The care Factor: a Proposal for improving equality in scientific careers

In academia, as in other spheres work, there are some disparities. They are associated with discriminations based on discipline (e.g. some research topics are considered more mainstream than others are; some research methods more relevant than others etc.), on ethnicity, gender etc. On some of them, there is a significant reflection and a copious literature; on other attention, it has so far been less. An issue not yet sufficiently explored concerns the relation between care activities and scientific production. Especially as the first could have an impact on the second. More specifically, how to grow the ac-tivity of care we can have a slowdown in scientific production. More-over, since the latter is one of the main criteria for hiring or upgrading a candidate, it becomes important to enlighten this relationship. This correlation does not, in the first instance, pertain the theme of the genre, but who (man or woman) is engaged in care (so that both motherhood and fatherhood). Moreover, in the new generations care activities are (albeit slowly) further harmonizing, with a greater response of men to the responsibilities and demands from the do-mestic sphere. However, since they are still women to be more engaged in the care, this correlation is particularly unfavorable to them. So practical proposals in order to reduce inequalities in scientific careers are ur-gently needed.