Event
On 25 November 2026, from 2.00 pm to 3.00 pm, the Committee for Equal Opportunities in Science of the Hungarian Young Academy will host its next webinar on mental wellbeing, entitled ‘The talented second sex – Female researchers in the past and today: What can we do together to support the mental health of female researchers?”.
The online event will feature Dr Katalin Borbáth, educational psychologist and assistant professor at the Institute of Psychology and Mental Health at the Faculty of Human Sciences, Pannon University, and at the Institute of Psychology, Faculty of Education and Psychology, Eötvös Loránd University (ELTE).
The programme will be moderated by Dr Karolina Eszter Kovács, psychologist, associate professor at the Department of Psychology and Sports Science at the Hungarian University of Physical Education and Sports, assistant professor at the Institute of Psychology at the University of Debrecen, and a board member of the Hungarian Young Academy (HYA).
Location:
https://zoom.us/j/92944255794?pwd=X30RbUDM3sUI1ZbEuYEbrpROlobheK.1
Meeting ID: 929 4425 5794
Passcode: 272494
Invited lecturer:
Dr Katalin Borbáth is an educational psychologist and assistant professor at the Institute of Psychology and Mental Health at the Faculty of Human Sciences, Pannon University, and at the Institute of Psychology, Faculty of Education and Psychology, Eötvös Loránd University (ELTE). She has over two decades of professional experience in the fields of mental health, psychological counselling, giftedness support and teacher training. She has previously worked as an institutional psychologist, a school psychology coordinator and a giftedness coordinator. One of the key areas of her research is the examination of factors influencing the mental health and professional well-being of teachers, with a particular focus on women. In 2026, her book Pszichoedukációs füzet a pedagógusok mentális egészségéért (Psychoeducational Workbook for Teachers’ Mental Health) was published by ELTE Reader. She also has international experience in the field of gender equality and the promotion of gender awareness: she participated in the development of the Erasmus+ KA1 Inside Out – Growing Gender Awareness (IOGGA) continuing professional development programme and also led its first international training session.
Abstract:
The talented second sex – Female researchers in the past and today
What can we do together for the mental health of female researchers?
How much has the situation of female researchers changed over the past few centuries? Although academic careers are now open to women, subtler forms of past inequalities may persist: in differences in professional visibility and recognition, in the unequal distribution of support roles, or in the difficulties of balancing family and research career roles.
Drawing on historical examples, contemporary research findings and personal experience, this talk explores how these factors can influence female researchers’ professional identity, well-being and mental health. Moving from the history of the recognition of female scientists of the past to the less visible inequalities in today’s academic world, we ask ourselves the question: who, and what achievements, does the scientific community make visible?
As well as exploring these issues, we will also seek possible solutions. What individual psychological strategies can help with stress management, achieving and maintaining a work–life balance, and safeguarding mental health? What can immediate colleagues, research communities and universities do to foster a genuinely supportive, equitable and family-friendly academic environment?
The key message of the talk is that preserving the mental health of female researchers is not solely an individual responsibility: it is also a job shared by the scientific community.
All those interested are warmly welcome to attend!
(Please note that the language of the event will be Hungarian.)
The Hungarian Young Academy (HYA) places a great emphasis on the role of mental health in the life of researchers. We consider it essential to talk about challenges inherent to research careers, including the role of stress in our lives and the method of mindfulness, or conscious presence, to help reduce it. We strive to gain useful information and learn from each other’s experience and coping strategies.
In the spirit of the above, we organise regular lectures on the topic of research careers, which also touch upon questions of mental health.
In October 2021, in the first part of the HYA webinar series on research careers, Dr. Gábor Kismihók, head of the Researcher Mental Health Observatory COST Action gave a talk focusing on work-life balance and the mental health and well-being of researchers. The second chapter of the series, held in October 2022, featured Dr. Bernadette Kun, psychologist, and Dr. Mária Hoyer, clinical psychologist and addictology specialist, who talked about the theoretical and practical background of work addiction and burnout, and the possibilities of diagnosis and treatment. The topic explored by the third part of the series held in November 2023 was the impostor syndrome, where Anett Felházi, clinical psychologist and psychotherapist spoke about the theoretical and practical aspects of the problem. At our event organised in May 2024, biologists Katalin Solymosi and Zsófia Horváth discussed some aspects of the situation of women in (research) leadership and supervision. The occasion held in May 2025 featured Dr. Tímea Olajos and Noémi Oláh, psychologists, who talked about the adaptive and maladaptive aspects of perfectionism, while in May 2026, we listened to a lecture by Gábor Fazekas, mindfulness instructor and meditation trainer, on conscious presence.