Employment Survey for European Chemists (ESEC3) How Diverse is Europe's Chemical Workforce?

ABSTRACT

Understanding diversity is the foundation for progress on inclusion. Diversity covers a wide range of characteristics, not just gender. Does the training meet the current needs of the workplace? What role does gender discrimination play in the chemical workforce? To what extent are partners treated equally when caring for a family member? Three Employment Surveys for European Chemists (ESEC1 - ESEC3) were conducted between 2013 and 2020. The online questionnaires were open to chemists from all countries. 9747 responses were collected for all three surveys together. The reports for ESEC1 and ESEC2 are freely available.[1,2] The questionnaires from ESEC1 to ESEC3 were continuously adapted to reflect the latest discussions in our societies, for example diversity, which was specifically addressed in ESEC3. The results are reported here. The Royal Society of Chemistry asked similar questions.[3] Graduates from the last 15 years are particularly important for two reasons. They are the largest group of ESEC participants, with 59 % of the responses, and they represent the labour market with the greatest future prospects. Their situation is of particular importance for real decisions about the chemistry labour market. For this reason, the current report focuses exclusively on graduates of the last 15 years.