting the five Juno principles a department shows that it has a working culture in which all staff and students, both men and women, can achieve their full potential – and that has to be good for recruitment and retention of talented staff and students. Juno is not just for physics – the code of practice is applicable to any academic department concerned with promoting diversity. ”
Juno’s five principles cover issues such as having systems in place to monitor the gender balance of a department so that problem areas can be pinpointed. Open and transparent procedures for appointment, promotion and selection procedures are recommended, as are fair and equitable procedures for career progression and training. Departments are urged to take gender awareness into account when making their organisational and management arrangements in order to promote a culture that is inclusive and supportive. Finally, promoting and supporting flexible working practices such as part-time working, career breaks and parental leave for both sexes is suggested.
Jocelyn Bell Burnell continued, “Many academic physics departments are already doing some of the actions that Juno recommends and are open to suggestion for ways in which to improve their gender friendliness. We believe that if all departments sign on to become Juno Supporters - which means that they endorse the project’s principles – and then work to implement them so that they become Juno Champions then we will see real differences in the numbers of women remaining in higher education careers.”
^ To the top ^