Overcoming the Challenge of Structural Change in Research Organisations: A Reflexive Approach to Gender Equality

The ebook edition of this title is Open Access and freely available to read online.

The under-representation of women in research and innovation has been documented as a global phenomenon and is particularly heightened on decision-making boards and in leadership positions. Presenting a reflexive approach to gender equality for research organisations developed within the TARGET project, funded by the European Commission, the authors describe the experiences of the project’s implementation in seven Gender Equality Innovating Institutions in the Mediterranean basin - including research performing organisations, research funding organisations and a network of universities.

The TARGET approach goes beyond the formal adoption of a gender equality policy by emphasising an iterative and reflexive process towards equality at the institutional level as well as the establishment of a community of practice for gender equality within the institution. The approach is based on the assumption that actual change is the result of increased institutional willingness and capacity to identify, reflect on and address gender bias in a sustained way. Starting point and anchor of the process is a tailored gender equality plan for each institution. A specific characteristic of TARGET is the fact that implementing institutions are located in countries which have been characterised as relatively ‘inactive’ in developing gender equality policies in science and research. Therefore, internal and external communication about the relevance of gender equality in science and research forms an important element of a reflexive gender equality policy in contexts which are characterised by resistances, anti-genderism and traditional gender roles. This book will therefore be essential reading for higher education leaders and managers, and staff at all levels committed to achieving gender equity in higher education.

This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme.

Angela Wroblewski is a Senior Researcher at the Institute for Advanced Studies (IHS). She is a trained sociologist and has been involved in various research and evaluation projects focusing on equality policies and diversity in research and innovation. She coordinated the Horizon 2020 project TARGET – Taking a reflexive approach to gender equality for institutional transformation. She was also involved in GENDERACTION where she was responsible for the monitoring of the implementation of national gender equality policies in research and innovation. She is member of the Women in Higher Education Management Network (WHEM).

Rachel Palmén is a Senior Researcher at NOTUS and at the Open University of Catalonia where she forms part of the Gender and ICT research programme. She is a specialist in participatory processes and community development. She has worked on various European Commission funded projects in the field of gender and science, including the GenPORT community sourced internet portal for gender and science resources, the EFFORTI project which developed an evaluation framework for gender equality interventions, the ACT-on-Gender project which supported communities of practice for gender equality and the TARGET project supporting the implementation of gender equality plans.