Moving forward with Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
In 2024 the Staff Association (SA) has established a working group (SA DEI WG) dealing with Diversity, Equity and Inclusion matters, as anticipated in a previous ECHO article. The WG meets monthly and has developed a work plan in recent months. This work plan was approved by the Staff council and presented to the Standing Concertation Committee (SCC) on 14th October 2024. The work plan includes the following initiatives outlined below.
Sanitary products: Since last year, the Women in Technology (WIT) community has distributed 30 hygiene boxes in restrooms at CERN, with support from the Diversity & Inclusion (D&I) program and maintained by volunteers. In June, the SCE Department took over this initiative by launching a pilot project to refill these boxes via external cleaning companies, working in collaboration with WIT. A checkpoint in January 2025 will evaluate the success of the pilot and determine its future. The Staff Association urges CERN Management to ensure the long-term sustainability of this essential initiative, making it a permanent service.
Diverse representation: We propose improving diversity in the representation of historical scientific figures at CERN. This includes naming new streets, updating meeting room names, and modernizing visuals in key areas like “Pas Perdus”. Our goal is to honour overlooked female physicists and highlight the inclusive, global nature of modern sciences.
While it is important to recognize prominent scientific figures from the past CERN should also inspire students and visitors by showcasing today’s diverse scientific community. We recommend developing a clear process for naming and visual updates, aligned with proactive efforts like those of the Geneva Canton, which has increased the representation of women in public spaces.
Mentoring programs: Mentoring benefits participants of all backgrounds but is especially valuable for minorities, helping with their development, inclusion, and retention. CERN’s voluntary WIT and LHC Early Career mentoring programs have demonstrated their significant value but lack formal support. To sustain and expand these efforts, we propose the following:
- Recognize mentors, like CERN guides involved in education and outreach.
- Provide access to relevant training resources for mentors and mentees.
- Establish a formal framework for leadership-level mentoring to complement community-based programs for early-career participants.
By investing in mentoring, CERN can build a more inclusive, and supportive workplace while fostering growth and collaboration across all levels.
Co-parental leave: To attract and retain diverse talent, especially from underrepresented countries, CERN should improve its co-parental leave policy. We propose a two-step approach:
- Extend the duration of co-parental leave in the short term, ideally before the next Five-Year Review (5YR).
- Use the 5YR process to explore further enhancements, aligning CERN’s policies with global best practices.
These changes will reinforce CERN’s commitment to diversity, inclusio
n, and work-life balance, making it an even more attractive and supportive employer.
Federation of Support Channels and Stats Consolidation. A stricter collaboration among CERN’s support channels and harmonizing their statistics will allow to better identify issues and trends within the CERN population, allowing quicker and more effective intervention. This was already recognized in 2019 by the “Stress Management Project Work well, feel well” working group, initiated by the CERN Management with the participation of the Staff Association. The SA DEI WG will now take an active role in improving the collaboration between support channels and consolidating their statistical reporting.
Retaining Engagement of Experienced Professionals. The 2023 reports from the Ombud and Medical Service underlined the increasing dissatisfaction among employed members of personnel in the later stages of their career, resulting in a decreased professional engagement. About 1,000 Employed Members of Personnel (MPEs) will expect to retire in the next 15 years, hence actions must be urgently taken to retain and enhance the engagement of experienced professionals. The SA DEI WG will propose to work through two parallel actions to identify issues and propose effective solutions:
- A section on this topic will be added to the 2025 SA survey.
- A collaborative workshop, open to late-career MPEs and recent retirees, will be held in Q2/Q3 2025.
These two activities will provide a set of actions and recommendations that will be detailed in a written report, prioritized by the Staff Association, and actively tackled.
Access to work. This initiative aims at providing a better access to CERN work for people with disabilities. A pilot project has been launched within the SA and a collaborator from a Geneva association has recently started working in the SA Secretariat. The SA WG DEI will actively seek to launch other similar projects to achieve a routine implementation at CERN.
Awareness. Making Members of Personnel (MPs) aware of the challenges faced by minorities is the first step towards addressing them. The SA will make use of its well-oiled infrastructure to organize lectures and exhibitions. Actions have already been carried out, such as the talk by V. Altopiani, and future projects will feature additional talks and a photo exhibition.
The DEI Working Group encourages input from all CERN personnel. Those interested can reach out via email at dei-sa-wg@cern.ch. With the above-mentioned initiatives, the Staff Association is committed to fostering a more inclusive and supportive environment for everyone at CERN.
