The Diversity Report has finally been launched, and the Ministry of Education and Research is pleased with the result.

The Norwegian Government has recommended consolidating the Gender Equality Act and three anti-discrimination laws into a joint anti-discrimination act. According to the KIF Committee, there are several reasons why this is not an ideal proposal.

The proposal to create a joint anti-discrimination law will weaken the employer’s reporting duty, and thereby weaken all efforts to promote gender equality. This is the view of both the Equality and Anti-discrimination Ombudsman and the Vice Chair of the Committee for Gender Balance and Diversity in Research.

Not necessarily, according to researchers. More women than men do research on gender, but all female researchers are not concerned with gender.

The government won’t stop at earmarking posts for female scientists. Now Tora Aasland states that the goal is to change the EU regulations concerning this issue.

The corporate world needs more scientists, but few young people choose a career in science. Will we finally break the science code?

The work on standardising the workday of European scientists may further gender equality in the research sector, if a gender perspective is employed, says the Committee for Mainstreaming – Women in Science in Norway.

"We have to be prepared to take on the great challenges and possibilities that exist for technologists in the High North," says Kirsti Hienn. She is the project manager of the Moment network for female technologists.

The female-dominated study programmes at public university colleges have far fewer professorships than the male-dominated ones. Those professorships that do exist are mainly held by men. This is revealed in a recent survey from the Norwegian Social Science Data Services. The figures are collected on behalf of the Committee for Mainstreaming – Women in Science.

In its proposition for the National budget, which was presented in the beginning of October, the Government states that it wants to focus on earmarking of academic posts for women.

What mechanisms lie behind who gets a career in physics and who leaves academia for other kinds of employment? What role does the workplace culture play in this? These and similar issues are being studied in an ongoing EU-project.

Minister of Education and Research Tora Aasland promises to reintroduce earmarking of posts for women in academia in 2009.

For almost five years Norway has had a national committee for gender equality in science. It has placed women in science on the agenda both with the authorities and the research sector.

Norwegian higher education institutions are positive to earmarking of posts for women.