policy & reform put their applications forward , and 378 received funding .
Despite the NHMRC having a gender equity strategy , Barnett found that “ insufficient adjustments for career disruptions , that could be one of the causes of the funding gap for women ”.
“ I think men do need to recognise that we have really benefited from the current system ,” he said .
“ We need a change , and if there is a change without any increase in funding , improving levels of funding in women it ’ s going to disadvantage men - and I think we just have to live with that .”
A PANEL ISSUE The competitive nature of applying for a grant plays a significant role in how research funding is attributed .
According to Barnett , the people who win funding are the ones who can pursue their ideas , meaning that scientific merit is often put to the side .
“ There ’ s a real pressure to get a good number of papers published , and if you have a break , you ’ re not publishing anything during that time ,” he said .
“ When your numbers go down , you don ’ t look as competitive as those people who ’ ve been able to stay in the system .”
Barnett said the current funding system is the origin of the problem , as decisions are often made by a group of scientists who may not take life disruptions into account .
“ I ’ m not sure that every peer reviewer has the perspective to know and comprehend each career disruption adequately ,” he said .
“ A suicide of a son , or domestic violence , for example , are incredibly challenging things for us to think about , and I ’ m not sure researchers are the best people to do that .”
One solution could be establishing a second grant review panel with psychologists .
You don ’ t look as competitive as those people who ’ ve been able to stay in the system .
Under that format , scientist peer reviewers could assess the data , while medical reviewers could assess the career disruption .
Barnett believes another solution to close the ongoing funding gap could be a specialised panel for women .
“ It would immediately make things fairer , that men compete against men , and women compete against women ,” he said .
“ However , you still need to level the playing field for women who have had a family .
“ But just having separate panels for gender would make the comparison a hell of a lot fairer to what it currently is .” ■
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