The ‘Me too’ movement has managed to uncover cases of discrimination and harassment in Spanish universities and research centers. More than 25 professionals denounced in EL PERIÓDICO the scope of this problem. What is your plan to tackle the problem?
First of all, I would like to acknowledge EL PERIÓDICO for that report. Problems as important as sexual harassment must have more visibility. So my appreciation goes to the media, and to you, who have given these women a voice. I have also had the opportunity to speak with Ángela Bernardo, author of the book ‘Harassment’, whose work also showed that the field of science and innovation does not escape sexist attitudes. The first thing we want to say is that zero tolerance for sexual harassment for reasons of gender, sexual orientation and any kind. In this sense, within the law of science we include for the first time the gender perspective in a transversal way. From now on, for example, all research centers will have to have an equality plan approved and reviewed every year. They should also have an anti-harassment protocol that we’re going to enforce.
Several reports indicate that women remain a minority in various scientific sectors. Especially in positions of responsibility. How do you plan to reverse this situation?
We have deployed many policies to address this problem. Starting with plans to awaken scientific vocations in girls and promote women’s role models in the scientific field. It is worrying to see that after certain ages girls no longer feel qualified to study science or mathematics. We are working hand in hand with the Ministry of Education, and the new LOMLOE law, to bring science closer to new generations and break stereotypes.
“It is worrying to see that after certain ages girls no longer feel qualified to study science or mathematics”
Science professionals continue to denounce that, to this day, there is still a glass ceiling that prevents them from progressing in their scientific careers. What policies?
In terms of specific policies, there are several plans underway. For example, we want to extend mentoring plans to all research centers so that professionals feel accompanied. We are going to create a badge of equality, to value centers where, in addition to scientific excellence, it is guaranteed that women have the same opportunities as their male colleagues. From now on, it will also be mandatory for women to be present in courts and evaluation bodies. In terms of conciliation, we have changed the regulations to prevent periods of leave, for example due to pregnancy, from penalizing the career of researchers. We also want to attack the biases that, until now, caused many investigations to exclude women from the samples studied. Science cannot be of quality if it does not take women into account.
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“We are going to create an equality badge to value the centers where it is guaranteed that women have the same opportunities”
In 2018, the Ministries of Health and Science promoted a plan to deal with pseudoscience. After the pandemic, we see that the denial and anti-vaccine movement is penetrating various sectors of society. How do you plan to stop their progress?In Spain, science has won the battle against denialism. One of the greatest exponents of how citizens have found the way in science is the very high degree of vaccination in our country. We are one of the countries with the highest vaccination rate in the world. And this is because citizens have decided to ally themselves with science against denialism. Regarding the progress of these movements, we believe that the best strategy to confront them is to bring science closer to citizens. In this sense, we are going to dedicate the largest budget in the history of our country to scientific dissemination. We need to guarantee that citizens have access to rigorous knowledge in order to make their decisions.