EQUAL-IST Final Conference - Brussels 22nd May: Gender Equality Policies in Research Institutions: Promoting transformative and sustainable changes

Registration link, click here(link is external).

Abstract

ERA objectives have stressed the importance of gender equality in research, at the three levels of fostering equality in scientific careers, achieving gender balance in decision making and integrating a gender dimension in research content. Gender balance in research organizations is considered as a key step for ensuring research excellence and quality and inclusive-sustainable innovation. Still, in spite of an increasing number of HE and research institutions committed to make science more equal and some positive trends in figures on Gender equality in STEM research, it still appears to be difficult to prioritize gender equality. This is particularly true for disciplines such as ICT/IST where female representation at all levels is among the lowest ones among STEM topics and where a gender sensitive approach to ICT design and programming is far from being understood in its implications among computer and information systems scientist.

H2020 (PGERI and SWAFS programmes in particular), promoted the concept of structural change for gender equality, insisting on the need for merging change management and gender policies, and have funded dedicated research projects in this field in the last 2 programming periods starting from FP7 already.

The conference intends to start from the presentation of results and tools from the H2020 EQUAL-IST project to discuss opportunities to innovate teaching, students services, HR management and Institutional communication via gender equality, as well as existing hindrances and resistances which are slowing structural change processes down, starting from the perspective of ICT and IS Research Organizations.

Objectives

• Framing the gender equality in Higher Education and research within up to date EC policy orientations towards Horizon Europe and recent scientific studies in the fields and a focus on IT/IST disciplines
• Presenting and discussing results from the EQUAL-IST Results from implementation of GEPs (Gender Equality Plans) at the 6 partner universities as concrete examples of methods and tools which have been delivered:
  • Co-design and participatory methodology via the Crowdequality crowdsourcing platform
  • The EQUAL-IST on line toolkit
  • Innovative practices to attract more girls to ICT/IS studies
• Continuing the exchanges and mutual learning with other H2020 Swafs projects on gender in research

Participants/target groups

• Decision makers to middle managers and academic staff at EU Research Institutions and Universities
• Gender Equality bodies and advocates at Research/Research Funding organizations
• Gender/RRI experts and practitioners as well as scholars in the same fields
• Professors and researchers from all disciplines with interest on inclusive innovation in HE institutions

Organizing committee

Università Ca’ Foscari, Venezia, Department of Computer Sciences(link is external), in collaboration with ViLabs(link is external), Lead Partner

Publication

The articles of the EQUAL-IST presentations at the conference will be published by Edizioni Ca’ Foscari. An on line Open Access volume will be available.