The Diversity & Inclusion Programme is proud to announce the Enlarged Directorate’s strong endorsement of CERN’s first ever targets-based strategy to boost the nationality and gender diversity within the Staff and Fellows population over the next five years: “25 by ’25”.
Diversity is a core value for CERN. Its rich, collaborative work environment brings people together from all over the world to work toward a common goal. Reflecting this value across its many dimensions is key for CERN as an international organisation, both towards its Member States and the wider community.
A specific commitment to this is included in the European Strategy for Particle Physics 2020 Update: “The particle physics community commits to placing the principles of equality, diversity & inclusion at the heart of all the physics community’s activities”.
How will this be achieved?
The overall gender distribution across the Staff and Fellows population has hovered around 20% women for the past decade. A targets-based, leadership-led strategy, will accelerate the process of increasing the proportion of women from 21.4 % (as of 31 December 2020) to 25% by the end of 2025, with a particular focus on STEM.
For nationality, the overall aim is to improve the ratio of Member States’ budget contribution to hiring rate. In this context, 25% serves as an indicator. Where the concentration of one (or more) nationalities exceeds 25% in any Department or Group, measures will be put into place to turn the trend around going forward.
25 by ’25 is a CERN-wide endeavour. The commitment and efforts of each Department, in close collaboration with the D&I Programme will contribute to the overall progress. Just as collaboration is key to CERN’s scientific success, so it will be in this domain as well.
As the work begins in earnest, with clear definition of actions, monitoring and milestones, you can keep informed of progress on the D&I website and its dedicated 25 by ’25 page with latest updates, news, and FAQs.
25 by ’25 is leadership-led, and its success ultimately relies in our collective efforts, creative inputs, and continued commitment to excellence.