Filipino women scientists : a potential recruitment pool for the International Agricultural Research Centers

CGIAR GENDER PROGRAM WORKING PAPER, NO. 6 Filipino Women Scientists: A Potential Recruitment Pool for the International Agricultural Research Centers Prepared by International Service for National Agricultural Research (ISNAR) and Philippine Council for Agriculture, Forestry, and Natural Resources Research (PCARRD) CGIAR Secretariat World Bank Washington, D.C. October, 1993  LIST OF WORKING PAPERS Working Paper, No. I Status of Internationally-Recruited Women in the International Agricultural Research Centers of the CGIAR; Deborah Merrill- Sands and Pammi Sachdeva; October 1992 Working Paper, No. 2 Spouse Employment in Organizations Around the World: A Toolkit for Developing Policies and Practices; Madelyn Blair, December 1992 Working Paper No. 3 Spouse Employment at lRRI: A Case Study; Deborah Merril- Sands; March 1993 Working Paper No. 4 Strengthening the Recruitment of Women Scientists and Professionals at the International Agricultural Research Centers: A Guidelines Paper; Sarah Ladbury; October 1993 Working Paper No. 5 Recruitment Resources in Europe: A List of Professional Organizations; Stella Mascarenhas-Keys and Sarah Ladbury; October 1993 Working Paper No. 6 Filipino Women Scientists: A Potential Recruitment Pool for International Agricultural Research Centers; ISNAR and PCARRD; October 1993 Working Paper No. 7 Recruitment Resources in the USA: A List of Professional Organizations. Deborah Merrill-Sands (forthcoming, 1993)  RECRUITMENT NOTES The recruitment notes have been prepared as part of the CGIAR Gender Program's sup,, o- th inem-un ag.clt- es--ch -.---sup #A by the CGr-IAR. M.,e IUJjUL LU LliI lilLr-l1I4LIUlid ariiI..UILUI&I IU'4k. 11 ~LFLL4 3UFFVJILVU 1)7 U&I .AJf,~ A I M-y are designed to assist Centers' efforts to strengthen the recruitment of women professionals and scientists for international staff positions. The need for the Centers to strengthen mechanisms for reaching women in recruitment ;0 Aw - A_ f *; t^ +_* _ 1 aan --I., ^A.^ A {A _-CQM A *IA -1 At la %...VLUIJl U7 UIV IdIL LlaL liE A77AS WVU&IL%,IJ CA%JVU11LVuJ IVALL7 0/U VIo UIv pLivJ uL applicants for international staff positions in the CG System. This is less than the proportion of women (12%) in international staff positions in 1991. The notes provide information on a wide range of professional organizations and contactcs which can assist Centers tno cast their recruitment nets more widely in order to generate a larger and more diverse pool of applicants. The notes serve as an information supplement to the guideline paper on policies and practices for strengthening the recruitment of women for international staff positions within the renters Guidelines for Strengthening the Recruitment of Women Scientists and Professionals in the International Agricultural Research Centers, by Sarah Ladbury CGIAR Gender Program. Working Paner No. 4 CGIAR Secretariat World Bank 1818 H. St. NW Washington, D.C. USA 20433   CGIAR GENDER PROGRAM WORKING PAPER, NO. 6 Filipino Women Scientists: \ Potential Recruitment Pool for the International Agricultural Research Centers Dely P. Gapasin, ISNAR Virginia Mabesa, PCARRD, Deborah Merrill-Sands, ISNAR Edwin Brush, ISNAR October, 1993 International Service for National Agricultural Research (ISNAR) Philippine Council for Agriculture, Forestry and Natural Resources Research and Development (PCARRD)   ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This paper was prepared as part of a larger case study on women scientists and managers in agricultural research in the Philippines. The full team involved in the study included from PCARRD, P.S. Faylon, Study Coordinator, V. Mabesa and M. Lorcia; from the case study institutes, V. Aquino, M. Navarro, V. Recta, and R. Sanico; and from ISNAR, E. Brush, Team Leader, D. Gapasin, and D. Merrill-Sands. We also gratefully acknowledge the contribution of K. Sheridan from ISNAR in the design of the methodology and analysis of the human resource data and of M. Hand in data analysis and support throughout the research and preparation of various reports. We wish to thank the many staff in the research institutes in the Philippines and in ISNAR who gave their ideas, insights, time, and energy to the study. Our special appreciation goes to the various organizations who made the study possible. Dr. Cledualdo Perez, Executive Director, PCARRD Dr. Christian Bonte-Friedheim, Director General, ISNAR Dr. Michael Collinson, Science Advisor, CGIAR Secretariat Dr. Ruben Aspiras, Chancellor, UPLB Dr. Manuel K. Palomar, Acting Director, VISCA Dr. Santiago R. Obien, Director, PhilRice Dr. Ida Dalmacio, Director, BIOTECH Dr. Rene Espino, Director, IPB Dr. Jose Bacusmo, Director, PRCRTC The study on women in agricultural research in the Philippines was co-financed by ISNAR, PCARRD, and the CGIAR Gender Program. i  ii  TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ........................................... i A. INTRODUCIION .......... B. METHODOLOGY .............. ................................. 1 C. SUPPLY OF WOMEEN SCEENTISTS ................................. 3 D. ORGANIZATION OF AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH IN THE PHILIPPINES .............. .................................. 4 E. ISSUES AND FINDINGS ........... ............................... 5 F. RECONMMEENDATIONS ........... ................................ 9 Table 1. Case Study Research Institutes, their Responsibilities, and Level of Female Staffing, 1992 ......................................... 2 Table 2. Key Research Institutes and Agricultural Universities and Colleges, Philippines . ................................................ 12 Table 3. Key Filipino Women Scientists as Contact Persons for International Centers . .................................................. 14 Table 4. List of Filipino Women Scientists in Boards and Staff of International Centers . .................................................. 19 Table 5. Professional Societies and Women's Organizations in the Philippines ... . 21 iii   A. INTRODUCTION Recognizing the dramatic increase in the number of female scientists working in agriculture and related fields in the past two decades, the international agricultural research centers (IARCs), supported by the CGIAR, are striving to strengthen their strategies and mechanisms to more effectively tap into this changing pool of scientists world-wide. Assuring their recruitment efforts reach both men and women in international labor markets is a challenge for center directors and personnel administrators. This paper was prepared to facilitate the IARCs in their efforts to more effectively reach and recruit female scientists. It focuses on the Philippines where an estimated 800-1000 women comprise nearly 50% of the scientists and professional staff working in the public sector national agricultural research system. The Philippine research system represents a rich potential pool for future recruitment of women to the intemrational agriculture research centers. The paper was commissioned by the CGIAR Gender Program. A key responsibility of the Gender Program is to supply the intemational centers with better information on the global supply of female professionals in the areas relevant to their mandates. To assist in this effort, the Intemational Service for National Agricultural Research (ISNAR) was asked to put together information on female scientists in the Philippines since this country has one of the largest populations of female scientists working in agricultural research and technology development in Southeast Asia. ISNAR was asked: 1) to analyze the degree to which the- Philippines represents a potential pool of qualified women scientists for the intemational centers, and 2) to develop recommendations on ways in which the centers could more effectively tap into this pool in their recruitment efforts. Since ISNAR was already conducting a case study of the issues affecting women scientists and professionals in the Philippine national agricultural research system,' gathering the additional data for this paper could be carried out with minimal extra cost. B. METHODOLOGY In November 1992, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 30 male and 34 female scientists and managers in four Philippine national research centers. This information and ISNAR's human resource data bases from these centers, covering 296 'Women Scientists and Managers in Agricultural Research in the Philippines: A Case Study'.ISNAR Research Report (Forthcoming).  male and female professionals, were used in preparing this report. The interviews were used to obtain information about female scientists' and professionals' knowledge about and attitudes towards working in the international agricultural research centers, as well as the advantages and disadvantages they might face in taking up such an opportunity. Managers' attitudes towards the recruitment of their staff by the CGIAR centers and women's access to job announcements were also investigated. The human resource data helped to identify degree and experience levels and the disciplines where women concentrate. Four research institutes were included in the study. All are national research centers. They reflect the diversity of types of research centers found in the Philippines. Their specific responsibilities are indicated in Table 1. The National Institute of Biotechnology and Applied Microbiology (BIOTECH) and the Institute of Plant Breeding (IPB) are very specialized and work only on specific disciplines. The Philippine Root Crop Research and Training Center (PRCRTC) works on the major root crops, while the Philippine Rice Research Institute (PRRI) is a specialized commodity center covering rice, the major staple of the Philippines. Table 1. Case Study Research Institutes, their Responsibilities, and Level of Female Staffing, 1992 Research Institute/Location Responsibility Women as % of Professional Staff Institute of Plant Breeding (IPB), UPLB, National, Plant 48% College, Laguna, Philippines Breeding National Institute of Biotechnology and National, 74% Applied Microbiology (BIOTECH), UPLB, Biotechnology and College, Laguna, Philippines Applied Microbiology Philippine Rice Research Institute (PRRI), National, Rice 43% Muiioz, Nueva Ecija, Philippines Philippine Root Crop Research and Training National, Root Crops 40% Center (PRCRTC), VISCA, Baybay, Leyte, (cassava, sweet potato, Philippines taro) 2  C. SUPPLY OF WOMEN SCIENTISTS2 The Philippines represents an important pool of women scientists for the international agricultural research centers. Since the early 1980s, women have had a prominent Tole in agricultural research and extension in the Philippines. The Philippines has a large scientific research capacity in agriculture. In 1980-1985, it was estimated that there were 1,965 researchers in the national agricultural research system of the Philippines (Pardey and Roseboom, 1991). The number is likely to be about the same today. Size of pool Although country-wide data is not available on the percentage of women in the Philippine agricultural research system, data from four major research centers and data on awards of advanced degrees in agriculture from the University of the Philippines at Los Banos (UPLB) indicate that women now comprise between 40-50% of the agricultural researchers in the country. The majority of women are in the public sector (government agencies and universities). A significant number have more than 10-years experience in research. All have sound language capacity in English, the official language of instruction in the Philippines. Degree levels The pool is reduced by half if only researchers with advanced degrees are included. Of the 160 women researchers working in the four research institutes included in the study, for example, .45% had graduate degrees but only 11 % had Ph.D.'s. Of the women with Ph.D.'s,60% had received their degrees overseas (primarily in the USA) and 40% were trained in the Philippines. Women represent 35% of all Ph.D. graduates from the University of Philippines Los Banos, the most important agricultural university in the country. Disciplines Based on data from degrees awarded by UPLB and human resource profiles from the four national research institutes included in the ISNAR study, we see that women are most strongly represented (