FESTA - Female Empowerment in Science and Technology Academia

FESTA is concerned with implementing changes in the working environment of academic researchers,to encourage female researchers to stay and make a career in the academy and to create organizational environments where their competence is valued and fostered. In particular, we address the working environment of researchers in the lower levels of their careers, to make it possible for them to advance to the ranks of highest scientific expertise.
FESTA partners take actions on some core issues, which have seldom been directly addressed in previous activities in particular on the daily environment of researchers: formal and informal decision making processes, meeting cultures, PhD supervision, perceptions of excellence in hiring processes and in the work environment, and resistance to equality measures.
As gender equality projects are seldom simply transferable from one context to another, FESTA actions are carefully analyzed in regard to the contextual success and failure factors. Research environments in different European contexts can use the variety of measures which FESTA come out with in addressing core issues in their gender equality work. We formulate toolkits and manuals and disseminate it nationally and on the European level in workshops, conferences and through the different networks of the FESTA partners. In addition we communicate through the FESTA website and in papers. More...