James Watt School of Engineering

The EPSRC have awarded £395,000 to the School of Engineering as part of a wider approach by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) to promote equality, diversity and inclusion. 

The Glasgow-led project is named ‘VisNET: Virtual in situ networking to reinvent the rules of international collaborations and reduce gender differences in academic careers’.
The project unites Glasgow academics with academics from the Universities of Edinburgh and Strathclyde, and industry partners from NXP Semiconductors Ltd, Nokia UK Ltd, CGI IT UK Ltd, Atkins Ltd, Scottish Research Partnership in Engineering and Thales UK Ltd.
Co-Programme Directors Dr Caroline Gauchotte-Lindsay and Dr Helen Mulvana, both lecturers in the University of Glasgow’s School of Engineering, said: “VisNET aims to understand and fundamentally transform the mechanisms of networking and collaboration in academia. Focusing on the dominant leak in the academic pipeline, the post-doctoral researcher-to-lecturer transition, we seek to remove the disadvantage women experience in building their international reputation, an important measure of academic esteem. Ultimately, our outcomes will help to redress the under-representation of women in STEM academia by establishing equality of opportunity when competing for research funding and academic promotion.
“Barriers for women to participate equally in the international scientific conversation are multi-fold. Among these, gender bias means that women are less likely to be invited to speak at conferences or take part in opinion panels - both critical networking opportunities. They are also more likely to have primary caring responsibilities, restricting their freedom to travel.
“The growth in technologies enabling remote working offers us an exciting opportunity to redefine networking practices by making them less reliant on frequent travel. Working closely with our partners, we will develop, integrate and advocate for new strategies that remove gender bias and allow women to influence the new rules, thus challenging the persistence of male networks.”

16/8/2018

First published: 16 August 2018