A prestigious women’s science awards backed by the Royal Society has been criticised for allowing transgender women to enter despite the landmark Supreme Court gender ruling.
The L’Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science UK awards gives £25,000 grants to five ‘outstanding early-career women scientists’ to further their research and boost female representation in the sector.
But the awards - which is supported by the UK’s national academy of sciences - has been criticised as it allows entries from anybody who ‘identifies as [a] female postdoctoral level researcher’.
Women’s rights groups have criticised the move as ‘unlawful’ in light of April’s Supreme Court ruling and said it harms women who have ‘historically experienced discrimination because of their sex’.
They have written to the Royal Society and L’Oréal urging them to amend the eligibility criteria to bring it in line with equality law ahead of the application deadline closing on 20 August.
