In the life sciences and healthcare sector, there are inequalities in salaries and access to executive positions, despite being better than other industries. The report drafted by Biocat for the Catalan Ministry of Equality and Feminisms compiles and analyzes this data and proposes recommendations to overcome the disparities.

Gender inequalities are probably one of the most transversal issues faced across all sectors and across all geographies in the world. While the political support is generalised (aside of in certain political sectors), the actions that could be performed by different organisations to advance towards an more equitable are not always so obvious.

This might be, for example the case of cluster management organisations, even in highly-feminized sectors such as the life sciences and health one. 

In this line, under the National Pact for Industries 2022-2025, Biocat has worked together with the Catalan Ministry of Equality and Feminisms. The role of Biocat was to contribute to the report as an expert entity with the most accurate sectorial landscape in Catalonia. For example, the research conducted led to identifying the differences between the digital health subsector and the biotech or medtech, in terms of female entrepreneurs.

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Not just a report, a roadmap towards transformation

As a major outcome of the desktop research and the focus groups carried out in the process that provided the inputs for developing the report, a set of 10 recommendations was produced. While performed in the framework of one of the, in theory, most advanced sectors in terms of equality, these recommendations are transferable to many others.

In summary, cluster organisations can play a big role in the shift to a more equitable academia and industry. Their landscaping capacities and their wide outreach position them in an ideal sitiuation to raise awareness and light the fuse of transformation.