The University of Limerick has been selected as the only Irish University to participate in Female Empowerment in Science and Technology Academia (FESTA), an EU-Funded initiative which promotes female scholarship and research in science, technology and engineering across the EU.   The UL FESTA initiative was launched today by the Irish State Pathologist Professor Marie Cassidy.

UL has had a long history of commitment to equality and diversity and has the highest percentage of women at full professorial level in any Irish university.  The HEA preliminary figures show that on average, women constitute 18 per cent of those at full professorial level in Irish universities, however, the University of Limerick, at 34 per cent has almost twice that proportion.

The University of Limerick’s track record of success in researching and promoting gender equality has, in the past, been facilitated by the support of Atlantic Philanthropies and Science Foundation Ireland.  In 2007, UL set targets for female representation which it has exceeded.  The target for the proportion of women at Senior Lecturer or above was set at 15 per cent, and 26 per cent  has been achieved, while a target of 37 per cent was set for the proportion of women at Lecturer Level and 48 per cent has been achieved. 

However, women are still under-represented in senior positions in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) disciplines.  In these areas women make up only 10 per cent of those at Senior Lecturer or above, and only 22 per cent of those at Lecturer level.  This is not unique to the University of Limerick, but is a world-wide phenomenon. 
This global under-representation is receiving attention at UN, EU and National levels and the FESTA project brings together UL and six partner universities, in  Uppsala University, Sweden; Syddanske Universitet, Denmark; RWTH Aachen Universität, Germany; Fondazione Bruno Kessler, Italy; SWU Bulgaria; and Istanbul Teknik Iniversitesi, Turkey to inform and develop gender initiatives to facilitate more women making careers in these areas. 
The FESTA project is attached to the Institute for the Study of Knowledge in Society, (ISKS), and FESTA research will generate knowledge which will be used to create gendered change in the working environment.

FESTA will examine the reasons for women’s universal under-representation at senior levels by doing research into the working environment of academics and researchers in science, engineering and technology related disciplines.  Within the overall FESTA project, there are seven different work packages which include Awareness Raising, Decision Making and Communication Processes, Perceptions of Excellence in Hiring Processes, PhD Supervision and Resistance to Equality Measures.  The focus is on changing the working environment to facilitate women’s advancement to the most senior levels.  As a result of the project, partner institutions will have increased awareness of:
• Structural factors that have different impacts on women and men
• Gender bias in research appraisal and
• The problems caused by resistance in implementing gender equality measures.

This initiative will ultimately lead to greater diversity, creativity and innovation, as well as attracting more female students to Science, Engineering and Technology. 

The research will be conducted in UL by Dr Clare O’Hagan, and if you would like further information, please contact Clare extn: 4623; e-mail .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).  For more information on the FESTA project, please visit www.festa_europa.eu