Is there an increase of women in positions of authority?
Is there still gender discrimination in academia?
It seems that still some proactive steps must be taken to make it happen.
People speak a lot, for years, but we can not see a big change in the attitude, nor in the administration.
Very few steps are taken seriously to change the situation and there is just a lot of talk. In many places, the situation is similar, but in the academia there are possibilities to show and bring about a change.
Gender Equality Plan Case Study: University of Salerno
The Gender Equality Plan (GEP) of the University of Salerno–elaborated in the framework of R&I PEERS project, and approved by the Academic Senate and Board of Directors–is a comprehensive document offering a clear and focused strategy on gender equality for a university made up of more than 40.000 people. It is organised around six target areas whose achievement will be monitored through selected indicators:
- Gender Perspective in Research and Curricula;
- Improving use of gender-sensitive language;
- Work-life balance;
- Raising awareness of gender equality in UNISA;
- Mentoring;
- Reducing gender gap in decision-making bodies.
The GEP intends to carry on the legacy of OGEPO (Interdepartmental Observatory for the Gender studies and Equal Opportunities) and the CUG (Unique guarantee committee for well-being in the workplace) that since 2011 are committed to the achievement of equality between women and men and well-being for all. Indeed, some of the GEP’s activities aim at reinforcing the already existing actions such as:
- Courses on gender studies/gender equality;
- Training on gender equality and diversity management for University administrative staff;
- Initiatives on gender-based violence phenomenon;
- Gender budgeting;
- Nursery and summer camp for students and workers’ children.
The GEP’s activities aim at going one step further in order to define a broader strategy including a special attention to the STEM field. Among the envisaged actions, we can mentioned
- Introduction of an interdisciplinary teaching on gender equality and diversity management in all PhD courses;
- Mentoring sessions for female PhD students, research fellows and researchers;
- Supporting activities for financing fellowships on gender equality.
In addition, a reach programme of international conferences and workshops has been included in the GEP in order to develop a lively debate among experts around some key issues concerning women and men in research (i.e. women in STEM; gender bias in decision-making bodies; feminine leadership; gender-sensitive language), and establish scientific partnerships between the University of Salerno and European research organisations on the matter.
International Day of Women and Girls in Science with ZRC SAZU
The International Day of Women and Girls in Science will be marked by the traditional roundtable on 7 March, taking place at the premises of the Ministry of Education, Science and Sport . The roundtable will be divided in two parts: first, the participants will try to elaborate the strategies and measures to ensure the translation of one-time measures for increasing equal opportunities in the academic sphere into longer-term changes. Second, Gender Equality Plans developed by various research institutions will be presented, with specific focus on ZRC SAZU’s Gender Equality Plan. It will be presented by Dr. Oto Luthar, the Director of ZRC SAZU, and Dr. Tanja Petrović, the coordinator of the R&I PEERS project at ZRC SAZU
An important meeting
In the framework of the R&I PEERS project, a workshop for early career researchers was organized on 22 February hosting Dr. Dean Vuletic from Vienna University. Dr. Vuletic discussed the various strategies for successful applications for international scholarships as well as the opportunities for young scholars’ career advancement.
A newsletter for everyone out there
ZRC SAZU published the first issue of Gender and Science newsletter. The newsletter will be published regularly to inform the general public about various activities in the field of gender research and equal opportunities in the academic sphere and at the ZRC SAZU. The ZRC SAZU Institute of Culture and Memory Studies is currently involved in two international projects on the subject: R&I PEERS(Pilot Experiences for Improving Gender Equality in Research Organizations) and ACT(Communities of Practice for Accelerating Gender Equality and Institutional Change in Research and Innovation across Europe – Community Practices for Promoting Gender Equality and Institutional Changes in the European Scientific and Research Sphere). The two projects aim at enabling women to engage in the world of science and draw attention to inequalities.
To access click here.
The first issue of Gender and Sciencewas published on 11 February. The date itself also has a symbolic value: 11 February is the International Day of Women and Girls in Science and is celebrated around the world. The decision was adopted by the UN in 2015 to draw attention to the low percentage of female scientists – less than 30 percent worldwide.
Letter from the Coordinator
With great pleasure, we introduce you to the first series of articles from the R&I PEERS project.
The goal of the R&I PEERS project is to create and validate pilot experiences that disrupt gender-biased approaches and unconscious rules which limit careers for women and their participation in Research and Innovation.
These articles comes at a crucial stage for the project, as results from the first months of work are emerging, while the ground is being laid for the next stage of the project, which will see the implementation and improvement of GEPs, in the seven (7) pilot organisation involved in the project, leading up the validation of the strategies proposed by R&I PEERS advisory board and other stakeholders.
Among these articles, you will have the opportunity to read about the results of the analysis made in the pilot organisations to obtain information on the framework variables (cultural, legislative, political, economic) which may affect the gender issues in research. This article provides an insight into the principles inspiring the GEPs definition, highlighting the importance of setting the proposal emerging into a relevant institutional environment.
The results of the first Mutual Learning workshop, held in Rome (Italy) on 7 November are detailed in the article “Mutual Learning Workshop in Rome”. This workshop has brought together fifteen (15) experts from the gender equality field representing universities, governmental and scientific bodies as well as enterprises to discuss the existing practices in the gender equality sphere. This first project workshop has been appreciated by all attendees and we consider it a successful experience!
To conclude, I would like to highlight that this first article come on the heels of the international week for the Elimination of Violence against Women, celebrated 19-25 November. The aim of that international initiative is to emphasise the importance of the respect to the woman that we consider, as R&I PEERS consortium, a key point to promote a concept of gender equality that can best be expressed as “women and men enjoy the same status and have equal opportunity to realize their full human potential to contribute to political, economic, social and cultural development, and to benefit fully from the results”.
I hope these articles will stimulate your interest in R&I PEERS!
Now let’s get started!
Maria Rosaria Pelizzari
R&I PEERS project coordinator
Main Drivers for GEP Implementation – An Overview
The activities performed in the R&I PEERS project’s Work Package 3 aimed at defining main drivers for Gender Equality Plans (GEPs) to be implemented in each of the seven piloting partner organisations. The work has been completed as a three-step process, as presented in the graph above.
First, targets preliminarily defined for each GEP were aligned with national (cultural, legislative, political, economic) contexts of each piloting organisation. The analysis performed has shown that, despite significant differences among piloting partner organisations (in nature of their work, status, size), there is a notable convergence in GEP target areas defined. The graph bellow shows seven main target areas that are shared by most of the piloting partners.
Most of the GEP target areas result from detecting a gap – between what is prescribed by legislation and what exists in practice (as a consequence of unequal access, prevalent stereotypes, institutional cultures, etc.), between what countries commit to with regard to gender equality in policy documents and resolutions, and what they really do to fulfil their commitments.
In the second step, to improve preliminary GEPs, the survey has been conducted in all piloting partner organisations. This way, the employees’ perspectives have been considered in redefining GEP targets. For each GEP, the strategies have been proposed to either provide additional evidence for justification of planned measures, or to entail a sustainable structural change.
Finally, in the third step, the tools for collecting gender relevant data for both planning and monitoring the implementation of GEPs have been provided to the piloting partners. The first tool offers a framework to collect sex-disaggregated data from secondary sources, such as administrative databases and human resources information systems. The second tool proposes a translation of the 7 preidentified target areas into empirical measures, and links these measures to the indicators to assess their impact.
Through activities performed in the framework of WP3, R&I PEERS consortium has set the foundation for definition and successful implementation of GEPs in seven piloting partner organisations.