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.
Does the right to vote necessarily mean that you are heard and have influence over the way the world is interpreted? This was among the questions raised in the seminar Use your voice – make yourself heard.
For the first time the Equality and Anti-discrimination Ombud will review all the cases from six years of work to combat sexual harassment. The report will be ready in early January.
The Research Council of Norway’s Initiative on Gender Balance in Senior Positions and Research Management (BALANSE) has awarded its first project funding. Three independent research institutes and one university can now implement new gender equality activities.
UiT – The Arctic University of Norway is using the prize money from the Gender Equality Award to gain new inspiration from Norway and abroad. Eight new adjunct professor positions have been created.
Swedish universities have made the most progress in renewing the academic culture and Norwegian institutions have designed effective measures, but in Denmark the prevailing belief is that gender equality has already been achieved.
Expectations were high for the incentive scheme from the Ministry of Education and Research to recruit women to senior-level positions in mathematics, natural science and technology. Now, however, an evaluation report recommends ending the scheme.
“The award is for universities, university colleges and research institutes seeking to move up a notch or two in the gender equality ranks,” says Gerd Bjørhovde, chair of the Committee for Gender Balance in Research.
A visit from the KIF Committee can mean the difference between no focus on gender equality and being the best in the class, measured by the percentage of women professors. As long as the best in the class is 27 percent, there is no doubt that more visits are needed.