Improving gender equity in academia depends on the workplace environment

The iDiv Female Scientists initiative at the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig in Germany was set up to connect women in science and to raise awareness of gender inequity. In this article we discuss the impact of the workplace environment on women in academia. Our experiences indicate that supportive workplace environments are more likely to discuss gender inequity, enabling "bottom-up" approaches where individual researchers can propose solutions to the problem. In contrast, unsupportive environments are less receptive to such discussions, so "top-down" approaches driven by legislation policies are required to improve the situation. We also make recommendations of actions that can be taken by individuals, institutions and policymakers to promote gender equity.