Activities of Elena KOUNTOURA related to 2019/2164(INI)
Plenary speeches (1)
Promoting gender equality in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education and careers (debate)
Shadow reports (1)
REPORT on promoting gender equality in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education and careers
Amendments (28)
Amendment 8 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 10 a (new)
Citation 10 a (new)
- having regard to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which entered into force in 2016, and in particular to Sustainable Development Goal 5 on gender equality,
Amendment 11 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 10 b (new)
Citation 10 b (new)
- having regard to the European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE) Gender Equality Index 2020 report,
Amendment 12 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 10 c (new)
Citation 10 c (new)
- having regard to the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) adopted in 1979, particularly Article 11,
Amendment 14 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 10 d (new)
Citation 10 d (new)
- having regard to the European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE) report of 10 August 2017 entitled “Economic Benefits of Gender Equality in the European Union: How gender equality in STEM education leads to economic growth”,
Amendment 16 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A
Recital A
A. whereas gender equality is a fundamental value and a key objective of the EU, as well as a basic precondition for the full enjoyment of human rights by women and girls, and is essential for their empowerment, the development of their full potential and the achievement of a sustainable and inclusive society; whereas the insufficient use of human capital associated with gender discrimination, stereotypes and inequalities reduces the potential advantages for the public sector and businesses in the fields of research and innovation, and for overall economic development, as well as having harmful social consequences; whereas eliminating the old patterns of labour segregation will promote gender equality;
Amendment 24 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B
Recital B
B. whereas the EU is facing an unparalleled shortage of women in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) careers and education, particularly considering that women make up 52 % of the European population and 57,7% of tertiary graduates in the EU5a, yet only account for 2 out of 5 scientists and engineers6 ; whereas although there has been a positive trend in the involvement and interest of girls in STEM education, the percentages remain insufficient; whereas attitudes towards STEM do not differ between boys and girls through primary education, and in many cases girls often outperform boys in STEM and ICT-related tasks7 ; whereas, , with women and girls still particularly underrepresented; whereas stark levels of gender segregation among STEM students and graduates lay the ground for future gender segregation in STEM- related careers; whereas attitudes towards STEM do not differ between boys and girls through primary education, and in many cases girls often outperform boys in STEM and ICT-related tasks7 ; whereas gender differences in STEM subjects in higher education are not justified by academic performance, as girls and boys show similar levels of achievement in science and maths in secondary level education; whereas, however, girls fear that they will be less successful than boys in STEM- related careers; _________________whereas social norms and gendered expectations regarding career choices, often reinforced through educational content and curricula, are the key drivers of gender segregation in higher education; whereas it is particularly difficult for women from disadvantaged socioeconomic backgrounds to enter the STEM sector; _________________ 5a Eurostat, Tertiary education statistics, Data extracted in September 2020. 6 Eurostat, Human resources in science and technology, annual average data 2016- 2020. 7 O’Dea, R.E., Lagisz, M., Jennions, M.D. et al., Gender differences in individual variation in academic grades fail to fit expected patterns for STEM, Nature Communications 9, 3777, 2018.
Amendment 29 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B a (new)
Recital B a (new)
B a. whereas teachers and parents can deepen gender stereotypes by discouraging girls from choosing and pursuing STEM studies and career; whereas eliminating gender-specific expectations about professions and fostering female role models in STEM can encourage girls to study science, technology, engineering and mathematics;
Amendment 31 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C
Recital C
C. whereas women who major in STEM fields are less likely than their male counterparts to enter STEM occupations or remain in them as a result of the dominant stereotypes or a negative work environmentand prejudices, conscious and unconscious bias, gender discrimination, systemic sexual harassment and negative work environment; whereas high incidences of sexual harassment have been reported in STEM education sites, including schools, universities and workplaces, which further excludes women from the sector; whereas reducing the gender gap in STEM education areas could reduce the skills gap, increase employment and productivity of women and reduce occupational segregation, which ultimately would foster economic growth through both higher productivity and increased labour; whereas compared with the labour market and education policies, gender equality policies have a strong impact on GDP; whereas closing the gender gap in STEM careers would contribute to an increase in EU GDP per capita by 2.2 to 3.0 % in 20508 ; whereas closing the gender gap in STEM careers would constitute a step towards gender equality and the fulfilment of women’s and girls’ human rights, and would have a positive impact in reducing the gender pay gap and the gender pension gap; _________________ 8European Institute for Gender Equality briefing paper, How gender equality in STEM education leads to economic growth, 2018.
Amendment 43 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D
Recital D
D. whereas the low numbers of women whogender gap among software developers and engineers working in innovative technologies, such as artificial intelligence (AI), is a matter of concern, as it can negatively affect the design, development and implementation of these technologies, causing the replication of existing discriminatory practices and stereotypes, and the development of ‘gender-biased algorithms’; whereas addressing these biases requires greater vigilance, technical solutions and the development of clear requirements of ethics, accountability and transparency; whereas incomplete and inaccurate data sets, the lack of gender disaggregated data and incorrect algorithms, can distort the processing and reasoning of AI systems and jeopardise the achievement of gender equality in society;
Amendment 52 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E a (new)
Recital E a (new)
E a. Whereas the COVID-19 pandemic will change the way we perform our work in the future, given the introduction of the digital workplace; whereas through teleworking, the boundaries between professional and family life will become less distinct and the burden of balancing career and childbearing will fall mostly on women; whereas the rapid digital transformation will disproportionately affect womens’ employment in numerous fields; whereas transformation of the labour structure offers an opportunity to change established gendered patterns of employment, especially given of the rapid increase of women’s skills;
Amendment 60 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E b (new)
Recital E b (new)
E b. Whereas women still encounter obstacles in setting up their own business owing to the persistence of prejudices and gender stereotypes; whereas there is a need to promote and support greater entrepreneurship among women and develop an enabling environment in which female entrepreneurs and family businesses can prosper and in which enterprise is encouraged by taking the necessary measures based on an exchange of best practice and by paying particular attention to mothers;
Amendment 66 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E c (new)
Recital E c (new)
E c. Whereas the data on entrepreneurship in the STEM and ICT sector points to even greater marginalisation of women; whereas the gender gap in start-ups and venture capital investment is similarly striking; whereas as girls tend to study fewer ICT and STEM subjects throughout secondary school and university, this leads to far fewer women working in these fields and becoming founders and owners of private companies and start-ups; whereas only 17 % of start-up founders are women; whereas women-owned start-ups receive on average of 23 % less funding than men-led businesses;
Amendment 68 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Considers that in view of a considerable gender pay gap in the EU, the fact that women are more likely to have low-waged, part-time, and otherwise precarious jobs, and the rising demand for STEM practitioners, ands well as their importance of STEM-related careers for the future of the European economy, increasing the share of women in the STEM sector is critical to fulfilling women’s rights, and to building a more sustainable and inclusive economy and society through scientific, digitalsociety and technological innovationonomy;
Amendment 75 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Reiterates that the main goal should be to remove all sociocultural, psychological and pedagogical barriers restricting women’s interests, preferences and choices, without compromising their liberty in making decisionsuch as gender stereotypes and gender discrimination, including an overlap of biological with social factors and the overlap of optimal childbearing years with the most productive years in a women's career path, without compromising their liberty in making decisions; highlights that individual choices are made within a wider socio- cultural frame, which means that the decisions of individual women cannot be examined in isolation, independent of sociocultural contexts; encourages the Member States to promote the participation of women in STEM studies and careers in their relevant national or regional gender action plans or strategies by delivering adequate incentives; considers that these action plans or strategies should aim to increase gender equality by focusing on education and qualifications, a better work- life balance, equal opportunities, ensuring healthy and safe working and studying environments for women, non- discrimination in the labour market, raising awareness of gender bias across all relevant sectors, establishing mandatory pay transparency policies, implementing zero tolerance for sexual harassment and increasing the visibility of female role models, among other things;
Amendment 82 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Recognises that gender stereotyping, cultural discouragement and prejudices, conscious and unconscious bias, systemic sexual harassment, cultural discouragement, lack of work–life balance options and a lack of awareness and of promotion of female role models hinders and negatively affects girls’ and women’s opportunities in STEM studies, in related careers and digital entrepreneurship, and can lead to discrimination and fewer and more precarious opportunities for women in the labour market;
Amendment 90 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Reaffirms the importance of integrating the awareness of gender bias across all relevant sectors, including in the initial and continuous training of teachers; highlights the need to address structural barriers, such as precarious working conditions and a hostile work culture for women, which hinder girls and women from entering a predominantly male- dominated field, and the need to increase the visibility of hitherto undervalued role models in order to inspire women and girls; calls on the Commission to introduce and support sensitisation campaigns and programmes and initiatives to reduce these barriers, both in the academic world and in society in general; stresses that gender equality measures such as the removal of gender stereotypes in education, awareness raising and the promotion of STEM subjects to girls and women, and career guidance to encourage girls to consider studying in fields dominated by men and boys would lead to a higher number of women graduating from STEM subjects;
Amendment 93 #
4 a. Regrets the fact that women who have the least access to STEM careers are women from disadvantaged socioeconomic backgrounds, such as women in poverty, single mothers, students in precarious situations and migrant women; calls on the Commission and on Member States to collect comparable, harmonised data that will track women from different socioeconomic backgrounds through all educational levels to career choices and development, with a particular view on the challenges faced at different educational and professional levels;
Amendment 96 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Calls on the Member States to combat gendered labour market segmentation in STEM careers by investing in formal, informal and non- formal education, lifelong learning and vocational training for women to ensure their access to high-quality employment and opportunities to re- and up-skill for future labour market demand; calls, in particular, for greater promotion of entrepreneurship, STEM subjects and digital education for girls from an early age, in order to combat existing educational stereotypes and ensure more women enter developing and well-paid sectors; calls for improved STEM facilities and equal access to STEM facilities; calls for scholarships directed to girls and women who wish to pursue a career in STEM sector, particularly for women and girls in situation of poverty, migrant women and girls, and single mothers;
Amendment 106 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Welcomes the Digital Education Action Plan 2021-2027 and its action to ‘Encourage women’s participation in STEM’, and hopes that it will help to develop more attractive and creative ways to encourage girls to pursue STEM studies, as well as to boost women’s self- confidence in their digital skills; ) Highlights that girls who assimilate gender stereotypes have lower levels of self-efficacy and confidence in their ability than boys, as well as that self- efficacy affects both STEM education outcomes and aspirations for STEM careers to a considerable extent; stresses that girls appear to lose interest in STEM subjects with age, suggesting that early interventions are needed to sustain girls’ interest in these fields;
Amendment 117 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Recognises the vital role of school and teachers in eliminating the gender gap in STEM education, and highlights the role of education in promoting the presence of girls in STEM-related courses and in establishing benchmarks to monitor female recruitment and retention; calls for strengthening STEM curricula and instructional materials to better promote equal participation in STEM; highlights the need to strengthen the capacity of teachers and student counsellors to encourage girls to pursue careers in STEM, as increased awareness of stereotypes and gender disparities in STEM allows educators and career counsellors to understand the barriers faced by their students, ensure equal participation in STEM classes and promote STEM careers to female students;
Amendment 130 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. Highlights that male teachers and other male staff dominate STEM-related studies in schools and, later on, in universities and workplaces, leading to an absence of female role models and limited guidance and mentoring opportunities; encourages gender mainstreaming in primary, secondary and tertiary education, and urges the committees and institutions involved in recruitment to promote gender balance to avoid the ‘outsider effect’; ; highlights that girls do better in introductory mathematics and science courses and are more likely to follow STEM careers when taught by female teachers, as female teachers can positively influence girls’ education in STEM by dispelling socio-cultural prejudices, and by acting as role models for girls;
Amendment 142 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Highlights the alarming number of cases of sexual harassment suffered by female STEM students during tertiary education, and calls on the Member States and educational institutions to agree on strict codes of conduct and protocols, and to report all cases of sexual harassment to the relevant authorities; implement zero tolerance policies for sexual harassment, to agree on strict codes of conduct and protocols, to create safe and private channels for women and girls to report, and to report all cases of sexual harassment to the relevant authorities; stresses that this widespread culture of sexual harassment drives women away from science careers and perpetuates discrimination and gender gap in STEM sector; calls on the Commission, the Member States and educational institutions to adopt preventive measures and adequate sanctions for perpetrators of sexual harassment to address the occurrences of sexual harassment at STEM educational sites and schools;
Amendment 152 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
10. Regrets the fact that women face disproportionately more obstacles in their careers than men do, owing to the lack of a proper work-life balance and an increase in unpaid care work in most households; urges public and private institutions to establish adequate measures to guarantee zero tolerance policies for sexual harassment, better maternity and paternity leaves, flexible working hours, on-site childcare facilities or to promote telework; urges the Member States to fully transpose and implement the Work-Life Balance Directive and calls on the Commission to monitor it effectively; calls on the Commission and the Member States to fully assess the causes and factors that lead to a high drop-out rate of women from STEM careers, and to develop mechanisms and programmes to integrate women and girls into education, training and employment initiatives;
Amendment 158 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11
Paragraph 11
11. RConsiders it to be of the utmost relevance to have more women role models and to increase the number of women in leadership positions in the STEM sector; stresses that the declining percentage of females in higher positions has an adverse effect on female recruitment, which decreases further the odds of females being appointed to higher positions; regrets the fact that women are under-represented in leadership positions in STEM careers, and highlights the urgent need to promote equality between men and women at all levels of decision-making in business and management; underlines that gender diversity in boards and decision- making positions improves firms’ performance as the result of the broader spectrum of knowledge, attitudes and experience; urges the Council and the Member States to adopt the Women in Boards Directive and establish targets for gender balance in decision-making bodies;
Amendment 194 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14 a (new)
Paragraph 14 a (new)
14 a. Highlights that constant connectivity combined with high job demands and the rising expectation that workers are reachable at any time can negatively affect workers’ fundamental rights, their work-life balance, and their physical and mental health and well- being; Regrets that the ‘always on’ culture has a negative impact on the work-life balance of employees, namely on workers with caring responsibilities, who tend to be women, and needs to be addressed; calls on the Commission to evaluate and address the risks of not protecting the right to disconnect;
Amendment 196 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15
Paragraph 15
15. HStresses that the quality of the data sets used is paramount to the performance of AI technologies; highlights that one of AI’s most critical weaknesses relates to certain types of biases such as gender, race or sexual orientation as a result of humans’ inherent biases; encourages the relevant actors to take action and promote a greater role for women in the design, development and implementation of machine learning, natural language processing and AI;is concerned about the risks of biases and discrimination in the development, deployment and use of AI technologies, especially in high risk sectors; highlights that biases inherent to underlying datasets are inclined to gradually increase and thereby perpetuate and escalate existing socially constructed discrimination against women; recalls that algorithms and AI should be "ethical by design", with no built-in bias, in a way that guarantees the utmost protection of fundamental rights; encourages the relevant actors to take action and promote a greater role for women in the design, development and implementation of machine learning, natural language processing and AI; calls on the Commission and the Member States to take any possible measure to avoid such biases and to ensure the full protection of fundamental rights; stresses that those data sets should be auditable by national supervisory authorities whenever called upon to ensure their conformity with clear quality standards; stresses that human oversight infrastructure must be developed before the implementation of AI technologies in high risk sectors, especially in health and include gender equality experts.
Amendment 207 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16
Paragraph 16
16. Recognises that AI, if it is free of underlying biases, can be a powerful tool to overcome gender inequalities and stereotypes through the development of unbiased, "ethical by design" algorithms that contribute to overall fairness and well- being;
Amendment 219 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18 a (new)
Paragraph 18 a (new)
18 a. Considers that the COVID-19 recovery represents a significant opportunity to advance women while trying to rebuild our economies and our societies in a different way; underlines that a true COVID-19 recovery can only be a success if we seek a greener, a fairer and a more gender equal Europe and if recovery funds are gender mainstreamed, ensuring that women can fully benefit from them in terms of employment, but also entrepreneurship, namely in sectors where they have traditionally been underrepresented, such as digital, Artificial Intelligence, ICT and STEM;