We are proud to support a new charter which will lead to more paid family leave for PhD students, flexible working, and tougher action on workplace harassment for women working in research.
British Heart Foundation is among more than 60 signatories backing the Women in Research Charter, which aims to improve caring-related policies.
Women studying for PhDs do not routinely have access to paid maternity leave, which can hold them back from pursuing or developing their careers in research – ultimately depriving us of breakthroughs that could save lives.
The charter aims to improve this situation by asking research organisations to provide paid maternity leave for PhD students, in addition to support for women who have pregnancy-related complications, and whose children require neonatal care.
We welcome this much-needed step forward for women in science.
“More inclusive”
Our clinical director, Dr Sonya Babu-Narayan, said: "We welcome this support of women in science. Without concerted action such as this, the UK is not leveraging the widest pool of talent.
"A more inclusive cardiovascular research workforce will deliver better innovation and research. This will in turn lead to improvements in clinical care and health outcomes that are needed to reduce the UK's stubbornly high premature cardiovascular death rates, while at the same time boosting our economy."
This commitment is in line with our longstanding drive towards inclusivity in our cardiovascular research workforce. We are seeking to double the number of senior BHF-funded women researchers by 2030, and aim towards achieving parity within a generation. Through our Women in Science programme, we have already made progress and commitments to deliver improvements that will align with the new charter.
The charter encourages flexible funding including part-time arrangements for those who need them, so that researchers can continue to lead pioneering work which fits in with the rest of their lives. It also challenges practices that may disadvantage those who have taken career breaks or worked part-time to care for family and loved ones.
More than 60 research funders and research-performing organisations have so far signed up.
“Amazing talent”
Science and Technology Secretary Liz Kendall said: "From Mary Somerville to Dorothy Hodgkin and Rosalind Franklin, British women are responsible for some of the most extraordinary contributions to global research. For far too long, though, pioneering women have been forced to choose between their careers and their family life – holding them back while starving our country of amazing talent.
“Better family leave, fair assessments, safer workplaces: these are not radical proposals, they’re hard-won rights that women in research should absolutely expect.
"Now is the time for research institutions to step up and level the playing field for women.”
Read more here: Women in Research Charter - GOV.UK
Our work on inclusivity in research: Women in Science
