International research shows that gender diversity at research institutions contributes to scientific renewal, increased creativity and innovation and helps to create a more attractive workplace with happier employees. Unfortunately, the Danish geosciences are characterized by a high degree of gender imbalance, which also increases with career stage, i.e. it is lowest among students, and highest among professors. Furthermore, it is seen that this loss of female talent is greater within Geocenter Denmark then at other Danish science and technical research institutions, affecting our ability to attract and retain talented students and researchers at all academic career levels.

At Geocenter Denmark, our multidisciplinary research with unique knowledge and skillsets enables us to tackle many of the greatest societal challenges of the 21st Century including many of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. However, we argue that the loss of female talent at GD has a negative impact on our ability to contribute with the most brilliant and innovative solutions.

In this project, we will collect gender balance data from various different groups and career stages in Geocenter Denmark including education, hiring and promotion statistics, publications, research proposals and collaborations, and the composition of committees. We will discuss these results with regard to international research and other experiences with gender-based initiatives in science. The project will result in specific recommendations on how to achieve increased diversity and a more attractive workplace within Geocenter Denmark. The long-term perspective is to achieve an equal gender balance among Geocenter Denmark’s partners and thereby prevent the massive loss of talent.