To mark International Women’s Day, researchers at seven universities are calling on academics across the country and beyond to join the PROMOTE project, to provide networks and training for women in research.
Maynooth University (MU), Munster Technological University (MTU), University of Limerick (UL), South East Technological University (SETU), Dublin City University (DCU), University College Cork (UCC) and University of Galway are leading the call to #promotewomen and #buildthenetwork online.
Funded by the Higher Education Authority (HEA) and supported by the Insight SFI Research Centre for Data Analytics, the Promote team is calling on all researchers, male or female, at any career stage, to get involved now by following PROMOTE’s social media channels.
‘There is currently no digitised network that focuses specifically on early stage female researchers; the PROMOTE app will be a world first’ says Dr Marian Crowley-Henry, Associate Professor in Organisational Behaviour and Human Resource Management at Maynooth University's School of Business and co-lead on the project.
"The launch of PROMOTE is supported by a social media campaign featuring short videos from a range of academics stating why we need women in research."
The app is in development by Dr Michael Scriney at the Insight SFI Research Centre for Data Analytics at DCU.
“There are myriad reasons for this - biased views, issues with confidence, fewer opportunities and fewer networks. PROMOTE aims to fix this by creating an online platform that shares promotion information with early career researchers and offers networking and support.”
The PROMOTE project will run a series of training sessions at four of the partner universities to provide advice on career progression for early stage female researchers.
It is hoped that the resource will also prove valuable to women working in corporate or other fields who may be considering a research career. The network will also support women who are facing further challenges to promotion because of differing ability, socio-economic disadvantage or other barriers.
“We need as many people as possible to get involved so that the PROMOTE app will be a truly valuable resource for early stage female researchers. We know, for example, that this cohort is less successful at securing research funding – we need funding recipients to share their successful application forms. We want a network that is rich in expertise and in information about promotions, publishing opportunities, networking events.”
Two thirds of workers on temporary, part time contracts in higher education in Ireland are female, according to a HEA report, and there is evidence that the situation worsened during the pandemic.
“Diversity in research leads to richer work environments and more innovative outcomes,” says Dr O’Sullivan. “Today we start to #buildthenetwork that will keep female talent in research where it belongs.”
“On the 8th of March, the PROMOTE team are asking you to support the project by helping to build the network for researchers - you can do this by following, liking and tagging the project on our social media channels.”
Video Link: https://youtube.com/@Promotereaserch?si=9Qy4S1Ifkp4ZdkBZ
Instagram: promote.research
LinkedIn: Promote Research
X: @Promote_Women
Gmail: promotewomen2024@gmail.com
