Universities fail to fulfil female quotas

The stated goal of having 25% women professors in Swiss universities by the end of the year will not be possible, reports Swissinfo.ch.

Swiss universities have been trying for years to employ more women as professors, and the number has been rising, albeit very slowly. They now account for 20% of professorships. In a report for Swiss public television SRF, Martina Weiss, the secretary general of swissuniversities, the body representing higher education institutions in Switzerland, said that the 25% goal would not be achieved in time. “We know that, in conjunction with the universities, we have more work to do,” she said.

The government is also following developments, having made available almost CHF14 million (US$14 million) in the last years to promote women at universities. Irene Rehmann from the State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation, told SRF that the government regretted that the goal had not been reached. “We can only hope that progress will be made, but unfortunately development is still very slow,” she said.
Full report on the Swissinfo.ch site