Gendered participation in the geosciences: 10 years of ERC funding

Abstract

The European Research Council (ERC) marks a new approach to investing in frontier research in Europe. Since its establishment, the ERC has taken numerous actions to tackle imbalances and monitors data from each call. The aim of this paper is to review descriptive statistics of men and women participating in ERC calls in the geosciences. The share of women applying for Starting Grants is on average around 30 %, whereas for Consolidator Grants and Advanced Grants the share is around 25 % and 11 % respectively. Success rate analysis shows no significant gender disparities. The paper provides an overview of the ERC peer-review system, discusses results specific to the geosciences compared to national funding and SHE Figures, and concludes with a review of past actions and future goals.