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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.

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.  
  • 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.
  • 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.  

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 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.

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

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

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 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 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.
  • 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 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. 

Examples

Downloads

Download the Gender Equality in Academia and Research - GEAR tool guide EN (852 KB)