Gender issues have been discussed within the MASMICRO Consortium. Through the discussion, realisation of the importance to address gender issues in MASMICRO is further enhanced. It is recognised that participation of women in industrial and academic processes related to the project is still low, due to various reasons, ranging from low numbers of female students in engineering and science disciplines, difficulties to find solutions for maintaining both, work and family, to the lack of networks to support women to develop their careers, etc. It was agreed that each key-partner should make a recommendation to the Project Coordinator, concerning the "Gender Action Plan", based on the good practice employed in each participating organisation. These recommendations form a basis of developing the “Gender Action Plan” of MASMICRO.

Encouraging women to participate in RTD activities of MASMICRO:
This will be fulfilled by including current women employees in the team participating in MASMICRO, and/or taking the issue into account when recruiting new staff for the project. Each partner will have to report to the advisory board and the project co-ordinator on how the partner will implement this plan. Some key partners have already developed their own plan for promoting gender equity within the project, concerning the tasks which they will be involved. For example, IFP has identified four female researchers as the key researchers for MASMICRO, also including a number of female technicians. STR, GAM, IPA and AIN both have a plan for including female researchers in the project.

Training women for Project Management, Research and Engineering/Technology Specialisation:

The costs incurred for implementing the Gender Action Plan will be attributed respectively to the Innovation, Demonstration, Training and Consortium Management Activities.