Since it started its activities at the end of 2001, FECYT has considered Humanities as an essential part of the scientific capital of this country and has promoted different activities aimed at improving its coordination within the Spanish science and technology system. The white paper is an attempt to summarise and identify the characteristics and problems common to all disciplines of this area of knowledge. We understand that its analysis of the situation is adjusted, and we trust that the recommendations and suggestions that are included in it are useful for those responsible for designing Spanish scientific policy.

At FECYT, studies on social perception of science and technology have a short but solid history. The 2006 survey joins those carried out in 2002 and 2004. In this volume, as well as the results, we present a series of thematic analyses that complement those carried out in previous years.

The Regional Government Galicia, in response to the request made by the Galician Parliament, agreed to create a Women and Science Unit. The fundamental aim of this unit is to increase the presence of women in scientific and technological settings in Galicia. Its actions will be focussed on integration, promoting the elimination of the imbalances that may exist with regard to scientific training in the field of research and innovation and in the management of R&D+I, as well as bringing into the foreground the gender perspective in studies and scientific activities.
One of the main roles attributed to the Women and Science Unit is that of producing reports that allow us to reveal the current state of the issue in Galicia and its evolution over time, raise awareness in society about the real presence of women in these settings, both at the educational level and in professional development, and allow actions to be designed that contribute to achieving equality between men and women in science and technology.
As such, the Unit had to take advantage of this important opportunity and present itself to Galician society with part of the work it has done. The report that is being presented, entitled Women and Science in the Educational System in Galicia, includes data and figures that allow us to have a better knowledge of the situation of women in the scientific and technological field in our community.
The objective of this study is not to propose solutions and formulate specific proposals, but rather, for it to be used as an assessment to begin working along these lines. However, we must highlight that, in light of the data that we will analyse later, it is important to emphasise that we cannot waste the potential capital that Galician women who currently work in the field of science and technology possess. Galician society, its institutions and its companies know the situation of inequality in this field, but they cannot continue to close doors to the quality of Galician female science professionals.

The Social Perception of Science Survey is a study of FECYT’s Spanish Observatory of Innovation and Knowledge (ICONO) conducted every two years since 2002. This study aims to obtain more knowledge about the relationships between science, technology and society, analyse the perception of citizens on scientific and technological advancements and on their capacity to improve the quality of life of the population. The survey has introduced constant methodological innovations in each of its four editions with the clear objective of improving the precision of the tool for measuring the knowledge, needs and attitudes of citizens with regard to science and technology in the state.

This publication provides summarised information about the national scientific-technological situation in 2009 and its evolution over the 2000-2009 period, using the main macroeconomic variables. Furthermore, it reflects the growing process of regionalising R&D+I activities and shows the effort made by the different Autonomous Communities in this area.