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.

In Norway we call it sexual harassment in academia, and in Europe it is known as gender-based violence.

“We didn’t think that international recruitment would influence the gender balance in academia in favour of more women in senior positions, but we were wrong,” says researcher Kaja Wendt.

Changing the expectation that staff should work around the clock could encourage more women to work in technology, according to Gilda Seddighi.

“It’s both surprising and not really that big a revelation that everyday racism is fairly similar whether you work in academia or anywhere else,” says Mona Abdel-Fadil, researcher at the Norwegian Center for Holocaust and Minority Studies.

How common is it to be a first-generation academic in Norway? According to researchers in the field, we do not know, because there is so little research on social backgrounds in academia.