New taskforce to get women into research

Just 18 percent of Danish professors are women

Due to a lack of female professors, the government has established a new taskforce dedicated to getting a better gender balance in Danish research.

Despite the fact the number of women in research has been on the rise in recent years, women are still underrepresented among the scientific personnel at the Danish research institutions.

“Denmark is missing out on talent if women systematically avoid research careers,” Sofie Carsten Nielsen, the education and research minister, said in a press release. "Research is what generates the future."

“We’ll only be good enough to obtain that knowledge if all of the talent is in play, so the taskforce will recommend a number of initiatives that can promote gender equality in research.”

READ MORE: Danish researchers make electric discovery

Below EU averages
While 46 percent of PhD graduates in Denmark are women, just 18 percent of professors are women, which is well below the EU and Nordic average.

Aside from the initiatives, the taskforce will help identify where there is a need for a better knowledge base to take effective action.

The taskforce will commence its work at the beginning of 2015 and is expected to finish its work and present its findings by the end of the first quarter of 2015.

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