Nordic Life Science 1
DO GENDER INEQUALITIES EXIST IN THE LIFE SCIENCE
INDUSTRY TODAY? PROFESSOR IN NANOTECHNOLOGY, UPPSALA UNIVERSITY SENIOR ADVISER, LAWYER, MANNHEIMER SWARTLING DIRECTOR OF HEALTHCARE DEVELOPMENT AT ROCHE DIAGNOSTICS SCANDINAVIA CEO AND CO-FOUNDER, SIGRID THERAPEUTICS “My industry is far from equal when it comes to quantity. I am for example still the only educational chair in a technical field at my university. We need to support young women, for example through mentorship programs so that more will reach leadership positions within academia.” “For many years we have been working in a goal-oriented way to give every women working with us the same opportunities and conditions as men. Within our life science department we actually have more women than men working. However it is evident that the legal industry as a whole can become better, but it is going in the right direction. Furthermore it is my absolute impression that the life science industry in Sweden is moving towards more equality between men and women. More and more women are becoming CEOs and the Research-based Pharmaceutical Industry in Sweden (LIF) just appointed its first female Chair, Malin Parkler, CEO of Pfizer Sweden.” “Within Swedish life science I believe that men and women in general are reasonably equal. But if you look outside Sweden I think there is a lot still to be done. My own organization is a good example of what remains to be done; we have a rather equal distribution further down the hierarchy, but when you look further up in the organization, for example at the executive levels in our larger regions or at global Roche, the women are unfortunately conspicuous by their absence. So definitely, there is still a lot to be done.” “There are many more women within the life science industry in Sweden than in other industries, for example the tech industry. There are also several more female CEOs at life science companies. Gunilla Osswald, the CEO of BioArctic, is a great role model for example, and also Anna Ljung CEO at Moberg Pharma, and Pia Renaudin, CEO at Senzime, etc. What I have found troublesome in the life science industry is that it can be uptight and conservative when it comes to embracing new technologies and also in looking down at us in the industry who do not have a PhD.” PHOTO MIKAEL WALLERSTEDT