Lack of resources for promoting gender equality
A new survey report reveals that many Norwegian research institutes lack action plans and that no universities are satisfied with their efforts to increase ethnic diversity.
A new survey report reveals that many Norwegian research institutes lack action plans and that no universities are satisfied with their efforts to increase ethnic diversity.
More than a year has passed since a virus pandemic shut down most of society, including the university and university college sector. Researchers with young children as well as teaching duties and research to conduct have been squeezed the hardest, according to recent research.
“My impression is that many PhD students and post-docs get used as workhorses on research projects,” says a former employee representative for researchers.
Headhunting top international researchers does not necessarily make academia more diverse. Diversity is not achieved by hiring from a pool of academics from well-known US universities, says Mariel Aguilar-Støen.
But the vast majority of them are foreign researchers. Immigrants educated in Norway and descendants of immigrants are underrepresented in Norwegian academia, new statistics show.
The top five news articles in 2020 deal with topics such as sexual harassment, discrimination, COVID-19's effect on scientific productivity, and new EU demands for gender equality plans.
Last year the University of Tromsø was singled out as having the worst gender balance in the country. Director of personnel Håvard Bekkelund hardly remembers this. Because things are changing fast.
The rector at the University of Bergen will spend a further 2 million Norwegian crowns on equal opportunities work. This is how Bergen will become a leading university on gender equality.
Sure, the situation for women in science has improved. But a lot remains to be done, says Kari Melby, chair of the Committee for Mainstreaming – Women in Science.
A gender researcher in the Senate, an innovative gender equality adviser, new tactics and good timing. These factors were instrumental when the University of Oslo passed a new gender equality action plan.