National Assembly Policy Forum on Women in STEM Officers Explores Research Culture Innovation and Gender Equality Plans

July 17, 2025

• Over 100 Women in STEM Officers and stakeholders from academia, industry, and research gathered

• Concrete strategies explored for building an inclusive research culture ecosystem

Photo: Participants of the policy forum take a group photo.

The Korea Foundation for Women in Science, Engineering and Technology (WISET, President Aree Moon) announced that it held the National Assembly Policy Forum on Women in STEM Officers – Excellence+: Strategies for Research Culture Innovation in Science and Technology Institutions at the National Assembly on June 26.

The forum was organized to discuss newly emerging approaches to research culture innovation in the science and technology sector, such as Horizon Europe’s Gender Equality Plans (GEPs), and to deliberate on practical tasks for building an inclusive research environment. The event was co-hosted by Assembly Members Jung-A Hwang (Democratic Party, Yuseong-gu Eul, Daejeon) and Soo-Jin Choi (People Power Party), and co-organized by the Ministry of Science and ICT (MSIT), WISET, and the National Research Council of Science & Technology (NST). About 100 representatives from government, academia, industry, and research institutions attended.

Distinguished guests included Assembly Member Eon-Seok Song (People Power Party Floor Leader), Min-Hee Choi (Chair, National Assembly Committee on Science, ICT, Broadcasting, and Communications), In-Sun Lee (Chair, National Assembly Gender Equality and Family Committee), Han Min-Soo (Spokesperson, Democratic Party), and Assembly Member Seok-Jun Song (People Power Party).

In her opening remarks, Assembly Member Jung-A Hwang stated, “Many women researchers still face the wall of career interruption and find it difficult to balance research and life. It is important to spread diversity and inclusion across the science and technology sector to create conditions where researchers of diverse backgrounds can continue their work.”

Assembly Member Soo-Jin Choi followed, saying, “Gender equality is not only a basic condition for global science and technology culture, but also a key criterion for measuring research competitiveness. Institutions that actively implement GEPs should be linked to policy incentives and evaluations, with effective policy support measures in place.”

Presentations were delivered by Eun-Young Choi (Principal Researcher, Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute and Chair of the Council of Women in STEM Officers at government-funded institutes), Jeehye Kweon (General Manager,  WISET Policy Research Center), and Tae-Soo Kim (Director of Human Resources Policy, NST).

Chair Eun-Young Choi shared the achievements of the Women in STEM Officer system and the Council of Officers at government-funded institutes. She emphasized the need to establish a certification framework, so that the system can serve as a driver of research culture innovation rather than a tool for reporting outcomes.

Director Jeehye Kweon noted, “In the European Union, GEPs are used as policy tools to promote gender equality in research and innovation (R&I) and to enhance research excellence. Yet in Korea, only a few institutions, such as the Korea Arboretum and Garden Institute and UNIST, have implemented GEPs.” She presented action tasks for the government, research management agencies, research institutions, and universities.

Director Tae-Soo Kim of NST highlighted, “Although equality is pursued at the institutional level, biases and stereotypes still persist in practices and perceptions. To build an inclusive research culture, it is essential to improve organizational culture and awareness, and to strengthen the effectiveness of work–life balance policies.”

Experts at the forum examined the current state of research culture in Korea’s science and technology community, stressing the necessity of expanding GEPs and identifying priority tasks to connect them to research culture innovation.

In particular, Yu-Jin Choi, Director of Gender Equality Policy at the Korean Women’s Development Institute, noted that expanding discussions on gender equality in research culture within the S&T sector is a critical step. She called for the introduction of a certification system for research institutions, linked with evaluations and incentives.

Additional discussions included strengthening collaboration between government and S&T-related institutions, linking GEPs with institutional evaluations, considering policy acceptance, deploying dedicated personnel within institutions, and enhancing the information-providing role of research management agencies.

WISET announced that it will develop the various practical tasks proposed at the National Assembly Policy Forum into concrete policy measures to contribute to innovating the research culture in Korea’s science and technology sector.