Gender Mainstreaming and the Effects of Strategic Choices on the Gender Gap in German Academia 독일대학의 성주류화의 전략적 선택이 성별차이에 미치는 영향 저자 (original) (raw)

What Price Equality? The Academic Cost of Government Supervised Gender Mainstreaming at Swedish Universities

Societies, 2020

This article is focused on gender mainstreaming at Swedish universities in the period from 2016–2019. Our research questions are: (a) In what form was gender mainstreaming introduced and did the form itself affect scholar’s academic rights? (b) Was the process in question compatible with international standards of institutional autonomy? (c) What effect did gender mainstreaming have on scholars’ ability to exercise their academic rights in accordance with international standards? Using the UNESCO Recommendations Concerning the Status of Higher-education Teaching Personnel (1997) as our international standard, we conclude that gender mainstreaming was introduced as a form of identity politics though government action and de facto supervision; that the latter was problematic from the perspective of institutional autonomy; that the choice of gender studies as a preferred scientific framework for university policy had a chilling effect on inquiry and free speech in other areas of resear...

Promoting gender equality and structural change in academia through gender equality plans: Harmonising EU and national initiatives

2021

Summary Gender equality has been actively promoted in EU academic institutions by the European Commission’s Science with and for Society (SwafS) programme through the implementation of gender equality plans (GEP). GEP formulation and implementation was strongly influenced by involvement in EU projects in Irish as well as Italian higher education institutions. The paper draws upon experience of the EU project SAGE (H2020), in which Irish and Italian universities actively cooperated, the Athena SWAN Charter in Ireland, Positive Action Plans (PAP) in Italy, and semi structured interviews with gender experts in Irish and Italian higher education institutions to explore the degree to which participation in EU and national initiatives can promote similar outcomes by the adoption of positive actions. The paper concludes that a harmonised strategy, focusing on common priorities and respecting cultural, political and social diversity, could promote the internationalization of the higher educ...

Gender equality, diversity, and inclusion in academia: successes and failures of the initiatives promoted by the European Union

Geopolitical, Social Security and Freedom Journal

The article summarises the scientific debate on the strengths and weaknesses of the strategies adopted by the European Union to promote gender equality in academia and the adoption of a gender perspective in research. The article focuses on introducing gender mainstreaming, promoting gender equality and structural change in research performing and financing organisations, and adopting gender action/equality plans. The discussion is structured around textual analysis of relevant EU acts, scientific literature, reports of EU funded research projects, communication and support actions. The authors discuss the critics of the various initiative and advance some considerations about what could support individuals and groups interested in promoting positive changes towards gender equality, diversity and inclusion in the academic field. The article relevance is linked to the innovation promoted by Horizon Europe, that requires all public institutions applying for Eu funding to have a Gender...

Designing Gender Equality as Institutional Transformation at a Higher Education Institution

Most academic systems and structures, as they exist today, are based on models which were designed centuries ago, at a time when men exclusively predominated in universities. There is certain scepticism towards what can be achieved, though. A continuing evident gap is apparent between principles, rhetoric and reality. In 2010, women were pursuing upper secondary and higher education more actively than men, but, evidently, women remain more strongly underrepresented among researchers than among highly qualified professionals in traditionally maledominated scientific and professional fields. This could point towards a situation where the organisational culture mounts resistance against the integration of women. Briefly, they require but often lack conceptual frameworks. The purpose of this study was to examine how institutional culture promoted or impeded the implementation of one of the EU flagship initiatives ‘Implementing structural change in research organizations / universities’ ...

An Overview of Gender Inequality in EU Universities

The Gender-Sensitive University A Contradiction in Terms?, 2020

Universities are important in promoting gender equality, diversity and inclusion but, despite many positive changes, they remain deeply gendered institutions. The lack of gender parity at senior professorial and decision-making grades has adverse consequences for innovation, research and a negative impact on economic growth in the wider society. The pathway towards making institutions of higher education gender sensitive has a long and global history. The role of the European Commission has been central, as have innovations by institutions in different countries. This chapter examines the degree to which academia is gendered in core areas such as the engagement of decision-makers. Charting the evolution of EU initiatives and policies helps to contextualise gender equality policy and the growing requirement for institutional Gender Equality Plans.

Gender equality in Swedish academia: Unpacking the toolbox

Journal of Praxis in Higher Education

Gender inequalities persist among Swedish academic staff, and gender balance is especially skewed toward men in the most prestigious academic career positions, such as professorships. In this article, the measures used in Swedish universities to promote gender equality among academic staff are investigated and related to theories of gender. The study is based on interview survey data on gender and diversity policies from 14 Swedish universities with an actor–structure categorization of gender equality (GE) measures used in Sweden universities since 1990. This first comprehensive study of GE policy among Swedish universities provides unique data on what policies universities have in place and rejects the notion that individual measures are predominantly used to fight gender inequality. Universities mostly use structural measures to ‘fix’ the organization, but from this approach follows that those measures are often gender neutral and soft, indicating a strong belief in gender-neutral...