Biocat, committed to gender equality in research and innovation, joins Hypatia of Alexandria Charter

Biocat, in its commitment to gender equality in health research and innovation, has announced it is a signatory to the Hypatia of Alexandria Charter and a member of the Hypatia Community. This work group, which includes 19 health research centers in Catalonia as well as AQuAS, is working in several areas to advance in the commitments laid out in the Hypatia of Alexandria Charter. 

The Charter is a document with twelve main points to close the gender gap in health research and innovation in Catalonia, including closing the pay gap, eliminating obstacles to stable professional work post-PhD, improving work contracts and promoting changes in organizational culture and professional structure. 

The first edition of the Gender Summit for health research centers in Catalonia was held in Girona in 2019, where the Hypatia Community was established and the Hypatia of Alexandria Charter was signed by management of the participating centers. The second Gender Summit was held in November 2022 in Barcelona. Biocat CEO Robert Fabregat attended both editions. 
 

II Gender Summit held in Barcelona in November 2022. Robert Fabregat, director general of Biocat, participated.
 

“Biocat has joined the Hypatia Community to improve the quality of knowledge generated in order to benefit the whole population and incorporate a gender perspective into research and innovation in health,” explains the CEO of Biocat. While there is still the issue of the gender scissors, the center’s efforts have led to a slight improvement in the gender gap in teams and leadership roles.
 

Source: AQuAS
 

Next steps to advance in Hypatia commitments 

Recently, the Hypatia Community has created and published its Gender and sex mainstreaming tool for research, to help researchers include sex and/or gender perspectives in basic science studies, clinical trials, healthcare and public health services. The tool includes a list of questions and subquestions that tackle the mainstreaming of sex and gender in research, with specific issues and examples on how to do so.

The Hypatia Community is also working to create an inclusive communication guide for the research arena and a Train the trainers program. This program focuses on training volunteer trainers on subconscious biases, so they can train people in their own institutions.

International Day of Women and Girls in Science

Biocat has chosen this week to announce its participation in the Hypatia Community because it is the International Day of Women and Girls in Science on February 11. This day seeks to raise awareness and highlight the value of the work female researchers do all over the world, while encouraging girls to go into science.

In the research arena in Catalonia, the difficulty lies in a lack of parity as research careers advance, which leads to a masculinist professional structure at Catalan research centers and universities, difficulties in obtaining prestigious resources and lack of recognition. 

In the entrepreneurial arena, more than 30% of Catalan health startups have women in their founding or executive teams, a figure that while low is up from previous years. By subsectors, biotech is where we find the most female executives, behind medtech and digital health. 
 

Source: Biocat 
 

Hear from four female entrepreneurs in the BioRegion of Catalonia on: 

• What motivated them to study life sciences and healthcare
• What it’s like to lead a health startup in Catalonia
• Ideas and proposals to close the gender gap in the sector
• Their benchmarks in the sector