The Anti-Discrimination Tribunal made decisions in more than 600 cases in 2023 and 2024. Students and staff in higher education and research only reported 16 cases of discrimination or harassment based on ethnicity or gender. And only one was taken further.

All the Nordic organisations for universities and university colleges believe that the educational institutions should have the main responsibility. Our Nordic neighbours have dedicated frameworks and expert groups that set the direction for this work – Norway does not.

Racism and discrimination are bad for public health. That’s according to the staff and students at the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Oslo. They are now taking steps to prevent discrimination.

Some people still shake their heads at the concept of diversity management. After all, isn’t it just about treating all employees equally?

“Yes, more researchers have parents with higher education. But you don’t have to be born into academia to succeed,” says Silje Fekjær, Vice-Rector at OsloMet.

“Diversity management is not only about the needs of minorities, but also about the other employees who might need adaptation when they’re going through rough patches in their lives,” says Professor Gro Mjeldheim Sandal.

While women actively participate in the practical work at their organisation, men dodge it.

The EU project GENDERACTIONplus is set to host a conference on equality in February. Why is this conference so important for Norwegian research institutions?

The article about a new plan against racism at Østfold University College was the most popular one last year.

Norwegian universities are much too concerned with counting international researchers and students, and they care too little about how the researchers are integrated into the environment. This is according to Julien S. Bourrelle, a research fellow at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology.

The number of international researchers in Norway has exploded in the past 10 years. This is in keeping with official targets, but we still know little about what this means for the future of Norwegian research.

The annual Gender Equality Award for gender balance in research is history. “It’s unfortunate to lose the opportunity to recognize those who have worked hard with an important and often difficult field,” says Curt Rice, Chair of the KIF Committee.

Women with natural science and technology degrees experience maladjustment more often than their male colleagues when transitioning from master’s studies to working life, according to a new report. This is not the case for other scientific fields.

A growing number of universities and university colleges are trying to improve more than just the gender balance. Some call it diversity, others call it inclusion or anti-discrimination, but how are the efforts going?