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Gender mainstreaming

  • What is Gender mainstreaming
    • Policy cycle
  • Institutions and structures
    • European Union
    • EU Member States
    • Stakeholders
    • International organizations
  • Policy areas
    • Agriculture and rural development
      • Policy cycle
    • Culture
      • Policy cycle
    • Digital agenda
      • Policy cycle
    • Economic and financial affairs
      • Economic Benefits of Gender Equality in the EU
      • Policy cycle
    • Education
      • Policy cycle
    • Employment
      • Policy cycle
      • Structures
    • Energy
      • Policy cycle
    • Entrepreneurship
      • Policy cycle
    • Environment and climate change
      • Policy cycle
    • Health
      • Policy cycle
    • Justice
      • Policy cycle
    • Maritime affairs and fisheries
      • Policy cycle
    • Migration
      • Policy cycle
    • Poverty
      • Policy cycle
    • Regional policy
      • Policy cycle
    • Research
      • Policy cycle
    • Security
      • Policy cycle
    • Sport
      • Policy cycle
    • Tourism
      • Policy cycle
    • Transport
      • Policy cycle
    • Youth
      • Policy cycle
  • Toolkits
    • Gender Equality Training
      • Back to toolkit page
      • What is Gender Equality Training
      • Why invest in Gender Equality Training
      • Who should use Gender Equality Training
      • Step-by-step guide to Gender Equality Training
        • Preparation phase
          • 1. Assess the needs
          • 2. Integrate initiatives to broader strategy
          • 3. Ensure sufficient resources
          • 4. Write good terms of reference
          • 5. Select a trainer
        • Implementation phase
          • 6. Engage in the needs assessment
          • 7. Actively participate in the initiative
          • 8. Invite others to join in
          • 9. Monitoring framework and procedures
        • Evaluation and follow-up phase
          • 10. Set up an evaluation framework
          • 11. Assess long-term impacts
          • 12. Give space and support others
      • Designing effective Gender Equality Training
      • Gender Equality Training in the EU
      • Good Practices on Gender Equality Training
      • More resources on Gender Equality Training
      • More on EIGE's work on Gender Equality Training
    • Gender Impact Assessment
      • Back to toolkit page
      • What is Gender Impact Assessment
      • Why use Gender Impact Assessment
      • Who should use Gender Impact Assessment
      • When to use Gender Impact Assessment
      • Guide to Gender Impact Assessment
        • Step 1: Definition of policy purpose
        • Step 2: Checking gender relevance
        • Step 3: Gender-sensitive analysis
        • Step 4: Weighing gender impact
        • Step 5: Findings and proposals for improvement
      • Following up on gender impact assessment
      • General considerations
      • Examples from the EU
        • European Union
          • European Commission
        • National level
          • Austria
          • Belgium
          • Denmark
          • Finland
          • Sweden
        • Regional level
          • Basque country
          • Catalonia
        • Local level
          • Lower Saxony
          • Swedish municipalities
    • Institutional Transformation
      • Back to toolkit page
      • What is Institutional Transformation
        • Institutional transformation and gender: Key points
        • Gender organisations
        • Types of institutions
        • Gender mainstreaming and institutional transformation
        • Dimensions of gender mainstreaming in institutions: The SPO model
      • Why focus on Institutional Transformation
        • Motivation model
      • Who the guide is for
      • Guide to Institutional Transformation
        • Preparation phase
          • 1. Creating accountability and strengthening commitment
          • 2. Allocating resources
          • 3. Conducting an organisational analysis
          • 4. Developing a strategy and work plan
        • Implementation phase
          • 5. Establishing a support structure
          • 6. Setting gender equality objectives
          • 7. Communicating gender mainstreaming
          • 8. Introducing gender mainstreaming
          • 9. Developing gender equality competence
          • 10. Establishing a gender information management system
          • 11. Launching gender equality action plans
          • 12. Promotional equal opportunities
        • Evaluation and follow-up phase
          • 13. Monitoring and steering organisational change
      • Dealing with resistance
        • Discourse level
        • Individual level
        • Organisational level
        • Statements and reactions
      • Checklist: Key questions for change
      • Examples from the EU
        • Preparation phase
          • 1. Strengthening accountability
          • 2. Allocating resources
          • 3. Organisational analysis
          • 4. Developing a strategy and working plan
        • Implementation phase
          • 5. Establishing a support structure
          • 6. Setting objectives
          • 7. Communicating gender mainstreaming
          • 8. Introducing methods and tools
          • 9. Developing Competence
          • 10. Establishing a gender information management system
          • 11. Launching action plans
          • 12. Promoting within an organisation
        • Evaluation and follow-up phase
          • 13. Monitoring and evaluating
    • Gender Equality in Academia and Research
      • Back to toolkit page
      • WHAT
        • What is a Gender Equality Plan?
        • Terms and definitions
        • Which stakeholders need to be engaged into a GEP
        • About the Gear Tool
      • WHY
        • Horizon Europe GEP criterion
        • Gender Equality in Research and Innovation
        • Why change must be structural
        • Rationale for gender equality change in research and innovation
      • HOW
        • GEAR step-by-step guide for research organisations, universities and public bodies
          • Step 1: Getting started
          • Step 2: Analysing and assessing the state-of-play in the institution
          • Step 3: Setting up a Gender Equality Plan
          • Step 4: Implementing a Gender Equality Plan
          • Step 5: Monitoring progress and evaluating a Gender Equality Plan
          • Step 6: What comes after the Gender Equality Plan?
        • GEAR step-by-step guide for research funding bodies
          • Step 1: Getting started
          • Step 2: Analysing and assessing the state-of-play in the institution
          • Step 3: Setting up a Gender Equality Plan
          • Step 4: Implementing a Gender Equality Plan
          • Step 5: Monitoring progress and evaluating a Gender Equality Plan
          • Step 6: What comes after the Gender Equality Plan?
        • GEAR action toolbox
          • Work-life balance and organisational culture
          • Gender balance in leadership and decision making
          • Gender equality in recruitment and career progression
          • Integration of the sex/gender dimension into research and teaching content
          • Measures against gender-based violence including sexual harassment
          • Measures mitigating the effect of COVID-19
          • Data collection and monitoring
          • Training: awareness-raising and capacity building
          • GEP development and implementation
          • Gender-sensitive research funding procedures
        • Success factors for GEP development and implementation
        • Challenges & resistance
      • WHERE
        • Austria
        • Belgium
        • Bulgaria
        • Croatia
        • Cyprus
        • Czechia
        • Denmark
        • Estonia
        • Finland
        • France
        • Germany
        • Greece
        • Hungary
        • Ireland
        • Italy
        • Latvia
        • Lithuania
        • Luxembourg
        • Malta
        • Netherlands
        • Poland
        • Portugal
        • Romania
        • Slovakia
        • Slovenia
        • Spain
        • Sweden
        • United Kingdom
    • Gender-sensitive Parliaments
      • Back to toolkit page
      • What is the tool for?
      • Who is the tool for?
      • How to use the tool
      • Self-assessment, scoring and interpretation of parliament gender-sensitivity
        • AREA 1 – Women and men have equal opportunities to ENTER the parliament
          • Domain 1 – Electoral system and gender quotas
          • Domain 2 - Political party/group procedures
          • Domain 3 – Recruitment of parliamentary employees
        • AREA 2 – Women and men have equal opportunities to INFLUENCE the parliament’s working procedures
          • Domain 1 – Parliamentarians’ presence and capacity in a parliament
          • Domain 2 – Structure and organisation
          • Domain 3 – Staff organisation and procedures
        • AREA 3 – Women’s interests and concerns have adequate SPACE on parliamentary agenda
          • Domain 1 – Gender mainstreaming structures
          • Domain 2 – Gender mainstreaming tools in parliamentary work
          • Domain 3 – Gender mainstreaming tools for staff
        • AREA 4 – The parliament produces gender-sensitive LEGISLATION
          • Domain 1 – Gender equality laws and policies
          • Domain 2 – Gender mainstreaming in laws
          • Domain 3 – Oversight of gender equality
        • AREA 5 – The parliament complies with its SYMBOLIC function
          • Domain 1 – Symbolic meanings of spaces
          • Domain 2 – Gender equality in external communication and representation
      • How gender-sensitive are parliaments in the EU?
      • Examples of gender-sensitive practices in parliaments
        • Women and men have equal opportunities to ENTER the parliament
        • Women and men have equal opportunities to INFLUENCE the parliament’s working procedures
        • Women’s interests and concerns have adequate SPACE on parliamentary agenda
        • The parliament produces gender-sensitive LEGISLATION
        • The parliament complies with its SYMBOLIC function
      • Glossary of terms
      • References and resources
    • Gender Budgeting
      • Back to toolkit page
      • Who is this toolkit for?
      • What is gender budgeting?
        • Introducing gender budgeting
        • Gender budgeting in women’s and men’s lived realities
        • What does gender budgeting involve in practice?
        • Gender budgeting in the EU Funds
          • Gender budgeting as a way of complying with EU legal requirements
          • Gender budgeting as a way of promoting accountability and transparency
          • Gender budgeting as a way of increasing participation in budget processes
          • Gender budgeting as a way of advancing gender equality
      • Why is gender budgeting important in the EU Funds?
        • Three reasons why gender budgeting is crucial in the EU Funds
      • How can we apply gender budgeting in the EU Funds? Practical tools and Member State examples
        • Tool 1: Connecting the EU Funds with the EU’s regulatory framework on gender equality
          • Legislative and regulatory basis for EU policies on gender equality
          • Concrete requirements for considering gender equality within the EU Funds
          • EU Funds’ enabling conditions
          • Additional resources
        • Tool 2: Analysing gender inequalities and gender needs at the national and sub-national levels
          • Steps to assess and analyse gender inequalities and needs
          • Step 1. Collect information and disaggregated data on the target group
          • Step 2. Identify existing gender inequalities and their underlying causes
          • Step 3. Consult directly with the target groups
          • Step 4. Draw conclusions
          • Additional resources
        • Tool 3: Operationalising gender equality in policy objectives and specific objectives/measures
          • Steps for operationalising gender equality in Partnership Agreements and Operational Programmes
          • General guidance on operationalising gender equality when developing policy objectives, specific objectives and measures
          • Checklist for putting the horizontal principle of gender equality into practice in Partnership Agreements
          • Checklist for putting the horizontal principle of gender equality into practice in Operational Programmes
          • Examples of integrating gender equality as a horizontal principle in policy objectives and specific objectives
        • Tool 4: Coordination and complementarities between the EU Funds to advance work-life balance
          • Steps for enhancing coordination and complementarities between the funds
          • Step 1. Alignment with the EU’s strategic engagement goals for gender equality and national gender equality goals
          • Steps 2 and 3. Identifying and developing possible work-life balance interventions
          • Step 4. Following-up through the use of indicators within M&E systems
          • Fictional case study 1: reconciling paid work and childcare
          • Fictional case study 2: reconciling shift work and childcare
          • Fictional case study 3: balancing care for oneself and others
          • Fictional case study 4: reconciling care for children and older persons with shift work
          • Additional resources
        • Tool 5: Defining partnerships and multi-level governance
          • Steps for defining partnerships and multi-level governance
          • Additional resources
        • Tool 6: Developing quantitative and qualitative indicators for advancing gender equality
          • Steps to develop quantitative and qualitative indicators
          • ERDF and Cohesion Fund
          • ESF+
          • EMFF
          • Additional resources
        • Tool 7: Defining gender-sensitive project selection criteria
          • Steps to support gender-sensitive project development and selection
          • Checklist to guide the preparation of calls for project proposals
          • Checklist for project selection criteria
          • Supplementary tool 7.a: Gender-responsive agreements with project implementers
        • Tool 8: Tracking resource allocations for gender equality in the EU Funds
          • Ensuring gender relevance in EU Funds
          • The tracking system
          • Steps for tracking resource allocations on gender equality
          • Step 1: Ex ante approach
          • Step 2: Ex post approach
          • Examples of Step 2a
          • Annex 1: Ex ante assignment of intervention fields to the gender equality dimension codes
          • Annex 2: The EU’s gender equality legal and policy framework
        • Tool 9: Mainstreaming gender equality in project design
          • Steps to mainstream gender equality in project design
          • Step 1. Alignment with partnership agreements’ and Operational Programmes’ gender objectives and indicators
          • Step 2. Project development and application
          • Step 3. Project implementation
          • Step 4. Project assessment
        • Tool 10: Integrating a gender perspective in monitoring and evaluation processes
          • Steps to integrate a gender perspective in M&E processes
          • Additional resources
        • Tool 11: Reporting on resource spending for gender equality in the EU Funds
          • Tracking expenditures for gender equality
          • Additional resources
      • Resources
        • References
        • Abbreviations
        • Acknowledgements
    • Gender-responsive Public Procurement
      • Back to toolkit page
      • Who is this toolkit for?
        • Guiding you through the toolkit
      • What is gender-responsive public procurement?
        • How is gender-responsive public procurement linked to gender equality?
        • How is gender-responsive public procurement linked to gender budgeting?
      • Why is gender-responsive public procurement important?
        • Five reasons why gender-responsive public procurement
        • Why was this toolkit produced
      • Gender-responsive public procurement in practice
        • Legal framework cross-references gender equality and public procurement
        • Public procurement strategies cover GRPP
        • Gender equality action plans or strategies mention public procurement
        • Capacity-building programmes, support structures
        • Regular collaboration between gender equality bodies
        • Effective monitoring and reporting systems on the use of GRPP
        • Tool 1:Self-assessment questionnaire about the legal
        • Tool 2: Overview of the legislative, regulatory and policy frameworks
      • How to include gender aspects in tendering procedures
        • Pre-procurement stage
          • Needs assessment
          • Tool 3: Decision tree to assess the gender relevance
          • Preliminary market consultation
          • Tool 4: Guiding questions for needs assessment
          • Defining the subject matter of the contract
          • Choosing the procedure
          • Tool 5: Decision tree for the choice of procedure for GRPP
          • Dividing the contract into lots
          • Tool 6: Guiding questions for dividing contracts into lots for GRPP
          • Light regime for social, health and other specific services
          • Tool 7: Guiding questions for applying GRPP under the light regime
          • Tool 8: Guiding questions for applying GRPP under the light regime
          • Reserved contracts
          • Preparing tender documents
        • Procurement stage
          • Exclusion grounds
          • Selection criteria
          • Technical specifications
          • Tool 9: Decision tree for setting GRPP selection criteria
          • Award criteria
          • Tool 10: Formulating GRPP award criteria
          • Tool 11: Bidders’ concepts to ensure the integration of gender aspects
          • Use of labels/certifications
        • Post-procurement stage
          • Tool 12: Checklist for including GRPP contract performance conditions
          • Subcontracting
          • Monitoring
          • Reporting
          • Tool 13: Template for a GRPP monitoring and reporting plan
      • References
      • Additional resources
  • Methods and tools
    • Browse
    • About EIGE's methods and tools
    • Gender analysis
    • Gender audit
    • Gender awareness-raising
    • Gender budgeting
    • Gender impact assessment
    • Gender equality training
    • Gender evaluation
    • Gender statistics and indicators
    • Gender monitoring
    • Gender planning
    • Gender-responsive public procurement
    • Gender stakeholder consultation
    • Sex-disaggregated data
    • Institutional transformation
    • Examples of methods and tools
    • Resources
  • Good practices
    • Browse
    • About good practices
    • EIGE’s approach to good practices
  • Country specific information
    • Belgium
      • Overview
      • Browse all Belgium content
    • Bulgaria
      • Overview
      • Browse all Bulgaria content
    • Czechia
      • Overview
      • Browse all Czechia content
    • Denmark
      • Overview
      • Browse all Denmark content
    • Germany
      • Overview
      • Browse all Germany content
    • Estonia
      • Overview
      • Browse all Estonia content
    • Ireland
      • Overview
      • Browse all Ireland content
    • Greece
      • Overview
      • Browse all Greece content
    • Spain
      • Overview
      • Browse all Spain content
    • France
      • Overview
      • Browse all France content
    • Croatia
      • Overview
      • Browse all Croatia content
    • Italy
      • Overview
      • Browse all Italy content
    • Cyprus
      • Overview
      • Browse all Cyprus content
    • Latvia
      • Overview
      • Browse all Latvia content
    • Lithuania
      • Overview
      • Browse all Lithuania content
    • Luxembourg
      • Overview
      • Browse all Luxembourg content
    • Hungary
      • Overview
      • Browse all Hungary content
    • Malta
      • Overview
      • Browse all Malta content
    • Netherlands
      • Overview
      • Browse all Netherlands content
    • Austria
      • Overview
      • Browse all Austria content
    • Poland
      • Overview
      • Browse all Poland content
    • Portugal
      • Overview
      • Browse all Portugal content
    • Romania
      • Overview
      • Browse all Romania content
    • Slovenia
      • Overview
      • Browse all Slovenia content
    • Slovakia
      • Overview
      • Browse all Slovakia content
    • Finland
      • Overview
      • Browse all Finland content
    • Sweden
      • Overview
      • Browse all Sweden content
    • United Kingdom
      • Overview
  • EIGE’s publications on Gender mainstreaming
  • Concepts and definitions
  • Power Up conference 2019
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  • Menu
  • Gender mainstreaming
    • What is Gender mainstreaming
      • Policy cycle
    • Institutions and structures
      • European Union
      • EU Member States
      • Stakeholders
      • International organizations
    • Policy areas
      • Agriculture and rural development
        • Policy cycle
      • Culture
        • Policy cycle
      • Digital agenda
        • Policy cycle
      • Economic and financial affairs
        • Economic Benefits of Gender Equality in the EU
        • Policy cycle
      • Education
        • Policy cycle
      • Employment
        • Policy cycle
        • Structures
      • Energy
        • Policy cycle
      • Entrepreneurship
        • Policy cycle
      • Environment and climate change
        • Policy cycle
      • Health
        • Policy cycle
      • Justice
        • Policy cycle
      • Maritime affairs and fisheries
        • Policy cycle
      • Migration
        • Policy cycle
      • Poverty
        • Policy cycle
      • Regional policy
        • Policy cycle
      • Research
        • Policy cycle
      • Security
        • Policy cycle
      • Sport
        • Policy cycle
      • Tourism
        • Policy cycle
      • Transport
        • Policy cycle
      • Youth
        • Policy cycle
    • Toolkits
      • Gender Equality Training
        • Back to toolkit page
        • What is Gender Equality Training
        • Why invest in Gender Equality Training
        • Who should use Gender Equality Training
        • Step-by-step guide to Gender Equality Training
            • 1. Assess the needs
            • 2. Integrate initiatives to broader strategy
            • 3. Ensure sufficient resources
            • 4. Write good terms of reference
            • 5. Select a trainer
            • 6. Engage in the needs assessment
            • 7. Actively participate in the initiative
            • 8. Invite others to join in
            • 9. Monitoring framework and procedures
            • 10. Set up an evaluation framework
            • 11. Assess long-term impacts
            • 12. Give space and support others
        • Designing effective Gender Equality Training
        • Gender Equality Training in the EU
        • Good Practices on Gender Equality Training
        • More resources on Gender Equality Training
        • More on EIGE's work on Gender Equality Training
      • Gender Impact Assessment
        • Back to toolkit page
        • What is Gender Impact Assessment
        • Why use Gender Impact Assessment
        • Who should use Gender Impact Assessment
        • When to use Gender Impact Assessment
        • Guide to Gender Impact Assessment
          • Step 1: Definition of policy purpose
          • Step 2: Checking gender relevance
          • Step 3: Gender-sensitive analysis
          • Step 4: Weighing gender impact
          • Step 5: Findings and proposals for improvement
        • Following up on gender impact assessment
        • General considerations
        • Examples from the EU
            • European Commission
            • Austria
            • Belgium
            • Denmark
            • Finland
            • Sweden
            • Basque country
            • Catalonia
            • Lower Saxony
            • Swedish municipalities
      • Institutional Transformation
        • Back to toolkit page
        • What is Institutional Transformation
          • Institutional transformation and gender: Key points
          • Gender organisations
          • Types of institutions
          • Gender mainstreaming and institutional transformation
          • Dimensions of gender mainstreaming in institutions: The SPO model
        • Why focus on Institutional Transformation
          • Motivation model
        • Who the guide is for
        • Guide to Institutional Transformation
            • 1. Creating accountability and strengthening commitment
            • 2. Allocating resources
            • 3. Conducting an organisational analysis
            • 4. Developing a strategy and work plan
            • 5. Establishing a support structure
            • 6. Setting gender equality objectives
            • 7. Communicating gender mainstreaming
            • 8. Introducing gender mainstreaming
            • 9. Developing gender equality competence
            • 10. Establishing a gender information management system
            • 11. Launching gender equality action plans
            • 12. Promotional equal opportunities
            • 13. Monitoring and steering organisational change
        • Dealing with resistance
          • Discourse level
          • Individual level
          • Organisational level
          • Statements and reactions
        • Checklist: Key questions for change
        • Examples from the EU
            • 1. Strengthening accountability
            • 2. Allocating resources
            • 3. Organisational analysis
            • 4. Developing a strategy and working plan
            • 5. Establishing a support structure
            • 6. Setting objectives
            • 7. Communicating gender mainstreaming
            • 8. Introducing methods and tools
            • 9. Developing Competence
            • 10. Establishing a gender information management system
            • 11. Launching action plans
            • 12. Promoting within an organisation
            • 13. Monitoring and evaluating
      • Gender Equality in Academia and Research
        • Back to toolkit page
        • WHAT
          • What is a Gender Equality Plan?
          • Terms and definitions
          • Which stakeholders need to be engaged into a GEP
          • About the Gear Tool
        • WHY
          • Horizon Europe GEP criterion
          • Gender Equality in Research and Innovation
          • Why change must be structural
          • Rationale for gender equality change in research and innovation
          • GEAR step-by-step guide for research organisations, universities and public bodies
            • Step 1: Getting started
            • Step 2: Analysing and assessing the state-of-play in the institution
            • Step 3: Setting up a Gender Equality Plan
            • Step 4: Implementing a Gender Equality Plan
            • Step 5: Monitoring progress and evaluating a Gender Equality Plan
            • Step 6: What comes after the Gender Equality Plan?
          • GEAR step-by-step guide for research funding bodies
            • Step 1: Getting started
            • Step 2: Analysing and assessing the state-of-play in the institution
            • Step 3: Setting up a Gender Equality Plan
            • Step 4: Implementing a Gender Equality Plan
            • Step 5: Monitoring progress and evaluating a Gender Equality Plan
            • Step 6: What comes after the Gender Equality Plan?
          • GEAR action toolbox
            • Work-life balance and organisational culture
            • Gender balance in leadership and decision making
            • Gender equality in recruitment and career progression
            • Integration of the sex/gender dimension into research and teaching content
            • Measures against gender-based violence including sexual harassment
            • Measures mitigating the effect of COVID-19
            • Data collection and monitoring
            • Training: awareness-raising and capacity building
            • GEP development and implementation
            • Gender-sensitive research funding procedures
          • Success factors for GEP development and implementation
          • Challenges & resistance
        • WHERE
          • Austria
          • Belgium
          • Bulgaria
          • Croatia
          • Cyprus
          • Czechia
          • Denmark
          • Estonia
          • Finland
          • France
          • Germany
          • Greece
          • Hungary
          • Ireland
          • Italy
          • Latvia
          • Lithuania
          • Luxembourg
          • Malta
          • Netherlands
          • Poland
          • Portugal
          • Romania
          • Slovakia
          • Slovenia
          • Spain
          • Sweden
          • United Kingdom
      • Gender-sensitive Parliaments
        • Back to toolkit page
        • What is the tool for?
        • Who is the tool for?
        • How to use the tool
        • Self-assessment, scoring and interpretation of parliament gender-sensitivity
          • AREA 1 – Women and men have equal opportunities to ENTER the parliament
            • Domain 1 – Electoral system and gender quotas
            • Domain 2 - Political party/group procedures
            • Domain 3 – Recruitment of parliamentary employees
          • AREA 2 – Women and men have equal opportunities to INFLUENCE the parliament’s working procedures
            • Domain 1 – Parliamentarians’ presence and capacity in a parliament
            • Domain 2 – Structure and organisation
            • Domain 3 – Staff organisation and procedures
          • AREA 3 – Women’s interests and concerns have adequate SPACE on parliamentary agenda
            • Domain 1 – Gender mainstreaming structures
            • Domain 2 – Gender mainstreaming tools in parliamentary work
            • Domain 3 – Gender mainstreaming tools for staff
          • AREA 4 – The parliament produces gender-sensitive LEGISLATION
            • Domain 1 – Gender equality laws and policies
            • Domain 2 – Gender mainstreaming in laws
            • Domain 3 – Oversight of gender equality
          • AREA 5 – The parliament complies with its SYMBOLIC function
            • Domain 1 – Symbolic meanings of spaces
            • Domain 2 – Gender equality in external communication and representation
        • How gender-sensitive are parliaments in the EU?
        • Examples of gender-sensitive practices in parliaments
          • Women and men have equal opportunities to ENTER the parliament
          • Women and men have equal opportunities to INFLUENCE the parliament’s working procedures
          • Women’s interests and concerns have adequate SPACE on parliamentary agenda
          • The parliament produces gender-sensitive LEGISLATION
          • The parliament complies with its SYMBOLIC function
        • Glossary of terms
        • References and resources
      • Gender Budgeting
        • Back to toolkit page
        • Who is this toolkit for?
        • What is gender budgeting?
          • Introducing gender budgeting
          • Gender budgeting in women’s and men’s lived realities
          • What does gender budgeting involve in practice?
          • Gender budgeting in the EU Funds
            • Gender budgeting as a way of complying with EU legal requirements
            • Gender budgeting as a way of promoting accountability and transparency
            • Gender budgeting as a way of increasing participation in budget processes
            • Gender budgeting as a way of advancing gender equality
        • Why is gender budgeting important in the EU Funds?
          • Three reasons why gender budgeting is crucial in the EU Funds
        • How can we apply gender budgeting in the EU Funds? Practical tools and Member State examples
          • Tool 1: Connecting the EU Funds with the EU’s regulatory framework on gender equality
            • Legislative and regulatory basis for EU policies on gender equality
            • Concrete requirements for considering gender equality within the EU Funds
            • EU Funds’ enabling conditions
            • Additional resources
          • Tool 2: Analysing gender inequalities and gender needs at the national and sub-national levels
            • Steps to assess and analyse gender inequalities and needs
            • Step 1. Collect information and disaggregated data on the target group
            • Step 2. Identify existing gender inequalities and their underlying causes
            • Step 3. Consult directly with the target groups
            • Step 4. Draw conclusions
            • Additional resources
          • Tool 3: Operationalising gender equality in policy objectives and specific objectives/measures
            • Steps for operationalising gender equality in Partnership Agreements and Operational Programmes
            • General guidance on operationalising gender equality when developing policy objectives, specific objectives and measures
            • Checklist for putting the horizontal principle of gender equality into practice in Partnership Agreements
            • Checklist for putting the horizontal principle of gender equality into practice in Operational Programmes
            • Examples of integrating gender equality as a horizontal principle in policy objectives and specific objectives
          • Tool 4: Coordination and complementarities between the EU Funds to advance work-life balance
            • Steps for enhancing coordination and complementarities between the funds
            • Step 1. Alignment with the EU’s strategic engagement goals for gender equality and national gender equality goals
            • Steps 2 and 3. Identifying and developing possible work-life balance interventions
            • Step 4. Following-up through the use of indicators within M&E systems
            • Fictional case study 1: reconciling paid work and childcare
            • Fictional case study 2: reconciling shift work and childcare
            • Fictional case study 3: balancing care for oneself and others
            • Fictional case study 4: reconciling care for children and older persons with shift work
            • Additional resources
          • Tool 5: Defining partnerships and multi-level governance
            • Steps for defining partnerships and multi-level governance
            • Additional resources
          • Tool 6: Developing quantitative and qualitative indicators for advancing gender equality
            • Steps to develop quantitative and qualitative indicators
            • ERDF and Cohesion Fund
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          • Tool 7: Defining gender-sensitive project selection criteria
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            • Checklist to guide the preparation of calls for project proposals
            • Checklist for project selection criteria
            • Supplementary tool 7.a: Gender-responsive agreements with project implementers
          • Tool 8: Tracking resource allocations for gender equality in the EU Funds
            • Ensuring gender relevance in EU Funds
            • The tracking system
            • Steps for tracking resource allocations on gender equality
            • Step 1: Ex ante approach
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            • Annex 1: Ex ante assignment of intervention fields to the gender equality dimension codes
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          • Tool 9: Mainstreaming gender equality in project design
            • Steps to mainstream gender equality in project design
            • Step 1. Alignment with partnership agreements’ and Operational Programmes’ gender objectives and indicators
            • Step 2. Project development and application
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          • Tool 10: Integrating a gender perspective in monitoring and evaluation processes
            • Steps to integrate a gender perspective in M&E processes
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          • Tool 11: Reporting on resource spending for gender equality in the EU Funds
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      • Gender-responsive Public Procurement
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          • Tool 1:Self-assessment questionnaire about the legal
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            • Tool 3: Decision tree to assess the gender relevance
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            • Tool 4: Guiding questions for needs assessment
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            • Tool 5: Decision tree for the choice of procedure for GRPP
            • Dividing the contract into lots
            • Tool 6: Guiding questions for dividing contracts into lots for GRPP
            • Light regime for social, health and other specific services
            • Tool 7: Guiding questions for applying GRPP under the light regime
            • Tool 8: Guiding questions for applying GRPP under the light regime
            • Reserved contracts
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            • Tool 9: Decision tree for setting GRPP selection criteria
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            • Tool 10: Formulating GRPP award criteria
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            • Tool 13: Template for a GRPP monitoring and reporting plan
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      • Foreword
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        • Still far from the finish line
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Netherlands

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EIGE has updated its information on gender mainstreaming in the EU Member States in November 2019. The information was collected in the process of EIGE’s 2018-2019 review of Institutional Mechanisms for Gender Equality and Gender Mainstreaming. It makes a reference to the United Kingdom as a member of the European Union and was published before the UK's withdrawal from the European Union on the 31 January 2020. 

About

Since 1983, the principle of equality and non-discrimination has been set out in the Constitution for the Kingdom of the Netherlands (Grondwet). Although European Union (EU) legal frameworks on equal treatment and equal opportunities for women and men prompted many of the enactments (and adjustments) in Dutch gender equality legislation [1], its reputation as one of the first European countries to introduce legal protection against discrimination on multiple grounds means that Dutch gender equality legislation is often more comprehensive than that of the EU.

Gender mainstreaming is not legally mandated in the Netherlands. However, in its Multi-Year Policy Plan in 2000, the Dutch government announced five preconditions for gender mainstreaming, requiring departmental and interdepartmental structures to be set up. The Plan also obliged all ministries to prepare a report on gender mainstreaming, indicating how these preconditions were met. Legal obligations for gender mainstreaming were introduced, albeit only in some realms (notably the Act on Management and Supervision, 2012).

The government’s gender equality body (the Gender Equality and LGBT(QI+) Equality Department of the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science – Directie Emancipatie van het Ministerie van Onderwijs, Cultuur en Wetenschap) introduced the ‘National Action Plan: The Gender and LGBTQI+ Equality Policy Plan: Principles into Practices’ (NAP) [2] in 2017. This plan prioritised women’s inclusion in the labour market and equal treatment policies (among others).

Progress in fostering gender equality is generally slow. This is confirmed in the case of the Netherlands by the Emancipation Monitor1 and academics. As the decline in the WEF Global Gender Gap Index 2017 (as well as a drop in EIGE’s Gender Equality Index 2017) shows, progress in generating more gender equality is not a linear process. Typical for Dutch emancipation [3] policy today is that a sense of political urgency is missing and gender inequality watchdogs have been disbanded in favour of horizontal gender mainstreaming [4]. For most political parties in the Netherlands, even after the #MeToo revelations, gender inequality is not an urgent political issue.  A certain protest activism has been silent in the Dutch public sphere and gender equality  is a term that is less frequently used today in parliamentary debate and media, and it plays less the part of public protest drivers than it used to be a decade ago.

Legislative and policy framework

The first statutory laws prohibiting discrimination on the grounds of sex were the Equal Pay Act of 1975 and the Equal Treatment Act for Men and Women (wet gelijke behandeling van Mannen en Vrouwen) of 1980. The latter (amended in 1989, 1994, 1998 and 2006 to bring national law in line with EU law) establishes the right to equality for women and men in both private and public employment. In addition, the 1994 General Equal Treatment Act (Algemene wet gelijke behandeling) sets out the legal basis against discrimination in most forms, including labour market discrimination and discrimination on the grounds of religion, political beliefs, race, ethnicity, gender and sexual orientation.

The current gender equality priorities include the promotion of women’s inclusion in the labour market and the extension of working hours [5], the promotion of women to top positions, and equal treatment policies, in particular for minorities and the LGBTQI+ community. The NAP introduced in 2017 sets out the policy principles for 2018-2021 [6], together with the direction of government policy on emancipation. The plan encompasses the following major themes:

  • Labour market independence, more women at the top, and equal pay;
  • Safety, security and acceptance;
  • Gender diversity and equal treatment.

The government subsidises and partners with non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and other social institutions to determine the implementation and evaluation of policy plans. Progress is monitored by the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science (Minister Onderwijs, Cultuur en Wetenschap, OCW), which is responsible for monitoring and assessing progress in all areas of women’s emancipation in the Netherlands.

In 2016, the United Nations (UN) Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women highlighted the absence of a national policy or strategy for the implementation of the provisions of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Violence against Women (CEDAW) in the Netherlands [7]. The Committee recommended strengthening the implementation of the gender mainstreaming strategy at all levels of government and ensuring consistent interventions in the four countries that constitute the Netherlands (the Netherlands, Aruba, Curaçao and Sint Maarten).

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Structures

Government responsibilities

After a 2007 evaluation of gender mainstreaming by the government’s Emancipation Review Committee (VCE) found that the integration of emancipation objectives into regular policy-making had stagnated, the Netherlands changed its approach to gender mainstreaming. The core of its revised approach is the ‘system responsibility’ of ministries, i.e. while the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science (Minister Onderwijs, Cultuur en Wetenschap, OCW) takes the lead in national emancipation policy, it has cooperation agreements with other ministries where emancipation priorities fall within those ministries’ policy domain. These cooperation agreements specify what and how those ministries must contribute to the emancipation objectives set out in national policy. Significantly, this system-responsibility approach means that ministries other than the OCW are held accountable by parliament for the implementation of gender equality policy.

The OCW is responsible for gender equality at the highest level. As the government gender equality body, its overarching policy coordinates responsibility for the theme across ministries. The Directorate for Emancipation was established in 1978 and brought under the OCW in 2007. Gender equality is a special portfolio, in addition to the other themes of education and science. The OCW promotes equality and the emancipation of women, while the Directorate also covers the rights of LGBTQI+ people. Many ministries have civil servants who focus on gender equality from a specific perspective (international women’s rights, within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, for example, or women’s employment, within the Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment).

The Netherlands has put in place an inter-ministerial structure and enhanced networking and cooperation with the gender equality body. Nevertheless, there is a lack of initiatives to raise awareness of the benefits of gender mainstreaming, practices of gender budgeting in departments, and initiatives for improving the gender competence of civil servants.

The main tasks of the Minister of the OCW are agenda-setting and establishing the general framework for gender equality policy, supporting the embedding of gender equality policies across the ministries, supporting society through knowledge infrastructure and goal-oriented subsidies, coordination of the implementation of international agreements, and monitoring and verifying progress achieved in gender equality and emancipation in the country.

Human resources for the promotion of gender equality are limited by the budget (EUR 10 million) available for the promotion of gender equality at the Gender Equality and LGBTQI+ Equality Department of the OCW. The EUR 10 million budget is part of a EUR 15 million emancipation policy budget, with EUR 5 million reserved for LGBTQI+ projects. Since 2005, the Netherlands has seen a continuous downward trend in the number of full-time employees, as well as a falling ratio between employees and the country’s population. The budget is chiefly spent on subsidising civil society projects and, with the new subsidy regulation of 2017, longer projects of broad alliances among civil society organisations. In practice, this means that funding changes have led to gender equality expertise moving to civil society organisations.

Independent gender equality body

The Netherlands Institute for Human Rights (College van de Rechten van de Mens) is the independent gender equality body responsible for explaining, monitoring, protecting and promoting respect for human rights (including equal treatment) in practice, policy and legislation, and increasing awareness of human rights in the Netherlands [8]. Its functions are set out in the Netherlands Institute for Human Rights Act (2011), with tasks including: assessing infringements of equality law (they provide legal advice insofar as the front office can explain the Equal Treatment Act but cannot provide assistance); conducting research on measures to protect human rights; reporting and making recommendations on the protection of human rights, including annual reports to parliament and the government on the human rights situation in the Netherlands; providing advice (on written request or on its own initiative) to the government, parliament or executive bodies on law and legislation with a direct or indirect impact on human rights; providing information on human rights; stimulating and coordinating education on human rights [9].

Endowed with quasi-jurisdictional competence, [10] the Institute has legal standing to take cases on its own initiative (Article 13 of the Netherlands Institute for Human Rights Act) but it cannot represent victims before the courts. The Institute has no legal standing to act as amicus curiae but it can do this in practice. Institute staff do not deal exclusively with gender or sex discrimination but, rather, work with all discrimination grounds covered by the law.

In 2017, the Institute received 3,344 questions and alerts about equal treatment, 46 % of which were gender-related, 22 % health-related and 16 % race-related. The Institute has witnessed a rise in discrimination incidents related to gender (from 2,781 in 2016 to 3,344 in 2017), although this may be partly due to the establishment of a special helpline for discrimination cases related to pregnancy, especially among (expectant) mothers with temporary contracts [11]. The budget for activities related to discrimination on grounds of gender cannot be disaggregated.  

Parliamentary bodies

The government reports to the parliament on progress on emancipation issues every two years. Inter-ministerial coordination of all gender emancipation matters also aims to guarantee the involvement of cabinet ministers, their parties and senior civil servants. There is a standing committee on emancipation (vaste commissie, OCW), where parliamentary members meet once a month to discuss related issues with a minister. 

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Methods and tools

Note: the methods and tools listed under this section were the focus of EIGE’s 2018-2019 assessment. If certain methods and tools are not mentioned in this section, this does not necessarily mean that they are not used at all by the Netherlands.

Several gender mainstreaming tools are in use, including gender impact assessment, gender statistics and sex-disaggregated data. The Netherlands does not use gender budgeting.

Training and awareness-raising  

The Dutch government regularly organises awareness-raising campaigns in all areas of gender equality, including campaigns for combating sexual and domestic violence, improving health, and the impact of stereotyping on discrimination. Awareness-raising activities have also focused on the promotion of women in executive positions in companies and academia, as well as increasing the involvement of women and girls in science and technical education.

Training in all ministries is ad hoc and infrequent. Occasionally, training sessions are provided for staff, often together with knowledge transfer by gender equality experts, such as EIGE. Gender is often considered part of diversity programmes, as well as individual training trajectories, such as assertiveness training, which is sometimes offered specifically for women leaders.

Gender statistics

Two major agencies are responsible for the collection of sex-disaggregated data: the Central Office of Statistics (Centraal Bureau voor de Statistiek, CBS) and The Netherlands Institute for Social Research (Sociaal en Cultureel Planbureau, SCP). Although both apply gender-based disaggregation of data as standard, their websites do not contain specific gender-based information sections.

Established in response to the need for independent and reliable information, the CBS provides statistical information and data on a wide range of social issues in the Netherlands. Its independence is enshrined in the Law of the Statistics Netherlands Act (2003) and the Minister of Economic Affairs is politically responsible for relevant legislation, budget and conditions. The CBS is financed from the state budget. It collects and analyses data in a variety of domains, including labour and income, economy, society, and regional and corporate data. The information is disaggregated by sex, age and income (among others).

The SCP was established through a Royal Decree in 1973. Its official tasks are to describe the social and cultural situation in the Netherlands and outline anticipated developments, to provide the information needed for well-considered choice of policy objectives and resources and for the development of alternatives, to evaluate government policy (especially inter-departmental policy), for example concerning older persons, women, young people and ethnic minorities. The SCP collects data annually for its research and also uses data from other sources, such as the European Social Survey and national data from the CBS.

As a government agency, the SCP researches the social aspects of all areas of government policy, particularly health, welfare, social security, the labour market and education, and the integration of these fields. Reports published by the SCP are widely used by government, civil servants, local authorities and academics. Similar to the CBS, the SCP has experts in emancipation and gender equality but no specific programme on gender. Gender is, however, part of other research programmes on income and social security, dynamics in the labour market, learning and education, care and support, health and well-being, societal participation, values and norms, and sustainable society.

The SCP, however, has a Care, Emancipation, and Time Use research sector, where gender specialists work. Although the SCP website has no separate section on gender, sex-disaggregated data are commonly available for all sections (labour and income, economy, and society, similar to CBS). The information is offered freely in the Statsline database.

Every two years, the SCP publishes the Emancipation Monitor, (Emancipatiemonitor) in collaboration with the CBS. The Emancipation Monitor contains statistics on the position of women and men in areas such as the labour market, education, health and safety. The Monitor is used to inform parliament and other stakeholders on the progress of gender equality in the Netherlands since 2000. Published every two years, it evaluates the progress of the Netherlands’ national emancipation policy, showing where progress has been achieved and/or the challenges remaining in women’s participation in the workforce, education, security and leadership.

Since 2000, the Emancipation Monitor has been the key tool for the production and dissemination of sex-disaggregated data. It produces a wealth of data, yet, as part of the institutional machinery of emancipation policy, lacks a critical gender perspective in its data analysis. Since 2008, much attention is paid to facilitating women to achieve higher positions in corporate boardrooms.

The ‘Talent to the Top’ foundation’s campaign to raise awareness of gender inequality in leading decision-making positions and its charter promoting a sustainable diversity policy prompted many organisations in the field of gender equality to promote and monitor gender mainstreaming in education and science (e.g. the Network of Female Professors (Landelijk Netwerk Vrouwelijke Hoogleraren, LNVH), Association of Women with Higher Education (Vereniging van vrouwen met hogere opleiding, VVAO).

The recently established Business Monitor (which monitors women in top positions of business) is a valuable tool that provides important measurements of progress in the field of institutional mechanisms and generation and dissemination of sex-disaggregated data [12].

The evaluation research for 2012–2018, including a mid-term review and evaluation of small projects, is limited. This is primarily because policy objectives are formulated in non-measurable terms [13] and small projects are evaluated by civil society organisations (e.g. Movisie, Rutgers) in somewhat ad hoc and uncritical ways [14].

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Good practices

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References

Atria (2013). Vrouwen in de Media 2013.

Commissie Monitoring Talent naar de Top l VanDoorneHuiskes en partners (2015). Topvrouwen in de Wachtkamer: Bedrijvenmonitor 2012–2015. 

Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (2016). Concluding observations. CEDAW/C/NLD/CO/6. 

CPB (2018). Emancipation Monitor 2018. 

College van de Rechten van de Mens (2017). Jaarverslag 2017.

College van de Rechten van de Mens (2018). Monitor Discriminatiezaken 2017, pp. 1–36.

Doorne-Huiskes, A., van Romkens, R., Schippers, J. and Van Wiersma, A. (2017). Van Privéprobleem tot Overheidszorg: Emancipatiebeleid in Nederland. Zoetermeer: Lecturium.

McKinsey Global Institute (2018). Het Potentieel Pakken: De Waarde van Meer Gelijkheid Tussen Mannen en Vrouwen op de Nederlandse Arbeidsmarkt.

Ministry of Education, Science, and Culture (2013). Hoofdlijnenbrief Emancipatiebeleid 2013–2016.

Ministry of Education, Science, and Culture (2014). Midterm Review: Emancipatie. 

Ministry of Education, Science, and Culture (2017). Opbrengsten Emancipatiebeleid 2013–2017.

Ministry of Education, Science, and Culture (2018). Emancipatienota 2018–2021.

Ministry of Finance/Audit Unit (2014). Beleidsdoorlichting Emancipatie 2011–2014.

Movisie (2015). We Can Young: Campagne Resultaatmeting.

Plantenga, J. and Remery, C. (2015). The Policy on Gender Equality in the Netherlands. European Parliament. 

Ramos Martín, N. E. (2008). Gender equality in the Netherlands: an example of Europeanisation of social law and policy. (AIAS working paper; No. 08/66). Amsterdam: Amsterdam Institute for Advanced Labour Studies.

Roggeband, C. and Verloo, M. (2006). Evaluating gender impact assessment in the Netherlands (1994–2004): A political process approach. Policy and Politics, Vol. 34(4).

Rutgers (2015). Beat the Macho Onderzoeksrapport.

Sociaal-Cultureel Planbureau (SCP) and Centraal Bureau voor de Statistiek (CBS) (2014). Emancipatiemonitor 2014.

UN Resolution 48/134 (1993). National institutions for the promotion and protection of human rights (20 December 1993). 

Van Gerven, M. and Nygård, M. (2017). Equal Treatment, Labour Promotion, or Social Investment? Reconciliation Policy in Finnish and Dutch Coalition Programmes 1995–2016. European Policy Analysis, Vol. 3(1), pp. 125–145.

Verloo, M. and Roggeband, C. (1996). Gender impact assessment: The development of a new instrument in the Netherlands. Impact Assessment, Vol. 14(1).

Endnotes

[1] Ramos Martín, N. E. (2008). Gender equality in the Netherlands: an example of Europeanisation of social law and policy. (AIAS working paper; No. 08/66). Amsterdam: Amsterdam Institute for Advanced labour Studies.

[2] Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Intersex + (LGBTQI+).

[3] ‘Emancipation’, as defined by the Emancipation Monitor is the promotion of equal rights, equal opportunities and (shared) responsibilities for women and men.

[4] Netherlands Institute for Social Research (SCP) and Statistics Netherlands (CBS) at the request of the Minister of Education, Culture and Science. See also WEF Global Gender Gap Index 2017 and EIGE Gender Equality Index 2017.

[5] van Gerven and Nygard (2018).

[6] Ministry of Education (2018).

[7] Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (2016). Concluding observations. CEDAW/C/NLD/CO/6. Available at: tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/15/treatybodyexternal/Download.aspx?symbolno=CEDAW/C/NLD/CO/6&Lang=En

[8] College van de Rechten van de Mens (2018). Monitor Discriminatiezaken 2017, pp. 1–36; Doorne-Huiskes, A., van Romkens, R., Schippers, J. and Van Wiersma, A. (2017). Privéprobleem tot Overheidszorg: Emancipatiebeleid in Nederland. Zoetermeer: Lecturium.

[9] College van de Rechten van de Mens (2017). Jaarverslag 2017, p. 9.

[10] UN Resolution 48/134 (1993). National institutions for the promotion and protection of human rights (20 December 1993e). 

[11] College van de Rechten van de Mens (2017). Annual Report 2017, p. 37.

[12] Commissie Monitoring Talent naar de Top l VanDoorneHuiskes en partners (2015). Topvrouwen in de Wachtkamer: Bedrijvenmonitor 2012–2015.

[13] Ministry of Finance/Audit Unit (2014). Beleidsdoorlichting Emancipatie 2011–2014; Ministry of Education, Science, and Culture (2014). Midterm Review Emancipatie; Ministry of Education, Science, and Culture (2017). Opbrengsten Emancipatiebeleid 2013–2017.

[14] Movisie (2015). We Can Young: Campagne Resultaatmeting; Rutgers (2015). Beat the Macho Onderzoeksrapport.

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