CNPq makes longer deadline mandatory for scholarship mothers – 01/06/2024 – Science

The executive board of CNPq (National Council for Scientific and Technological Development) published this Saturday (6) a note making it mandatory to extend the two-year period for pregnancy or adoption to evaluate projects for scholarship holders who are mothers.

The decision comes after the repercussion of the case of professor Maria Caramenez Carlotto, from UFBAC (Federal University of ABC), who received a prejudiced opinion saying that “her pregnancies [provavelmente] hindered these initiatives [pós-doutorado no exterior]which could be compensated in the future”.

After what happened, Carlotto, who published the letter on her personal account on X (formerly Twitter), dozens of other researchers stated that they had also received discriminatory opinions. The CNPq even released a clarification note, in which it said that the letter was from a reviewer ad hoc (external consultant) and who “will instruct his body of reviewers to pay greater attention when issuing their opinions.”

In the new note, the body recognizes the “urgent need to review and improve Normative Resolution 002/2015 to make the procedures and ethical commitments in the evaluation of proposals clearer.”

This resolution defines the attributions, purposes, composition and functioning of the body of advisors, the Advisory Committees, the Thematic Committees, the Technology and Innovation Advisory Center, the International Cooperation Advisory Center and the consultancy ad hoc.

The note continues, saying that from February 2024 onwards, a working group will begin, formed by five to seven members of the scientific community and CNPq employees, to formulate a Code of Ethics for members of the area committees (which define the purpose resources) and advisors ad hocwithin a period of two months.

In this sense, the body also determines that from March this year it will be “mandatory to include the criterion that the period for evaluating the scientific productivity of proponents be extended by two, for each birth or adoption that occurs within the deadline stipulated in the call”.

Thus, “the effects of these responsibilities are reduced when comparing other proposals submitted in the same area”, says the document.

It is the first time that the body has published a decision of this type. According to Fernanda Staniscuaski, founder of Parent in Science (a movement that seeks greater inclusion and equality for fathers and mothers in science), previously the criteria were up to each area committee, and only a third (35%) of them had included the maternity clause or parenting in their notices.

The CNPq management also said that it will open an investigation, following the guidance of the agency’s Federal Attorney’s Office, to evaluate the specific published cases of prejudiced opinions. There is also the possibility of appeal by researchers who felt discriminated against.

A survey carried out by Parent in Science, published by Folha, showed that women accounted for only 35.6% of productivity scholarship holders (PQ) 20 years ago.

The CNPq productivity grant mechanism (PQ) works as a bonus for those researchers who stand out in their respective areas of knowledge. The evaluation follows several criteria, including the number of scientific articles produced in recent years.

There are currently 16,108 scholarship holders of this modality in the country, out of a total of 109,548 teachers, according to postgraduate data from Capes (Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel, linked to the Ministry of Education), which is equivalent to less than 15% of them . Excluding senior fellows, not included in the analysis, 15,850 remain. Of these, 5,642 are women (35.6%), and the remaining 10,208 (66.4%) are men.

The data, up to July 2023, was collected by Parent in Science from the CNPq base through the Fala.br platform. Looking at the distribution by area, exact sciences and engineering concentrate the smallest number of women (around 20%), while health and linguistics, literature and arts have the highest rates (more than 50%).

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