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Gender Equality in Academia and Research

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GEAR action toolbox

In working towards institutional change in research organisations and higher education institutions, different areas and themes can be addressed in the Gender Equality Plan through specific initiatives. Depending on the needs of the organisation, it makes sense to focus on a combination of areas.

For each thematic area, a range of activities and instruments can be mobilised. Reference is made to existing examples and resources whenever possible for each thematic area. In choosing for certain approaches, it is important to take into account the specific organisational context and features. What works well in one organisation, might not be the best choice in another organisation.

The thematic areas that are addressed in this section are not mutually exclusive. Rather, they overlap. For example, competence development efforts can focus on how the gender dimension can be addressed in scientific research or in teaching.

For definitions of specific methods and tools, have a look at EIGE’s glossary.

Structures to support gender equality work

Structures to support gender equality work are dedicated organisational arrangements (unit, office, network, service, etc.) which are mandated to support structural change towards gender equality through their work.
Such structures can take a variety of forms: from Gender Equality Offices, over ombud services, to networks of gender equality ‘antennas’ in different organisational departments, and others. The examples provided below reflect the different forms and roles support structures can take. 

Useful to know

  • Whatever structure is established, it is important that its mandate is endorsed by the top of the organisation. 
  • The closer structures are situated to the top of the organisation (e.g. reporting directly to the Dean or Rector), the more authority the structure can have and the more effectively it can work.
  • Structures need adequate resources (human and financial) to work effectively.

Existing tools and resources

  • The guidelines produced within the framework of the EU-funded structural change STAGES project provide practical insights on establishing and supporting networks for gender equality in universities and research organisations. For example, it is recommended to bridge top-down and bottom-up approaches by creating spaces for dialogue and negotiation within networks that can span the institution. Moreover, networks can be involved in planning, empowerment and negotiation activities. They can support, connect and empower internal actors. Check pages 46-48.
  • The webinar “Introduction to Gender Equality Plans” (2020) is part of the capacity building program developed by the EU-funded Gender Equality Academy project. It aims at exploring the concept of institutional change for Gender Equality in research performing and research funding organisations, and how Gender Equality Plans (GEPs) can be a mean for implementing it in view of achieving the three main ERA objectives.
  • The Guidelines for the implementation of gender equality plans proposed by the EU-funded SAGE project (2016) provide support to GEP implementing organisations to plan and manage their GEP process and lower organisational resistances to change, placing the emphasis on stakeholders’ engagement and building alliances.
  • The Guidelines for incorporating sexual and gender diversity in the universities of Catalonia, developped by the regional government of Catalonia (2018) reflect one of the most progressive legal and policy framework for advancing sexual and gender diversity through fighting harassment and discrimination but also through integrating this perspective in research and teaching. It articulates both a diagnosis and a prognosis, formulating recommendations and is available in Spanish and Catalan.
  • The Gender Platform toolkit made available in German by Genderplattform.at, compiles all relevant provisions and initiatives led by Austrian universities and RPOs in advancing gender equality work on a) organisational culture; b) career development; c) management and decision-making; d) work-life balance; e) Integrating gender dimension in research and teaching. For each area, good practices are listed and contents available.
  • The Best practices in advancing gender equality in German universities, provided by the Federal Ministry for Education and Research (BMBF, 2017), compiles best practices adopted by beneficiary higher education institution of the Professorinnen Programm led since 2008 by the Federal ministry for Education and Research. This program, aimed at funding female full professors, requires applying universities to adopt comprehensive gender equality policies. Best practices were identified for phase I and II of the program (2008-2017).

Examples

Awareness-raising and competence development

Awareness-raising efforts aim at generating and stimulating sensitivity to issues related to gender (in-)equality, while (gender) competence development aims at strengthening people’s knowledge and skills to engage with gender equality issues. In practice, the two types of efforts often overlap, as learning starts with awareness, but is a continuous process.

Awareness-raising and competence development can take many forms: from campaigns, over short introductory sessions for specific target groups, seminars, training, to lectures and dedicated courses or summer schools.

Useful to know

  • Make sure you choose the most effective form of awareness-raising or competence development initiative taking into account the needs of the target audience(s). For example, while a 3,5 hours introductory lecture for undergraduate students might be an adequate choice, people in leadership positions are likely to benefit more from participatory and interactive workshops in smaller groups.
  • Carefully consider who the target audience is and whether the focus of your effort is to be on awareness-raising or on competence development. Tailor your approach accordingly.
  • Think about the effects that you want to trigger through these awareness-raising and competence development efforts. How can these effects be monitored? Try to find indicators and ways to track the impacts of the efforts. Evidence of impact will provide you with strong advocacy arguments.

Existing tools and resources

  • Do you need to find a Gender Trainer to organise a training at your organisation? Search on Eurogender’s Gender Trainer Directory.
  • Do you need to find experts from a specific scientific field in a particular country? Search GenPort’s people database.  
  • Gender Equality Academy is a EU-funded capacity-building programme launched in 2019 and based on state-of-the-art knowledge about gender in research organisations and the academia. It is composed of a series of tailor-made training materials and different training formats including: In-person trainings; Summer Schools; Workshops; Webinars; Distributive Open Collaborative Courses (DOCCs); Train-the-Trainer sessions. It aims  at increasing skills of those who are implementing measures towards gender equality in their institutions (management, administrators, HR managers, academic staff etc.); Deepening the expertise of researchers interested in the gender dimension of their work: Further developing skills of gender experts willing to deliver training sessions to research & innovation and higher education communities in Europe and beyond. This programme will run until 2021 and all material will remain available online for replication.
  • EIGE’s online tool on Gender Training.
  • Toolkit – Gender in EU-funded research. This toolkit clearly explains and provides guidance on how to integrate gender in research. It addresses both the gender dimension of research content (with case examples from nine different scientific fields) and women’s participation in research activities. One-day training sessions, based on the toolkit, can be organised. 
  • Leaflet from the project EGERA: a concise presentation of this EU-structural change project, aiming at raising awareness for the project and its goals among a broad public. It includes an overview of the main thematic areas to be addressed (work packages) and events. 
  • “Are women a problem, do women have a problem or do women point out a problem?” This presentation was prepared by the coordinator of the EU-funded structural change project FESTA. It aims at raising awareness about the role of women in science.
  • Training materials on Improving Meeting Cultures can be consulted in a report published by the FESTA consortium. The aim is to facilitate open and constructive communication, and to raise awareness of the subtle ways of giving and taking away voice, power and visibility.  
  • Gendered Innovations: Harnessing the Creative Power of Gender Analysis for Discovery and Design: a short video course (4’:19’’) given by Londa Schiebinger from Stanford University about the potential of sex and gender analysis for bringing forward innovations.
  • Gendered Innovations also consist in a platform designed by Standford University and providing good examples of how innovation can be harnessed to gendering research and a comprehensive handbook published by the European Commission (DG RTD) in 2013.
  • The Hypathia toolkit was designed under the eponym EU-funded project in 2018 to provide an accessible, practical and ready-to-use digital collection of innovative activities aimed at teenagers. It contains workshops, speed dating, card games, debate scenarios and plays drawn from good practices across Europe. Each module has a central focus on gender-inclusive ways of communicating STEM, empowering teenagers and exploring the range of skills that are needed for a great variety of STEM studies and careers open to young people. It is targeted to Research performing organisations, schools and science museums.
  • The Toolkit for organising reflexive working groups for selection committee members was developed in 2017 for the EU-funded GARCIA project, to help effectively organising and facilitating reflexive working groups for all support and research staff who are involved in recruitment and selection committees and/or procedures or otherwise responsible for the evaluation of early career researchers.
  • Short video case studies about gendered innovations in particular fields of research, along with other instructional and informative videos, can be found at the Gendered Innovations website.
  • “The Intervention Initiative toolkit” (2015), developed by UWE (University of the West of England) for the prevention of sexual coercion and domestic abuse in university settings.
  • E-learning package on Gender Competent Leadership in Academia developed by the EU-funded structural change project GENOVATE. This tool, which contains 4 sections, encourages (prospective) leaders to reflect on possible solutions according to their institutional needs. 
  • “Women and technologies” towards EXPO 2015. Women and Technologies: a winning pair?. Gianna Martinengo (from the association “Women and Technology”, Milan, Italy) presented these slides at a public event organised by a partner organisation of the EU-funded structural change project FESTA in October 2012. The presentation was intended to give visibility and raise awareness of the great potential, creativity and participation of women in the world of technology.
  • Toolkit for Integrating Gender-Sensitive Approach into Research and Teaching prepared within the EU-funded structural change GARCIA project.  
  • Guidelines for jury members, reviewers and research funding organisations’ employees designed by the EU-funded GEECCO project for Research Funding Organisations’ employees and evaluators of research proposals. The first part offers a set of practical recommendations concerning activities that strengthen gender balance among peer reviewers and members of committees and boards involved in the evaluation of research proposals. The second part intends to provide guidance about increasing gender sensitivity and diversity awareness in evaluation of research proposals

Examples

Engaging stakeholders

To structurally embed gender equality within the organisation, it is necessary that the widest possible circle of stakeholders is receptive to this change. In order to make gender equality work effective, it is therefore paramount to engage with these stakeholders, vertically as well as horizontally.

Outreach work goes from the top to the bottom of the organisation, and across departments, schools and disciplines. Even alliances and outreach beyond the institution can help to strengthen and legitimate internal change.

Everything can be successful or not, in one or any setting, depending on the negotiation process with the concerned stakeholders. (Marina Cacace, L'Assemblea delle Donne per lo Sviluppo e la Lotta all'Esclusione Sociale (ASDO), evaluator of the EU-funded STAGES project)

Useful to know

  • It is important to have the support and explicit backing from the top level of the organisation as from the start. Such support increases the perceived legitimacy of the actions.
  • While work towards gender equality can start with a small group of motivated people, it is important to gradually and continuously reach out and widen the group of involved actors.
  • Know your institution, talk with people, understand what existing structures do and can do, identify where potential allies are and where resistances can be encountered. Start by building strategic alliances and seek win-win situations.
  • Creating a feeling of ownership is key to engaging stakeholders in the work towards structural change for gender equality.
  • For engaging stakeholders, it is paramount that they know the gender equality objectives and the initiatives being taken. Therefore, internal communication and visibility are crucial.
  • Internal legitimacy can be acquired by gaining external support through alliances with stakeholders outside the organisation. Think for example about research organisations with an outstanding reputation for gender equality, internationally recognised gender equality experts, or participation in an EU-funded structural change project.

Existing tools and resources

  • The joint webinar on gender bias in leadership and decision-making jointly proposed in 2020 by the EU-funded GEARING-ROLES and Gender Equality Academy projects aims at explaining and deepening the understanding of the role of gender bias while exploring resistances to gender equality, also discussing strategies for tackling bias and resistances will be discussed.
  • A Webinar on Mobilising and engaging. Creating long-lasting commitment for gender equality in research, was designed by the EU-funded Gender Equality Academy in 2020. It aims at presenting different discursive frameworks for gender equality in research and higher education (HE) and highlighting discursive opportunities and tensions between gender equality policies and mainstream HE policies. It also provides examples of strategic framing and priority-setting.
  • Institutional guidelines to make your organisation more gender inclusive have been developed by the EU-funded Hypatia Project in 2018, offering concrete suggestions to institutions at the level of individual staff members, staff teams, management, and external stakeholders, including for affirmative actions that can be taken to enhance institutional capacity for gender inclusion.
  • The EU-funded structural change project INTEGER project developed a checklist with suggestions for engaging with key stakeholders. 
  • The Gender and Diversity Toolkit, developed under the EU-funded structural change project GENOVATE, presents and explains a set of interesting approaches and participatory techniques to engage stakeholders.
  • A presentation by Evanthia K. Schmidt, Aarhus University (Denmark), about engaging leadership in gender equality initiatives (presented at the STAGES final conference on 3 December 2015). This presentation contains concrete suggestions learnt from the experience of the EU-funded structural change project STAGES on how to better involve leadership in gender equality.
  • A short video (5’13) from the StratEGIC toolkit with testimonials about working for change at multiple institutional levels.
  • The Handbook on resistances to gender equality in the academia elaborated by the EU-funded FESTA project (2016) aims to summarize what barriers are being experienced along the process of change. It provides a list of recommendations for dealing with the barriers and resistances along this process. The handbook thus hopes to give clues to the audience about the possible interpretations of a case of resistance and the suggested practices to tackle it.

Example

Organisational culture and work-life balance

The organisational culture and work-life balance are key factors that contribute to creating an enabling environment for both women and men to have fulfilling careers in the research sector. This area covers all aspects that promote an enabling working environment in which both women and men can thrive, feel good in their jobs, enjoy equal opportunities to develop their careers and have fulfilling lives. This is a broad thematic area that covers issues such as:

  • Gender-sensitive communication
  • Childcare provisions
  • Maternity / paternity / parental leave provisions

Useful to know

  • Some mistakenly understand gender equality as a women’s issue only. It is important to highlight that the whole institution benefits from a more open and respectful organisational culture. The well-being of all improves when there is a better balance between work, family and private life.
  • Better organisational cultures help to attract and to retain the best talents.
  • Changing the organisational culture does not happen through single interventions. Systematic efforts will be required until the desired change in values has been internalised by all involved in the organisation.
  • The pursuit of an academic career is still often associated with full dedication to science and a culture of ‘long hours’. As long as women continue to carry the bulk of caring responsibilities, the double workload for women renders it difficult to balance their professional and private lives.
  • A respectful, open and welcoming organisational culture is sensitive to a variety of gender identities and does not consider ‘women’ and ‘men’ as homogeneous groups.

Existing tools and resources

  • EIGE’s toolkit for work-life balance in the ICT sector (2018) outlines how organisations in the ICT sector can boost equal opportunities and gender equality to attract and retain female talent. It provides organisations with practical tools and real-life examples from the EU Member States to support the implementation of work-life balance measures. More directed to ICT companies than R&D organisations, it nonetheless provides useful instruments and insights for RPOs in ICT to develop their own policies, including a business case that advocates for organisational change and outlines how organisations in the ICT sector can boost equal opportunities and gender-equality through human-resource management to attract and retain female talent and making workplaces inclusive for women, and a checklist for developing work-life balance provisions.
  • Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in European Higher Education Institutions is a report published in 2019 by the European University Association as part of the INVITED project, which aims to support universities in developing and strategies towards equity, diversity and inclusion. It also seeks to promote dialogue between stakeholders at the system level in order to ensure that regulatory and funding frameworks empower universities to fulfil their social responsibility.
  • Also published by the European University Association, Strategies towards Equity, Diversity and Inclusion at Universities show how universities approach the topic from a strategic point of view, bringing together various smaller scale projects focused on different aspects and dimensions into a comprehensive strategy that becomes an integral part of the institution’s mission.
  • The League of European Research Universities published a position paper (2019) on Equality, diversity and inclusion at universities: the power of a systemic approach, which makes the case for why universities should and how they can engage with equality, diversity and inclusion and provides many examples of what LERU universities are actually doing to build equal, diverse and inclusive organisations, including through tackling intersecting inequalities.
  • Supporting reconciliation of work, family and private life – Good Practices (2015). This publication of EIGE presents good practices, gaps and challenges in the work towards supporting the reconciliation of work, family and private life. 
  • Gender-sensitive communication:
    • The Guidelines for gender-sensitive communication developed by the EU-funded SUPERA project (2020) consider the main factors influencing the development of an academic institution’s communication strategy through the lenses of gender-sensitivity, with three main aims: 1) Raising awareness on the pervasive role of communication and language in academia and its function in contributing to institutional change towards gender equality; 2) Introducing a deeper awareness of the gender biases and stereotypes that affect daily communication; 3) Providing advice and guidance in adopting a gender-sensitive approach in the communication strategies and practices of an academic institution.
    • The Toolkit for gender-sensitive communication is one of a series of documents produced by the European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE) to raise awareness of gender-sensitive language. Other useful documents include a glossary to explain the meaning of key terms linked to gender equality and a thesaurus exploring the relationship between different terms, both accessible at EIGE's Gender Equality Glossary and Thesaurus. It provides guidelines for the use of gender-sensitive language in writing. Although it provides tips and examples for the English language, the underlying principles for gender-sensitive writing are universal and remain relevant when using other languages. Its main objectives are the following: a) raise awareness about the importance of gender-sensitive language; b) provide practical examples of what gender-biased and gender-discriminatory communication is and how to avoid it; c) provide practical tools and advice for policymakers and all those involved in the drafting of documents for the public so that these texts are gender-sensitive and inclusive for all members of the society; d) provide useful checklists and examples for users.
    • Guidelines for using gender-sensitive language in communication, research and administration. This concise document provides practical suggestions to ensure that language and wording are not gender discriminatory. 
    • Antwerp charter on gender-sensitive communication in and by academic institutions. The organisations signing the charter undertake to promote respect for human dignity and social responsibility, eliminate all forms of discrimination and use gender-sensitive language at all times when communicating. The charter is one of the key outcomes of the EU-funded structural change EGERA project. 
    • Guidelines on gender-neutral language (1999), published by UNESCO (in English and French), explains how language can be exclusive and stereotyping. It contains a list of non-neutral phrases and words as well as possible alternatives to these. 
  • Other:

Examples

Recruitment, selection and career progression support

Recruitment, selection and career progression support measures aim at ensuring that women and men get equal chances to develop and advance their scientific careers. Actions are needed to avoid and undo the systematic and structural discrimination of women along their career path in research. It is thus important to critically review the existing selection processes and procedures at all stages and to remedy biases where these occur.

Useful to know

  • The Council Conclusions on Advancing gender equality in the European Research Area (adopted in December 2015) point out that still only 20 % of full professors in Europe are women and therefore invites institutions to strive for guiding targets for a more even gender balance for professors.
  • In a number of countries, the so-called ‘cascade model’ is being introduced, following the German example. In this model, the institutions set targets for the proportion of women at each qualification level on the basis of the proportion of women at the level immediately below.
  • While it is generally accepted that ‘merit’ and ‘excellence’ are key criteria for the assessment of candidates for academic positions, these concepts are not gender-neutral.
  • ‘Unconscious’ or ‘implicit’ bias unintentionally influences judgements and opinions about others. It is very important to be aware of your own biases. Likewise, it is highly relevant to organise training for those involved in selection processes to avoid unconscious or implicit gender bias to interfere in the decision-making. CERCA created a video on gender bias in recruitment to make panel members aware of the different biases which might come up and how to solve them.
  • Organising blind assessments of candidates’ CVs can contribute to avoiding unconscious gender bias in candidate selection.
  • Where existing processes fall short of satisfactorily remediating inequalities, positive action measures can be mobilised temporarily. It is however commendable to carefully check the legislative framework before such measures are introduced.
  • While quotas are generally seen as effective in bringing forward an improved gender balance, quotas tend to evoke significant resistance. Carefully consider the pros and cons of introducing quotas, taking into account cultural specificities. Take a look at how quotas were introduced at the University of Ghent in Belgium.
  • A gender pay gap results from variances in contractual conditions and terms of employment, of which the effects are cumulative over time and most often disadvantageous to women.

To generate excellent research requires excellent researchers. This implies both attracting them, and recognising, fostering and promoting them. But throughout the EU, gender still plays and inappropriate role in selection. The more transparent the procedure, based on explicit criteria, the more successful women are likely to be. Excellent male candidates have nothing to fear from transparency! (Teresa Rees, in ‘Developing a Research Strategy at a Research Intensive University’ in The Sage Handbook of Research Management, R. Dingwall and M. B. McDonnell (eds.), 2015)

Existing tools and resources

Examples related to recruitment and selection

Examples related to career progression

Leadership and decision-making

The leadership of the institution and its decision-making bodies need to be gender balanced for the organisation to truly live up to its values. Women and men should have equal access to and a balanced participation in leadership and (formal and informal) decision-making structures. Decision-making itself has to be gender-sensitive (or gender-responsive) because it takes into account gender differences and aims at promoting gender equality. 

Useful to know

  • Women are sometimes reluctant to apply for decision-making positions, especially in male-dominated contexts. This can be explained by a variety of factors. The still very masculine image of science, the way informal networks continue to function in selection processes and the fact that the bulk of high level positions remain occupied by men are just some of the elements that convey the message that there is no place for women at the top.
  • Establishing open, cooperative working relations and a culture of respect contribute to building a working environment in which everybody can have confidence. At the same time, it is worth supporting and encouraging women to apply for decision-making positions all along their career trajectories.
  • When the top of the organisation explicitly supports gender equality, legitimacy is given to the issue and all can feel safe raising gender matters when decisions need to be taken.
  • Remember that gender balance in leadership and decision-making positions is a key concern at the EU level. The Council Conclusions on Advancing gender equality in the European Research Area (adopted in December 2015) invited relevant authorities to set up guiding targets, for example quantitative objectives, for better gender balance in decision-making bodies including leading scientific and administrative boards, recruitment and promotion committees as well as evaluation panels. Research funding and performing organisations are encouraged to reach these targets by 2020.

Existing tools and resources

  • Charter for More Women in Management is a baseline report prepared by the University of Copenhagen.
  • Promoting sustainable change: A Toolkit For Integrating Gender Equality and Diversity in Research and Innovation Systems, was designed within the framework of the EU-funded GENOVATE project for experienced and new innovators as well as for people who want to learn more about how understanding gender and diversity can lead to more innovation in their everyday lives. The Promoting Sustainable Change toolkit can be used in different ways depending on the readers' group’s needs and which target group readers are associated with. It covers crucial issues for sustainable change, including the participation of under-represented groups to decision-making.
  • Methodologies and measures for analysing informal decision-making and communication processes (2015) is a report produced in the context of the EU-funded FESTA project. It looks into transparency and inclusivity in the informal decision-making and communication processes, and formulates suggestions to foster a more active participation of women in all the decision-making and communication processes.
  • Gendering Decision Making and Communications Processes (2015). This report, developed in the context of the EU-funded FESTA project, shows how power works in organisations and provides recommendations for more transparency in decision-making processes to progress gender equality. 
  • The paper Implementing gender quotas at University: a practice published in 2019, explores the practices of university actors when implementing gender quotas, and studies how these practices affect gender equality in academic decision-making bodies. Through a practice theory approach, this paper offers original insight into how actors comply with gender quotas.
  • GenBUDGET, the community of practice established under the EU-funded ACT project, provides a directory of relevant practices in gender budgeting at RPOs and RFOs.
  • The Gender Budgeting in Academia toolkit developed in 2015 by the EU-funded GARCIA project, is intended to be a guide for integrating gender into the financial processes and decision-making procedures of academic and scientific institutions.
  • Gender Equality and Non-Discrimination Laws in Austrian Higher Education is presentation about the specific laws that exist in Austria for higher education institutions, setting rules for the advancement of women and including quota for decision-making positions.
  • E-learning package on Gender Competent Leadership in Academia developed by the EU-funded GENOVATE project. Section 4 of this tool (“How to overcome the barriers”) illustrates strategies and interventions to promote gender and diversity competent leadership.

Examples

Combatting sexual and gender-based harassment

The fields of research and higher education are not immune to sexual and gender-based harassment. Actions are needed to put an end to this behaviour, such as: providing information regarding sexual and gender-based harassment, and offering attention and support to victims and witnesses of misconduct, with a commitment to putting an end to such behaviour.

Useful to know

  • Sexual and gender-based harassment is a problem that tends to be underestimated in research organisations and universities. However, recent analyses and reviews, undertaken among others in the context of EU-funded structural change projects, have revealed the pressing need for action against this problem.
  • Institutions may find it sufficient to treat sexual harassment under existing policies and procedures. Increasingly, however, institutions consider it necessary to set up dedicated structures and/or to issue specific procedures and instruments. In any case, the institution must make clear that it does not tolerate abuses.
  • Educational programmes about sexual and gender-based harassment may prove useful in preventing its occurrence.

Existing tools and resources

Example

Integrating gender in research and education content

Integrating the gender dimension means taking into account the biological characteristics and the social features of both women and men, girls and boys. Our knowledge is the basis on which future generations will build their societies. It is therefore crucial that the knowledge which is created through research and transferred through education is free of gender bias.

Particularly, when relevant, research and innovation activities need to critically examine both gender differences and inequalities. The added-value of integrating a gender dimension in research and innovation allows: a) ensuring excellence and quality in outcomes and enhancing sustainability, b) making research and innovation more responsive to social needs and c) developing new ideas and fostering innovation. Through the inclusion of a gender dimension in research and innovation content, gender biases are more likely to be tackled and eliminated.

Also, as education forms our future scientists, young people need to be taught about the gender aspects of their disciplines and trained to perform gender-sensitive research.

Useful to know

  • A subject is considered gender relevant when it can be expected that its findings affect (groups of) women and men, or girls and boys, differently. 
  • Integrating the gender dimension in the research content requires the consideration of sex and gender aspects throughout all stages of the research cycle: from the definition of research questions and hypotheses, the selection of research methods and during the running of research activities, to the analysis and reporting of results.
  • STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) research topics often appear as gender-neutral. In such cases, the following questions can be asked about aspects that are not gender-neutral: who decides on the research agenda; whose interests and needs are served with the research; who will be the users of the knowledge that is to be produced; who can benefit and in which way from the research? It is always relevant to produce research that has a high societal value and can provide answers to societal needs.
  • Teachers’ and lecturers’ interactions with students are unconsciously influenced by gender stereotypes. Young people also hold stereotypical beliefs about women’s and men’s ‘natural’ abilities. Countering such stereotypes allows for everyone to engage with science in all its aspects without constraints set by ungrounded preconceptions.

Existing tools and resources

Example

Analytical measures, targets, indicators, monitoring and evaluation

Collecting, assessing, reviewing, analysing numbers, data, procedures and practices enable optimal planning and implementation of gender equality work. A Gender Equality Plan or any other gender equality ad-hoc initiatives need to be grounded in evidence. An initial assessment of the state-of-play of gender equality in the institution usually includes a statistical analysis of sex-disaggregated data, a documentary analysis of national legal and policy documents, along with the organisation’s strategic and operational documents.

This analysis will provide pertinent insights to decide on the measures or actions required to progress gender equality (see here: ‘How to analyse and assess the state-of-play in the institution’). Then, it is important to set targets and to follow up the implementation of measures or actions in order to monitor the progress, as well as to improve measures or actions along the way. Finally, once measures or actions are concluded, it is pertinent to evaluate them in order to learn relevant lessons for future initiatives (see here: ‘How to monitor progress and evaluate a Gender Equality Plan’).

Useful to know

  • While baseline data and information are necessary as input for tailoring a context-sensitive Gender Equality Plan, it is good not to spend too much time just collecting and analysing information. If necessary, complementary analytical efforts can still be undertaken when concrete activities have started already.
  • The best way to capture the status of gender (in-)equality in the organisation and to assess progress is by combining the use of quantitative indicators with qualitative ones. Gender-sensitive and gender-specific indicators are key to measure gender-related changes over time. They can be quantitative (e.g. number of female and male researchers), or qualitative (usually used to capture/assess people’s experiences, opinions, attitudes, behaviours and feelings). While quantitative indicators can provide statistical evidence of what has changed, qualitative analyses allow assessing the quality of change and help understanding why certain patterns have occurred.
  • Remember that ‘women’ and ‘men’ are no monolithic groups and that differences in the situations of individuals within these groups might be bigger than between the groups. Attention for intersecting inequalities and the influence of other factors (like age, family status, contractual basis, …) is thus warranted.
  • Monitoring efforts not only allow to measure the impact of initiatives and the progress made towards gender equality, they also enable to identify what can be done better. Monitoring is thus important for learning: to take on board the lessons from the practice and to improve what is done.

Existing tools and resources

  • The She Figures Handbook can strengthen your capacity to systematically produce meaningful data as it provides methodological guidance on the calculation of indicators included in the She Figures 2015 publication. Organised by data source, information provided on each indicator includes a brief definition, rationale, computation method and any comments or critical issues for the reader to note.
  • The EU-funded structural change project INTEGER developed a number of ready-to-use templates, to be used as tools, to support universities and research organisations in the assessment of their Gender Equality Plans. 
  • The Wheel Toolkit designed by the EU-funded SAGE project (2017) aims to assist organisations to effect and sustain change in cycles. At each cycle, the organisation should re-assess itself and carry out changes towards gender equality. It includes a comprehensive 3-phase approach to GEPs and institutional changes.
  • The Gender Diversity Index designed under the EU-funded GEDII project is a composite indicator which combines data on those seven grounds into one figure. It is bound between 0 and 1, and measures both parity in representation in the most desirable categories (e.g. senior roles) or more inclusive categories (e.g. care responsibilities), as well as equal chances for women and men to access these categories (attrition) for each of the seven grounds.
  • The EU-funded BALTIC-Gender project developed a Handbook of gender-sensitive indicators to look at sex-segregated and aggregated data from its eight partner institutions. For each indicator, a short description is given followed by the rationale, data needed / computation method, initial ideas for data analysis and comments / critical issues. It is accompanied by a database of indicators that can be retrieved from the project website.
  • The EU-funded structural change project STAGES provides in its guidelines some insightful recommendations to collect data and monitor gender equality. Check pages 29-33 for more information. 
  • The EU-funded structural change project FESTA developed a toolkit aimed at providing practical insights, examples and tools to collect and understand statistics (including indicators), and to translate these figures into awareness.
  • The Gender Equality Audit and Monitoring (GEAM) tool, developed in 2019 by the EU-funded ACT project, is an integrated environment for carrying out survey-based gender equality audits in academic organisations or organisational units. Its core instrument is a flexible questionnaire framework based upon the Athena Survey of Science, Engineering and Technology (ASSET) and on existing measurement scales in the scientific literature. It comprises a collection of questions that cover most aspects of gender equality in academic organisations, providing high-quality data for designing and implementing gender equality measures and assessing their impact over time. It is available in English, Spanish, German, Polish, Portuguese and Lithuanian.
  • The EFFORTI Toolbox 2.0 designed in 2019 by this EU-funded project, provides instruments for ex-ante and on-going GEP evaluation. It is meant to assist GEP implementation team in defining indicators, an impact pathway to explicit how planned actions are meant to deliver desired changes. It allows for compiling a customised gender equality intervention or evaluation design and to simulate ideal processes, outcomes and impacts. The Impact Story Knowledge Base provides the user with the necessary tools to understand ‘how’ gender equality measures are supposed to work and will support the formulation of programme theories. The programme theory generator represents the practical tool that helps you to generate your own customized programme theory. The evaluation framework is a wiki-style knowledge base that includes a diversified set of reports, analyses and key literature to provide you with an in-depth insight into the project‘s evolution.
  • The EU-funded GEARING-ROLES project developed an up to date (2019) Resource directory that lists relevant resources for planning and performing a gender audit as a first step towards GEP design.
  • Under the EU-funded EQUAL-IST project, Prof. Claudia Canali from the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia elaborated a Methodology for Participatory Gender Audits (PGAs) in ICT. The methodology exploits a mixed strategy integrating quantitative and qualitative techniques adapted to the specific context of ICT/IST research institutions. On one hand, quantitative indicators are computed on gender disaggregated data. On the other hand, a qualitative approach based on participatory techniques makes use of intense interactions with the staff of an organisation to trigger reflection, internal conversations and dialogues on individual and collective rules, behaviors and beliefs, and their impact on gender equality.
  • The EU-funded TARGET project developed a Monitoring tool and guidelines for self-assessment (2018) that provides concrete guidance for development of a customized monitoring and its use for self-assessment. The approach to monitoring assumes that there is a no one fits all solution. The monitoring is based on the objectives formulated in the GEP and the logic model developed for each GEP activity.
  • The Gender Audit Toolkit designed by the EU-funded PLOTINA project in 2017, provides recommendations on how to get ready for a gender audit at a research performing organisation, how to collect data and how to analyze it and report about it. It includes two checklists to help RPOs to collect both qualitative and quantitative data.
  • The EU-funded structural change project GenisLab provides detailed instructions to carry out a Participatory Gender Audit (PGA). A PGA is an action-research methodology that helps ‘mapping’ an organisation from a gender equality perspective. This methodology combines an objective observation of facts and data with a more in-depth and qualitative reflection on individual and collective rules, behaviours, and beliefs, as well as their impact on gender equality. Download the complete GenisLab guidelines and tools for institutional change and read pages 29 to 55.
  • Sets of possible indicators on structural change in research organisations and higher education institutions are under development in a couple of EU-funded projects, e.g. Gender-Net and EGERA. Keep an eye on their websites for updates on indicators.
  • To assess gender structural change, the EU-funded GENOVATE project developed in 2016 comprehensive Guidelines for Evaluating Gender Equality Action Plans (GEAPs), which presents several specific features: 1) It fully takes into account the inputs from the evaluation literatures, carefully identifying the steps of the evaluation process and defining a theory of change adapted to the project’s purpose; 2) It also draws upon the insights from the critical analysis of gender mainstreaming implementation in a number of domains, thus highlighting the specific hindrances and resistances faced by social and institutional change aiming at gender equality and 3) it focuses on three fundamental dimensions of change: ideas, structures and people.
  • The Manual for Gender Audit Facilitators developed by the International Labour Organisation in 2012, provides PGA facilitators with guidelines and practical instructions on how to undertake a PGA in an organisational context. Its content and structure are based on training materials that are being used to prepare facilitators to conduct PGAs. A step-by-step approach is used that leads facilitators through each stage of the process culminating with guidance on writing a PGA report that covers key findings, good practices and a set of recommendations to the audited unit or organisation. ss in promoting gender equality in the world of work. This revised Manual is based on the ILO’s practical experience of piloting PGAs of many ILO technical units and country offices, constituents and UN partners from 2001 to 2012.
  • Science Europe developed a Practical Guide to Improving Gender Equality in Research Organisations, part two of the document deals with "How to Monitor Gender Equality" as of page 26.

Examples

Incentives to promote gender equality

Both rewards and sanctions can push forward change towards gender equality by stimulating the desired behaviour among actors. Rewarding positive contributions has the potential to enhance the working relations and the organisational atmosphere.

Useful to know

  • Give proper visibility to the incentives to promote gender equality. Make sure the target audience of these incentives is aware of their existence. Provide information on when and how to apply.
  • Define gender-sensitive and gender-specific criteria to apply to the incentive.
  • Be transparent about the selection process.

Existing tools and resources

  • The analytical paper produced in 2016 by EIGE on Integrating gender equality into academia and research organisations focuses on incentive factors identified in the Member States for promoting the uptake of gender equality initiatives by research and higher education institutions. The focus of the analysis herein has been on public research and higher education institutions, with particular attention being paid to how these institutions have taken up the challenge of tackling gender inequalities within their organisations.
  • The EU-funded GENDER-NET project produced a report which analyses existing awards to promote gender equality structural change. This report assesses the impact of national and regional award schemes aimed at creating greater gender equality, and their ability to stimulate gender equality and enact structural change with regard to gender equality in research institutions. 
  • The paper on Excellence and Gender Equality Policies in Neoliberal Universities, by Birgit Riegraf and Lena Weber (2017) critically analyses the impact of incentive- and excellence-based gender equality initiatives in the academia. It argues tat the classical idea of innovative science was shaped by male scientists and reflected their ways of living and was mainly reproduced via gatekeeping and homosocial co-optation processes. On the basis of two case studies of German universities, this paper calls attention upon the shift to new ‘quasi’-market mechanisms being combined with gender equality policies. Findings shed light on new gendered work patterns and inequalities of contemporary academia. Academia is opening up to ‘excellent’ high-performance women, while other women are still disadvantaged.

Examples

For a gender-sensitive response to the COVID-19 crisis

As most of human organisations, RPOs and RFOs are severely affected by the health, economic and policy impact of the COVID-19, and are constantly adapting to the current situation. It is therefore difficult to map their efforts at this stage, as those are often based on ad-hoc initiatives and not fully documented. However, the resources and examples listed below illustrate different scales of gender-sensitive responsiveness to the COVID-19, from a broad gender and feminist platform compiling useful resources, to large surveys launched to measure the different impact dimensions of the COVID-19 on academic communities.

Useful to know

  • As shown in an influential paper published in The Lancet by the Gender and COVID-19 working group, the pandemic has a differential impat on men on women, if considering for instance that women are in the front line of (health) care worldwide. Additional evidences call for a gender-sensitive approach to the health impact of the outbreak.
  • First available data show that COVID-19 related measures such as telework resulting from partial or full lockdown, social distancing and travel restrictions, have a disproportionate impact on women, affecting work-life balance, the gendered distribution of care activities and their well-being and mental health.
  • A similar situation prevails in research and academic organisations, as female scholars and researchers also bear the greatest share of care duties in their couples or families, thus limiting their capacity to maintain a similar pace in terms of scientific production and activity. This resulted in a sharp drop in the number of academic papers submitted for publication in international journals, as documented in many disciplines.
  • Research funding is also at stake, as massive resources are poured into COVID-19 related research projects. First indications show that men and women are not equally involved in this endeavour, thus deepening the gender gap in terms of access to research funding.
  • It is also reported that women scientists and experts have been widely invisible in providing expertise and solutions to the current crisis, thus deepening a persisting gap in terms of scientific visibility, but also undermining the capacity of human societies to adopt a gender-sensitive response to the multi-layered COVID-19 crisis.
  • COVID-19 crisis is being followed by a major economic turmoil, primarily affecting services in which women constitute the majority of the workforce (such as in tourism, retail, financial services…), and placing female-dominated, lower paid sectors such as healthcare and homecare in the frontline. Hence, gender-sensisitive data and research is required more than ever to tackle the situation, for which specific measures are to be adopted in RPOs and RFOs.
  • EIGE has developed a webpage devoted to raising awareness on those and other challenges related to gender and COVID-19. The information made available draws on EIGE’s existing research and gender statistucs to highlight how the different realities that men and women could be facing in light of the pandemic.

Existing tools and resources

  • NGOS, grassroots associations and activists of dozens of countries have joined forces to collectively outline key principles for a just and resilient recovery from the ongoing global pandemic, as well as to track responses and uplift collective action of feminists around the world. They established a platform this gives access to position papers, selected good practices, analysis and other resources which have in common to adopt a right-based and intersectional approach to the challenges posed by the COVID-19 to gender and sexual rights globally. Although not focused on research and the academia, resources posted on the platform outline common needs and potential responses which place any COVID-19 response at the level of RPOs and RFOs against a broader background.
  • Gender and COVID-19 working group was established in February 2020. Initially focused on the US, the UK, Canada, China and Hong-kong, this inter-disciplinary group of academics published an influential article in The Lancet, devoted to the gendered (health) impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Since, it has expanded its geographical and thematic scope, including research and higer education and involving several researchers from the EU-funed GENDER-NET plus project.
  • The project #DATACOVIDGENDER was initiated through a collaboration with the GenPORT portal, an output of the EU-funded (FP7) GenPORT project. It aims at providing scientific evidence through a collaborative, open knowledge archives portal, on the gendered implications of the COVID-19.
  • The EU-funded SPEAR project disseminated the results of a short questionnaire submitted to its consortium partners to share their experience during the COVID-19 crisis through an online media campaign to raise awareness on the gendered impact of the pandemic on academic and research staff.
  • The European Commission ahas launched a series of webinar devoted to gender-sensitive responses to the COVID-19 global pandemic. Delivered in May-June 2020, it included two sessions: one devoted to tackling gender-based violence in the context of the COVID-19 and another to gender equality aspects of work and care. The webinars were delivered as part of a broader mutual learning programme which provides access to a range of policy experimentations and solutions in relation to a gender-sensitive response to the COVID-19 crisis.
  • The European Commission, through its Directorate General for Research and Innovation, has launched a webpage compiling recent initiatives in addressing the gendered impact of the COVID-19.
  • This influential paper published in The Lancet on behalf of the Gender and COVID-19 working group, outlines the need for a gender-sensitive approach to the health impact of the pandemic, and calls for further research so as to design gender-responsive strategies in fighting the outbreak.
  • This paper published in Nature (583, 867-869), provides a brief overview of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the productivity and subsequent evaluation of female researchers. It also features a series of recommendations, from altering evaluation criteria to take into account that most of care activities fall upon women and that work-life balance is heavily affected by the measures taken to limit the expansion of the pandemic, to setting quotas.
  • The position paper on the current COVID-19 outbreak and gendered impacts on researchers and teachers, released in May 2020 by the Standing Working Group on Gender in Research and Innovation (SWGRI, ERAC), addresses the multi-layered, gendered impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the working conditions, funding opportunities and publication record of researchers in the European Research Area, and formulates recommendation to document and tackle those consequences, including on work-life balance.
  • The European University Alliance for Global Health (EUGLOH) and Paris Saclay’s Ecole Normale Supérieure, have designed the largest survey ever sent to students in five European countries. It will allow to make a specific analysis of the evolution of students’ living conditions across Europe in the context of the COVID-19 health crisis, including on gender relevant. Full data is collected by Université Paris-Saclay for academic use only.

Examples

Guidelines for a gender-sensitive implementation of telework in relation to COVID-19 pandemic

Part to the SUPERA project (H2020, 2018-2022), the Central European University, based in Budapest and Vienna, promptly issued official guidelines for all supervisors to implement an inclusive and gender-sensitive policy with regard to telework and work life balance in the situation created by the COVID-19 sanitary crisis. Based on a diagnosis formulated jointly by the Equal Opportunity Officer, the Gender Equality Officer and the Equal Opportunity Committee, the guidelines address the differential impact on women of remote work and schooling, due to the persistently uneven distribution of care duties. Supervisors are thus invited to set realistic expectations towards individuals considering their unique situations and taking into account equal opportunities, by 1) prioritizing tasks, 2) Assess and adjust teams’ capacity, reducing workload for particularly overburdened colleagues, notably single parents households; 3) Supporting teams with new working norms including flexible worktimes, the limitation of ad hoc tasks, defining “core hours” and enabling conditions for telework. The guidelines are also directed to the staff, encouraged to use IT tools provided by the CEU and to report their own difficulties and constraints. These guidelines were issued by late March 2020. 

Survey on working conditions, academic time usage perception and academic performance during  the COVID-19 crisis (ES)

A Survey on working conditions, academic time usage perception and academic performance was designed by the University Complutense of Madrid as part of the EU-funded SUPERA project and launched in June 2020. Approximately 27% of the UCM research and teaching staff responded to the survey, which was launched through the 26 faculties of the university, involving the Gender Equality focal persons appointed under SUPERA. Definitive results will be made available in September 2020. Within the SUPERA consortium, the universities of Cagliari (UNICA) and Coimbra (UC) have been working on adapting it to their institutional contexts. The Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation also used the questionnaire for inspiration for a survey on young researchers. 

FURTHER INFORMATION

    Webinar on gender-sensitive teleworking in Covid times

    Yellow Window, technical partner to the EU-funded Gender-SMART project, and Teagasc, GEP implementing partner in the same consortium, jointly delivered on July 7th, 2020, a webinar on gender-sensitive telework in COVID-19 times, sharing the experience of Teagasc, an Irish research institutes on agriculture, and tips and hints on how to prevent telework to increase gender bias and imbalances during the current health crisis. This webinar was part of a broader effort in Gender-SMART, to address the gendered consequences of the COVID-19, including a project wide survey. 

    Online workshop on 'putting a gender lens on COVID-19 funded research'

    An online workshop highlighting gender equality challenges in research and innovation funding during the current pandemic was organized on 20 April 2020 by the Research Funding Organisation Community of Practice (FORGEN) set up as part of the EU-funded ACT project and coordinated by the Science Foundation of Ireland, featuring Drs Rosemary Morgan & Clare Wenham (co-authors of the influential paper published in the Lancet in March 2020 by members of the international Gender and COVID-19 Working Group). Although an ad-hoc initiative, this workshop highlights the importance of adopting a gender perspective on the research funded to address the multi-layered aspects of the COVID-19 outbreak. Delivered as part of a EU-wide community of RFOs, it has the potential to raise awareness on this issue and should therefore be replicated. 

    FURTHER INFORMATION

      Online surveys on COVID-19 impact on GEP design and implementation

      So as to make the GEP process of their respective implementing partners COVID-19 responsive, several EU-funded projects – namely CALIPER, Gender-SMART, GEARING-ROLES, SPEAR, SUPERA -, have launched online consultations on its tangible and expected impact on GEP design and/or implementation. Those questionnaires/surveys have been designed to identify both constraints and opportunities in setting-up, getting approved and implementing GEPs in COVID-19 times. Their results, made available internally or shared with the broader research community, have highlighted issues such as the impact of the outbreak (and related measures) on: work-life balance, decision-making processes, psychological health, access to research funding, staff evaluation… thus calling action to further adapt GEPs to the new situations generated by COVID-19. 

      FURTHER INFORMATION

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