CSEM promotes women in research

On paper, everything is in the green at CSEM: technologies that are in high demand, more and more mandates from industry and a broadly diversified portfolio. This is shown by the balance sheet for the financial year, which the company drew up on the occasion of its Annual General Meeting. Income from industrial mandates increased by over 8 percent. In line with its status as a non-profit company, CSEM achieved a result close to break-even.

However, even after years of dedication to getting more women interested in technical careers, the percentage of women at CSEM is only 15 percent. However, the company will continue to work to bring more women into technical research and development.

Gender equality in the year 2150?

All signs point to success, were it not for the difficulties in recruiting, especially women. CSEM is looking for talent to help Swiss industry innovate. In 2018, the CSEM recruited 49 new employees to meet the high demand from industry. Among them, just 8 are women. This means that the proportion of women in research and development is only 15 percent. In 2000, the figure was 9 percent.

If things continue at this pace, it will take until 2150 to achieve gender equality.

First company in Switzerland with "Equal Salary" certification

However, CSEM took measures early on to ensure greater equality and to encourage interest in technical professions among women. In 2003, the company opened the first in-house crèche in the canton of Neuchâtel. Four years later, CSEM became the first Swiss company to receive "Equal Salary" certification. The fact that gender mix is not yet further advanced in 2019 is of great concern to the company and it is eagerly considering how to attract more female engineers.

A digital and mixed society

It is not just a question of getting to grips with the shortage of skilled workers. Ensuring that women are represented in technical professions at all levels is also an important social challenge. "It is imperative that women participate in shaping digitalisation. Otherwise, they will be left behind when it comes to new technologies," warns Andrea Dunbar, head of embedded vision systems at CSEM.

As an example, she cites medical research, which for a long time was a male-only domain. "The result of this was drugs that were mainly tested on men and were sometimes less effective on women."

Iran as a role model

To successfully continue its mission as a bridge between research and industry, CSEM often recruits abroad. In doing so, it has found that women are more interested in technology elsewhere. "A few years ago, I was part of the delegation of the then President of the Swiss Confederation on a visit to Iran," says Mario El-Khoury, CEO of CSEM. "While visiting a prestigious technical university, I was very impressed to meet countless female researchers in the laboratories." And he adds:

"Schools definitely need to do more to get girls interested in technical professions. It is during childhood and adolescence that the course is set for career choices." CSEM will continue to take measures to promote women's interest in technology, for example with awareness programmes such as Lyva Tech. The aim is to show that technology is not a male-only domain and thereby ensure that gender equality is a reality long before 2150.

The CSEM 2018

In 2018, CSEM accompanied around 200 companies on the path to innovation - in most cases in the area of digitalisation. Revenue from industry partnerships increased by 8.2 percent. A reduction in federal contributions led to a slight decrease in total revenue, which amounted to CHF 82.1 million.

In order to meet the demand from industry, the CSEM has increased its staff. As a result, personnel expenses increased by around 3 percent. At year-end, the number of employees at the five sites in Switzerland was 470. CSEM, a non-profit company, generated a slight surplus in earnings.

In order to get Swiss SMEs more excited about digitalisation, the CSEM held the CSEM Digital Journey for the first time. In this competition, which will be held again in 2019, the winning company will receive technological support from the CSEM. 2018 was also crowned by AVA's second consecutive victory in the Swiss start-up competition. CSEM is supporting the Zurich-based start-up with its expertise in monitoring body parameters. The collaboration will be pursued further.

CSEM researchers are also actively working on new technologies that will help Swiss companies gain competitive advantages in the future. 38 new patents were added in 2018 to the 200 patents in the company's 35-year history. The CSEM has also taken on the coordination of the European project MacQsimal, which was launched by the European Union to accelerate developments in the field of quantum technology.

The year 2019 has started well: with full order books. Swiss industry continues to invest in innovations in order to remain competitive in an enormously competitive environment.

More information about CSEM in 2018: Annual Report

CSEM Digital Journey : www.csem.ch/digitaljourney