IP3 - Reinventing the rules of international collaborations to reduce gender differences in academic careers through virtual in situ networking

VisNET aims to remodel the implicit "rules" of networking and collaboration. Female academics, particularly in STEM subjects, score consistently lower than male academics in metrics measuring international and industrial collaborations. These two related assessment criteria are key at all stages in academic careers and particularly important at senior levels to secure the highest value research grants and promotions.

Our vision is:

1) To identify key barriers to international collaboration for female engineering academics

2) To design and demonstrate interventions and new best practices in networking and collaborations to define a new and more effective normal.

While several barriers have been identified to academic career advancement for women and have led to strategic interventions at national and institutional levels, there remains a lack of data and action specifically targeted at networking and collaboration; the focus of this VisNET programme.