How to tackle resistance to equality

Many people will relate to the following:

• No one speaks up during a meeting but objections surface afterwards. In the corridor, in the office kitchen, at lunch.
• Calls are made for more knowledge, new reports and facts, and then nothing happens.
• The topic is raised, but the discussion falters when someone says: “Yes, it’s important, but…”

Resistance to gender equality work is the topic of a recent article in the journal Tidsskrift for kjønnsforskning. The authors also provide tips on how to avoid common pitfalls.

The article is based on a multi-year action research project at a natural science faculty, initiated by the faculty itself.

“The participants learnt a great deal, and we saw a completely different discourse about gender in the final phase than when we started the project”, says Siri Øyslebø Sørensen, professor at the Department of Interdisciplinary Studies of Culture at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU).

Action research involves researchers working closely with participants to bring about change while they document and analyse the process.

Together with Eva Amundsdotter, senior lecturer at Stockholm University, Sørensen followed the management group at a faculty during the period 2021–2023. The group included heads of departments and faculty management staff. The researchers also regularly liaised with two research groups: one with young female researchers and one with more experienced female researchers.

“We have been particularly interested in the concept of cultural change and how to bring about lasting change”, says Amundsdotter.

She adds:

“We wanted to show how organisational culture is formed in layers, by individual experiences, through group dynamics, in structures and language. To achieve real change, efforts have to be made on several levels simultaneously.”

Resistance in unofficial channels

A key aspect of the work was to observe where and how resistance emerges.

“We could perhaps use the metaphor of friction here. Resistance often stems from the tension between different perspectives and is directed at what we perceive as power structures”, says Sørensen.

The researchers identified three typical situations. Scenario A concerns resistance in unofficial channels.

“Few objections are raised when gender balance is discussed in formal forums, such as department council meetings. But in informal conversations afterwards, people often express scepticism, frustration or distance”, says Sørensen.

“This is a typical and widespread form of resistance”, she says.

Never enough knowledge

Resistance can otherwise be expressed as the absence of action. Scenario B is when some progress has been made, such as preparing an action plan, but then things grind to a halt.

“People get stuck in an ever-growing need for more information. There is never enough knowledge to actually take action”, says Sørensen.

She adds that this type of resistance is particularly prevalent in academia, where the thirst for knowledge is great.

A third typical situation, scenario C, describes more explicit resistance where the topic gender and diversity is openly undermined.

“Here, other problems may be portrayed as more important. For example, someone may say ‘gender equality is important, but finance is more important’, or ‘what about young, male researchers without permanent positions?’”, says Sørensen.

She adds:

“This doesn’t mean that these topics are not relevant. But it steers the conversation off course and prevents the gender dimension from being addressed.”

“There are no shortcuts”

The three scenarios show different but common forms of resistance that can arise in an organisation, in meetings or in the work on measures and action plans, according to the researchers.

“What can be done to mitigate these forms of resistance?”

“The most important thing is maybe to acknowledge that there will be resistance. There are no shortcuts”, says Sørensen.

However, she ventures to offer one piece of advice:

“When faced with scenario C, i.e. that the topic is sidelined, you can, for example, acknowledge the objections and at the same time bring the conversation back to the main issue”, she suggests.

Three phases of learning

Amundsdotter has spent many years exploring how learning processes can be used as tools in gender equality work. The project used a process model she had previously developed, which gave the participants a framework to lean on.

The model consists of three phases: Elicitation, mobilisation and transformation.

The first phase, elicitation, is about creating awareness of how gender works in practice here and now.

Amundsdotter uses the metaphor of an analogue photographer’s darkroom:

“The participants walk into a darkroom with a blank piece of paper. They have to use different liquids and light to develop the photograph. You see nothing at first, but the picture gradually emerges”, she says.

During this phase, participants were tasked with observing meetings in their own departments and faculties. Afterwards, they discussed what they had observed. Who got to speak? Who did people listen to? Who was ignored and why?

Mobilise and secure support

Once the participants had identified the challenges in their own organisation, the next phase began: mobilisation. The process now involved charting a course and securing broader support for the work.

“During the mobilisation phase, the managers appointed their own working groups in their departments, with the aim of involving more people in the same learning process. It is important that a broader group is involved in defining the problem”, Amundsdotter explains.

“What happens if the participants disagree on the direction?”

“Our project was based on a top-down initiative. A management group had already decided that this was going to be a priority”, she explains.

Final transformation phase

The final phase of the model concerns transformative learning. The participants challenge their own perspectives and use the group to create new insights.

“The focus here is on trust and open dialogue”, says Amundsdotter.

To get the participants going, she and Sørensen packed the toolbox with theories and empirical data from gender research, including Joan Acker’s theories on ‘doing gender’:

“We used Acker to visualise how gender is created in everyday interactions. For example, who talks the most in meetings, who is listened to and what assumptions shape what is considered professional authority.”

They also used Norwegian data, including examples from the FRONT project at the University of Oslo. One term that resonated was ‘accumulated disadvantages’: Small incidents that seem insignificant in themselves but together form a pattern, according to Sørensen.

“Research has shown that women repeatedly find themselves being overlooked or sidelined. Many could relate to this, which led to meaningful conversations”, she says.

Experience from the FRONT project

“Cultural change takes time”, writes Solveig Kristensen, Dean of the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences at the University of Oslo, in an email.

The faculty’s FRONT project was one of the sources of inspiration for Sørensen and Amundsdotter’s action research. Over the course of the project, the faculty has taken a long-term and targeted approach to gender balance and diversity. (More in the fact box.)

“The effect is evident, in hard numbers – which in our case, is an increase in female professors in a male-dominated environment – but, perhaps more importantly, in our discussions, priorities and awareness of the challenges within our institution”, Kristensen writes.

“What advice would you give to managers who want to bring about lasting cultural change to promote gender equality?”

“The executive management must own the challenges and get involved, the work requires a long-term perspective and the allocation of sufficient resources”, Kristensen replies.

In addition, initiated projects must be based on documented knowledge and the nature of the workplace. Kristensen believes that the organisation should develop its own knowledge base, based on its own experience.

Translated by Totaltekst.