Equality, diversity, and inclusion in WACQT (EDI-WACQT) is an initiative at the Wallenberg Centre for Quantum Technology (WACQT), which aims to promote equality and diversity and to tackle discrimination.
Main goals of EDI-WACQT
The main goals of EDI-WACQT are to:
- promote an inclusive working environment in WACQT, and
- support the career of scientists who are traditionally discriminated against within academia.
Its current setup is an expansion of the original initiative, Women in WACQT, which aimed to primarily support the career of women and gender non-conforming scientists in the WACQT community.
Examples of the actions undertaken by EDI-WACQT are a panel discussion on career paths in science, organised at the WACQT summer school in 2019, and a mentorship program for women in quantum technology together with WiSE, supported by Genie.
Read about the mentorship program in an article on Chalmers' web "Mentoring to break down gender barriers in academia" and at Ny teknik (in Swedish).
Why are EDI initiatives important?
Despite the progress that has been made towards the inclusion and equal treatment of underrepresented groups in universities and in science, our social environment adversely affects their participation. Unconscious biases in everybody's behaviour, e.g. in relation to race, disability and gender, still persist and hinder equality. It continues to be a challenge to ensure fair opportunities for people that have been traditionally marginalised, which can, for example, stem from their under-representation in leading roles, senior positions, or keynote conference presenters.
Further reading on unconscious biases:
- Project Implicit: information about unconscious bias and tests to evaluate your own implicit associations
Recent statistics on gender balance in universities from:
How to contact us and how to report an incident
Here you will find, for each of the WACQT universities, the local representatives of EDI-WACQT, links to other local networks promoting equality, diversity and inclusion, and who to contact if you are experiencing harassment or other discrimination.
Lund University
Legal specialists for help in reporting harassment
University security, on-call staff: +46 46 222 07 00.
You can also contact the head of your division, alternatively, if the issue should be related to this person, you can report directly to the Vice-Chancellor of the university.
EDI-WACQT contact persons:
Drilon Zenelaj drilon.zenelaj@teorfys.lu.se
Other networks and initiatives at Lund University:
- Wings
- The student-run Gender and Equality Committee
Wings
Join workshops, lunch seminars and yearly networking conferences at Lund University.
KTH - Royal Institute of Technology
EDI-WACQT Contact persons: Katia Gallo, gallo@kth.se, Vaiahali Adya, adya@kth.se
KHT Equality Office
Gender equality, diversity and equal conditions.
Stockholm University
Information about where to find support in case of harassment or discrimination
EDI-WACQT Contact persons: Natalia Kuk natalia.kuk@fysik.su.se
Other networks and initiatives at SU:
- Physics and Diversity
- Contact persons in charge of organising local gender-related events at SU: Sara Strandberg (Departmental Equal Opportunities Representative).
Physics and Diversity
Monthly seminar at AlbaNova universitetscentrum in Stockholm.
Chalmers University of technology
Reporting tool in case of harassment
Occupational health (intranet)
EDI-WACQT Contact persons: Giulia Ferrini, ferrini@chalmers.se, Cameron Calcluth calcluth@chalmers.se and Anuj Aggarwal anuja@chalmers.se
Other networks and initiatives at Chalmers:
WISE
GENIE
Safe at Chalmers This is for students at Chalmers. Employees including PhD students and postdocs use the intranet tool above.
Genie - Gender Initiative for Excellence
We aim for a gender balanced faculty by analysing and improving our academic culture, procedures and leadership, and through recruitment and support of female faculty.
Linköping University
No public site regarding harassment and reporting thereof for employees. However, LiU’s intranet should have steering documents related to this.
Linköping’s engineering student association site has some information under the heading “Lika Villkor”/”Equal Opportunities” together with a form for reporting harassment.
https://lintek.liu.se/gemenskap/lika-villkor/
Contact persons: Nathaniel Helgesen nathaniel.helgesen@liu.se
Daniel Spegel-Lexne daniel.spegel-lexne@liu.se
University of Gothenburg
Information on harassment and similar issues can be found via University of Gothenburgs intranet (requires GU login).