Description of the initiative
Women in WACQT (WWACQT) is a gender-balance initiative within Wallenberg Centre for Quantum Technology (WACQT). It aims at raising awareness on discrimination, and at supporting the career of women and gender non-conforming scientists in the WACQT community.
The main goals of Women in WACQT are:
- To create a network for women in quantum technology in Sweden
- To promote and support the women in WACQT
- To promote actions valuable for WACQT as a whole
Examples of the actions undertaken by the network are a panel discussion on career paths in science, organised at the WACQT summer school in 2019, and a mentorship program together with WiSE, supported by Genie.
Why are these initiatives important?
Despite the progress that has been made towards the inclusion and equal treatment of women in universities and in science, our social environment disparately affects their participation. Unconscious biases hindering gender equality still persist. It is still a challenge to ensure fair opportunities for collectives that have been traditionally marginalized, which stems in their underrepresentation in leading roles, senior positions, or keynote conference presenters.
Further reading and statistics on unconscious biases in science and initiatives for promoting gender equality can be found here:
Recent statistics on gender balance in universities from:
How to contact us
Here below you will find, for each of the WACQT universities, the local contact of WWACQT representatives, link to other local networks promoting gender equality, and appropriate numbers to contact in the case you are experiencing harassment or other discrimination. If you want to report a problem you will find how to do that further down.
Lund University
Other networks and initiatives at Lund University: Wings
Stockholm University
Contact persons in charge of organizing local gender related events at SU: Sara Strandberg (Departmental Equal Opportunities Representative).
KTH - Royal Institute of Technology
Chalmers University of technology
Other networks and initiatives at Chalmers:
How to report a problem
Lund University
Legal specialists for help in reporting.
University security, on-call staff: +46 46 222 07 00.
You might also contact the head of your division, if the issue should be related to this person you can report directly to the Vice-Chancellor of the university.
Stockholm University
Chalmers University of technology
Further readings and links: