Online Discussion on Integrating Gender Equality in Universities and Research Institutions

Online Discussion on integrating gender equality in universities and research institutions

Starts at: 20/10/2015, 09:00 CEST (+02:00)
Ends at: 20/10/2015, 23:00 CEST (+02:00)

EIGE’s gender mainstreaming programme focuses on a sectorial approach to gender equality. Within the area of research, an online tool will be built for the integration of gender equality into universities and research institutions.

In the process of developing this tool, EIGE, in cooperation with the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Research and Innovation,wishes to involve experts and stakeholders who have been or are currently involved in setting up, implementing and/or evaluating gender equality initiatives in universities and research institutions. If you have such expertise and experience or are interested in the process, we invite you to join this online discussion and contribute to the following topics:

10.00 - 10.05:Welcome and introduction
10.05 - 11.30: TOPIC 1: Identifying key success factors, challenges and pitfalls in relation to initiatives promoted by research institutions aimed at promoting gender equality
11.30 - 12.30: TOPIC 2: Understanding how effectiveness of gender equality initiatives in research institutions is and/or can be assessed
12.30 - 14.30: TOPIC 3: Defining qualitative criteria for identifying and selecting good practices in integrating gender equality in research institutions
14.30 - 16.00: TOPIC 4: Identifying stakeholders’ needs, requirements and priorities in relation to support measures that could be made available for research institutions to take up initiatives to progress gender equality

Gender experts from EIGE and Yellow Window (EIGE’s Contractor for the project) will be facilitating the online discussion and will be answering further questions related to the project.

At the end of the online discussion, the transcript containing all comments will be uploaded on the page. Two weeks later, the report of the online discussion, clustering comments/recommendations per topic, will be made available on EuroGender as well.

File attachments: online-discussion_background-note_integrating-gender-equality-in-universities-and-research-institutions.pdf, online-discussion_agenda.pdf
Facilitators: European Institute for Gender Equality, Catarina Arnaut

Catarina Arnaut | 20/10/2015, 11:00 EEST (+03:00)

Good morning!

We are Lut Mergaert and Catarina Arnaut from Yellow Window, and Maurizio Mosca from EIGE. Together, we will be moderating the online discussion. Thank you for your interest in the topics we will discuss today.

Please note that the discussion focuses on the particular context of ‘research organisations’. These are understood as including both universities and public research centres without teaching mandate.

We would like to clarify that we will be online until 4 p.m. (Brussels time). We invite you to follow and participate in the discussion and much as you can. Still, if you lack time during the day, please be informed that the thread remains open for you to post comments for the remaining of the day. As you can see in the event’s page, the topics to be discussed are numbered from 1 to 4. The discussion will be facilitated according to the agenda. However, in case you wish to refer to a topic that has been addressed earlier, feel free to do so by referring to the topic number (as per agenda).

We invite those of you who are online and those who will join throughout the day to share your experiences on integrating gender equality in universities and research institutions. We also encourage you to contribute to the definition of criteria to assess good practices in this field.

We are looking forward to interesting exchanges and to a fruitful discussion!

Comments:

Catarina Arnaut | 20/10/2015, 11:02 EEST (+03:00)
Please note that you need to refresh the page from time to time.

Catarina Arnaut | 20/10/2015, 11:01 EEST (+03:00)

Working towards gender equality within research institutions, notably in the context of a Gender Equality Plan, may be characterised by particular challenges. There might also be key success factors that are specific for this context. We would like to hear your experiences and views on these matters.

Catarina Arnaut | 20/10/2015, 11:01 EEST (+03:00)

Our first question is: which are the main challenges and obstacles that are or have been experienced when implementing gender equality initiatives in research institutions? How these can be overcome?

Elena del Barrio Álvarez | 20/10/2015, 11:08 EEST (+03:00)

Dear all, I am Elena del Barrio Álvarez, from the Autonomous University of Madrid. I belong to a specific comitte working on gender issues. In our University we have seen an improvement in the law related with gender equality, and finally we have got a harassment proceedment and specific law about that. Nevertheless, this is sitll not enought, we are not suported in case students harass lecturers, or in case students harash each others.

We are working on that through semminars, emails, and reunions to create awaresness about the situation

Lut Mergaert | 20/10/2015, 11:12 EEST (+03:00)

Good morning Elena! Thank you for your contribution. If you write 'you are not supported', which is the type of support you would need? And you are not getting it from whom?

MAURIZIO MOSCA | 20/10/2015, 11:14 EEST (+03:00)

Lut Mergaert wrote:

Good morning Elena! Thank you for your contribution. If you write 'you are not supported', which is the type of support you would need? And you are not getting it from whom?

Good Morning...I am Maurizio Mosca and I am the project manager of EIGE's work on good practices...I look forward to learn from this discussion.

Siobán O’Brien Green | 20/10/2015, 11:17 EEST (+03:00)

Hi everyone, Siobán from Dublin, Ireland here.

Based on my experience of working in the university sector and my field research on this area I feel some of the challenges in the university or higher education sector appear to be the priority given to gender equality in an arena preoccupied with international and national rankings and securing research funding. Are funding agencies (RFOs) and academic journal requirements for gender equality the external tools that will mobilise change long term in this sector?

Any thoughts on other tools or routes to gain more and faster traction on this topic? Elena the law seems your route in Spain

Maxime Forest | 20/10/2015, 11:18 EEST (+03:00)

Good morning,

I am Maxime Forest, scientific coordinator of the EGERA project (standing for Effective Gender Equality in Research and the Academia), funded under EU FP7. This project is coordinated from Sciences Po Paris, my home institution.

My impression is that these challenges are of a different nature for gender equality initiatives aiming explicitly at structural changes (as those conducted through EU-funded projects) and for those initiatives with a more specific outreach (as bringing more women in STEMs, enhancing gender equality in the work place or developping research on gender).

As for the first category, challenges can include:

- difficulties in mobilizing the whole institution to implement changes (implementation limited to certain faculties or departments, or specific categories of staff...)

- lack of top management support (lip-service from the management with respect to the objectives of the initiative, lack of communication from this level towards the broader community, lack of support when touching upon aspects that might trigger tensions, as revising evaluation, wages or tackling sexual harassment...)

- lack of institutionalization: the gender equality initiative is being carried out in isolation from established structures and processes, thus limiting the impact of implemented measures

Comments:

Catarina Arnaut | 20/10/2015, 11:21 EEST (+03:00)
Thank you, Maxime! This resonates with what Elena wrote. Do we see here a pattern emerging (i.e. in mobilising the whole institution)?

Valéria Szekeres | 20/10/2015, 11:19 EEST (+03:00)

Dear All, good morning! My name is Valéria Szekeres. I work at the Institute of Economic and Social Sciences, Óbuda University, Budapest. I have led a two-year project on what possible barriers stand in the way of getting more female students to apply to technology academic programmes and what means could be utilized to potentially get more girls to apply. There has alsobeen research on the opinions of teachers and professors about such matters.

I am a Hungarian representative of the European Association for Women in Science, Engineering and Technology.

Comments:

Catarina Arnaut | 20/10/2015, 11:25 EEST (+03:00)
Thank you, Valéria! Is it possible to summarise the key points of the opinions expressed by professors?

Anne-Sophie Godfroy | 20/10/2015, 11:20 EEST (+03:00)

Hello,

I'm Anne-Sophie Godfroy from Univesité Paris Est. I am associate professor in philosopy. I am working in the GENDERTIME project, where we implement GEP in 8 institutions accross Europe since 2013.

MAURIZIO MOSCA | 20/10/2015, 11:22 EEST (+03:00)

Anne-Sophie Godfroy wrote:

Hello,

I'm Anne-Sophie Godfroy from Univesité Paris Est. I am associate professor in philosopy. I am working in the GENDERTIME project, where we implement GEP in 8 institutions accross Europe since 2013.

Dear Anne-Sophie,

Maxime Forest listed some relevant challenges...

in your experience, how did you overcome those, or other and what solutions did you develop?

it is interesting to listen how those issues have been faced and dealt in existing projects and initiatives

MAURIZIO MOSCA | 20/10/2015, 11:24 EEST (+03:00)

MAURIZIO MOSCA wrote:

Anne-Sophie Godfroy wrote:
Hello,
I'm Anne-Sophie Godfroy from Univesité Paris Est. I am associate professor in philosopy. I am working in the GENDERTIME project, where we implement GEP in 8 institutions accross Europe since 2013.

Dear Anne-Sophie,

Maxime Forest listed some relevant challenges...

in your experience, how did you overcome those, or other and what solutions did you develop?

it is interesting to listen how those issues have been faced and dealt in existing projects and initiatives

Also what Catarina has highlightes is extremely important...

how do we mobilize institution to introduce change and transformation?

Women's Assembly for Development and the Struggle against Social Exclusion | 20/10/2015, 11:24 EEST (+03:00)

Hello! I am Marina Cacace from ASDO, not-for-profit social research institute. We work in two EC-funded structural change projects: STAGES and TRIGGER as evaluators and providing technical assistance to the Action Plans for gender equality.

One of the first challenges of all plans - influencing it prioritisation problem which was mentioned - is framing the "gender equality thing" in a meaningful way for the stakeholder at the institution, so to address emergent problems of the organisation, negotiating how the general aim should actually be interpreted locally with researchers, existing bodies for equality, or diversity, or HR, and the leadership. This is not always easy, but at a certain point Action Plans find the right keys to have existing structures interested in joining efforts on common objectives.

Siobán O’Brien Green | 20/10/2015, 11:25 EEST (+03:00)

Thanks Maxime,

I think fragmentation and pockets of good practice are an issue, some departments or schools or areas within institutes seem to be doing well in promoting gender equality with tangible efforts. Others not so well even within the same universities, how to develop a whole institute response seems like a challenge.

Maxime Forest | 20/10/2015, 11:28 EEST (+03:00)

Another potential challenge stems from the fact that neither gender mainstreaming nor action plans, as a policy tool, are institutionalized to the same extent in respective member states. For instance, some countries have a long experience in developing comprehensive gender equality initiatives through action plans, while other don't. This can produce specific challenges such as the lack of monitoring and evaluation instruments.

In France, policies in general often lacks such instruments, and are little implementation-oriented. For this reason, implementing structural change through a GEP requires explaining what an action plan actually is and what differentiates it from a charter, for instance.

Catarina Arnaut | 20/10/2015, 11:29 EEST (+03:00)

Women's Assembly for Development and the Struggle against Social Exclusion wrote:

One of the first challenges of all plans (...) is framing the "gender equality thing" in a meaningful way for the stakeholders at the institution, so to address emergent problems of the organisation (...).

Marina, this is very interesting. Can you give some concrete examples, which will also help responding other questions that have been raised today?

Bente Knoll | 20/10/2015, 11:30 EEST (+03:00)

Catarina Arnaut wrote:

Our first question is: which are the main challenges and obstacles that are or have been experienced when implementing gender equality initiatives in research institutions? How these can be overcome?

Good morning, I am Bente Knoll from B-NK GmbH, Austria and also lecturer at University of Technology Vienna teaching Gender Studies in Engineering.

Referring to Catarinas question:

From my experience

lack of formal structures, lack of middle management committment --> more regulations and SANCTIONS needed
hidden and sometimes visible resistance against gender equality amoung the staff --> tailor made gender training with a strong linkage to professional/reseach background of participants needed

Comments:

Catarina Arnaut | 20/10/2015, 11:32 EEST (+03:00)
Hi Bente! Thank you for your contribution. What would you imagine as possible sanctions in this kind of institutions?

Siobán O’Brien Green | 20/10/2015, 11:31 EEST (+03:00)

Having mixed staff teams working on action plan development seems to have worked in Ireland, from the president of the university to PhD students. Then everyone can feel ownership and part of the process. Has anyone else used this? Still this requires resources and time and support.

Catarina Arnaut | 20/10/2015, 11:33 EEST (+03:00)

Siobán O’Brien Green wrote:

This looks like a success factor, which brings us to our next question. Which are in your opinion ‘key success factors’ for implementing gender equality initiatives in research institutions?

French Institute of Science and Technology for Transport, Development and Networks | 20/10/2015, 11:34 EEST (+03:00)

Good morning everyone! I'm Eric Gelineau, head of Ifsttar's legal services and in charge of implementing Ifsttar's GEP.

Even if we have a strong involvement of Ifsttar's top management, it's difficult to have the same involvement from the middle management and the whole staff in general. In a context of staff reduction, lack of time and material means. Equality is not seen as a priority.

Also, even if our hiring processes seem gender-neutral, we face a difficulty when hiring in male dominated scientific fields, such as STEM. Since Ifsttar is a research organisation, it doesn't have much leverage to increase women representation in the pools of likely candidates.

DESY | 20/10/2015, 11:37 EEST (+03:00)

Hello my name is Sandra and I work for the German research organization DESY which is dealing in the research field of physics. I’m involved in the EU project GENERA which aims at evolving and monitoring the implementation of gender equality plans. We have started with our project in September. One of the main obstacles might be to involve the management level. The top-level manager focus on the research and gender equality is more or less a side issue which comes just at the end of the agenda.

Women's Assembly for Development and the Struggle against Social Exclusion | 20/10/2015, 11:39 EEST (+03:00)

About negotiating the concrete meaning of the Plan for gender equality to address emerging issues at the organisation (sorry for the late reply) ... At the University of Milano, for instance, an issue is the University interest in accessing European research funds. Actions have then been framed so as to address the problem, by providing tools to support researchers in writing and managing projects. The "School for project drafting" was launched addressing both male and female young researchers, but it was designed in the young women's researchers network, so to put the specific needs women researchers might have at the basis of the design itself. It was a big success, and this effort will be continued by the University after the end of STAGES ... Many other examples can be made

Siobán O’Brien Green | 20/10/2015, 11:39 EEST (+03:00)

Motivation in the form of external awards which creates competition between institutes and compliance with legislation to avoid gender discrimination legal action appear to be drivers for this in some cases.But I agree with Catherine compliance is not enough with the law, we need vision.

Catherine Lynch | 20/10/2015, 11:40 EEST (+03:00)

To critical success factors, I'd mention "what gets measured, gets done". Having (gender) equality recognised as a strategic goal of the organisation is helpful.

Catarina Arnaut | 20/10/2015, 11:40 EEST (+03:00)

DESY wrote:

One of the main obstacles might be to involve the management level. The top-level manager focus on the research and gender equality is more or less a side issue which comes just at the end of the agenda.

Any suggestions to help Sandra?

Maxime Forest | 20/10/2015, 11:41 EEST (+03:00)

Indeed, we see a few common challenges emerging, which are specific to these initiatives aiming at profoundly changing how RPOs work.

As for engaging the whole institution, here is our experience to date:

- identifying key stakeholders and positions/depts within the institution, such as HRM, internal communication dept., core administrative services, core scientific management, in order to start building alliances and awareness early in the project

- supporting ownership of each initiative: involving the community in designing/validating measures, placing stakeholders in responsibility for implementation (accountability) of specific measures or objectives, communicating about each of these towards the broader community

- embedding initiatives into existing structures and processes, to ensure their sustainability: for instance, trainings should be part of the broader on-the-job training programme of the institution. Consultation on gender equality issues (with social partners, students' organization, HRM depts.) should be included to regular consultation rounds, and not carried out separately and on an ad-hoc basis...

Bente Knoll | 20/10/2015, 11:42 EEST (+03:00)

Well to clarify my request for "sanctions" ... 2 toughts

gender competence should be a required skill when hiring staff at universities and when choosing management positions; proof of gender competence is needed (if there is no proof/evidence that person has the required skills they will not get the job ... the same way as it is with other highly required skills, such as e.g. publication lists ....)
distribution of research funds should be linked to a gender analysis/gender impact assessment of the research conten, which does not mean that all research has to tackle gender issues but it means that at least all research teams have thought about gender issues (the same as it is when it comes to project management ... a research project that does not contain a well-organised work plan/milestones etc. does not get funds ...)

Siobán O’Brien Green | 20/10/2015, 11:43 EEST (+03:00)

Having the data to outline the starting point and to measure change is also key. I understand many universities use common HR database tools, can these be leveraged to harness relevant data and monitor progress or barriers?