Brussels, 27/05/2008 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday 21 May, the European Parliament adopted, by 416 votes to 75, with 164 abstentions, the own initiative report by Britta Thomsen (PES, Denmark) which attempts to redress the under-representation of women in the world of science. “The subject of women and science is related to the objectives of the Lisbon Strategy. Positive actions are needed to quickly improve the situation,” Thomsen said. MEPs call first of all on the Commission and the member states to opt for more transparent recruitment processes and propose that research establishment selection committees contain at least 40% women. They also want to see at least 40% of positions of responsibility in the public research sector occupied by women - compared with 25% in the roadmap for gender parity. MEPs believe that stereotypes have to be challenged and the male-female dimension has to be mainstreamed in EU programmes. They, therefore, call on the Commission to carry out a mid-term review of male-female dimension integration instruments in the Seventh Framework Programme for Research. They also call on the Commission and member states to take steps to encourage female researchers, such as setting up support programmes for young women scientists and strengthening networking among female scientists at national, regional and EU level. With Europe needing to recruit 700,000 additional researchers under the Lisbon strategy for growth and employment, female researchers represent a minority of 35% of public sector researchers and only 18% of private sector researchers. Although women account for over 50% of European students and 43% of PhDs, they only hold 15% of senior university posts, thus sharply reducing their influence over research decisions. (B.C.)