Advancing Gender Equality in Research and Innovation

International Women’s Day is both a celebration and a reminder. Across research and innovation ecosystems, women play a key role in science, technological advancements and societal progress. Yet, structural inequalities persist, particularly in STEM fields.  

At RTDS, we believe that gender equality strengthens research, innovation and the way we shape society. It also enhances collaboration, creativity, and the relevance of scientific outcomes. Recognising this, we embed equality principles throughout our organisation and project activities. 

The European Union has embedded gender equality across its research and innovation policies. The Gender Equality Strategy 2020–2025 laid the foundation by reinforcing commitments to eliminate discrimination, improve work-life balance, increase representation in leadership and address structural barriers. While this strategy has concluded, evaluations and follow-up initiatives continue to identify gaps and limitations to inform new policy directions. 

Research that integrates a gender dimension generates more robust data, more inclusive innovation, and more meaningful societal outcomes. Whether in health, climate, digitalisation or mobility, understanding how policies and technologies affect different groups is essential to achieving successful outcomes.  

However, according to UNESCO, women represent approximately one third of researchers globally. While participation has increased over the past decade, disparities remain particularly visible in senior positions and high-tech sectors. As roles in advanced technology and digital industries are often among the highest paid, unequal representation in these areas also contributes to persistent gender pay gaps. Such gaps underline the need for sustained structural action at organisational, national and European levels. 

Gender equality in research is often interpreted as increasing representation. While representation is important, gender mainstreaming goes further, ensuring that equality is integrated throughout research and innovation processes. This includes: 

• Integrating gender analysis in research design and methodology
• Ensuring balanced leadership and decision making
• Promoting inclusive recruitment and career progression pathways
• Monitoring and reporting gender-disaggregated data  

Communication and dissemination activities also play a key role in gender mainstreaming. This includes ensuring balanced representation in visuals, event panels, public discussions, publications and content. Women’s representation and participation in these channels highly contributes to shaping how research and innovation is perceived and practiced. 

At RTDS, women already represent the majority of our team, reflecting our values of diversity and inclusion. We also maintain a balanced representation of women and men in management positions and ensure equal pay for equal work across our organisation. Through the GEP, we aim to further strengthen work place fairness, equal opportunities and long-term sustainability.  

As a multidisciplinary competence centre at the intersection of academia and industry, RTDS integrates gender mainstreaming into its core activities: 

In proposal development, we: 

• Support balanced consortium composition
• Ensure balanced leadership of research & innovation workstreams in the application
• Provide a comprehensive outline of how the proposal addresses gender in its workplan 

In communication and dissemination activities, we:  

• Promote inclusive language
• Ensure gender-balanced representation in project materials and visual content 
• Highlight women researchers and scientists in communication outputs 
• Align communication & dissemination strategies with EU gender equality standards 

By embedding these principles from project development through implementation and outreach, gender mainstreaming becomes a practical and operational component of research and innovation.

Gender mainstreaming in research and innovation has shown to produce higher-quality outcomes, more creative problem-solving and greater societal relevance. As Europe advances in the triple transition, green, digital and industrial, inclusivity becomes increasingly important to ensure sustainable and equitable progress.   

International Women’s Day offers an opportunity to recognise progress, but also to reaffirm commitments. It also encourages organisations to reflect on how equality principles are translated into everyday practices and decision-making processes. At RTDS, the rollout of the Gender Equality Plan is a concrete step towards strengthening equality within our company and across projects. By embedding inclusivity in research design, decision-making, and communication, we contribute to building a more representative and resilient European research ecosystem. 

International Women’s Day on 8 March is more than just a date on the calendar: it is an opportunity to highlight the structural and personal journeys of women shaping the European research landscape. In this episode, RTDS Group’s Cliò Agrapidis, PhD, Head of AI Strategy and Nouhaila Bouhout, Head of Communications, sit down to discuss the intersection of high-tech research and strategic dissemination.

Watch the new episode of #InnovationCast now