For 10 years the KIF Committee has worked to improve gender balance in the research sector. The new committee has been expanded by three members and will have a broader sphere of responsibility beginning this spring.

Gender balance is as much a question of quality as of fairness. This is a basic principle in the Research Council of Norway’s new gender equality policy which states that at least 40 percent of project managers must be women.

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.

A new report from the Work Research Institute shows that the academic field of history remains highly male dominated. A conservative academic culture and a lack of willingness to problematize male dominance in the field can take much of the blame for this.

Perspectives on gender and diversity are not addressed at all in NIFU’s evaluation of the extensive changes at NTNU.

But poorly adapted Norwegian language instruction ruins the chances for refugees who are motivated to get a higher education, according to Juhar Yasin Abamosa.

The Norwegian Government has recommended consolidating the Gender Equality Act and three anti-discrimination laws into a joint anti-discrimination act. According to the KIF Committee, there are several reasons why this is not an ideal proposal.

KIF has presented universities and university colleges with a practical tool to use in their restructuring efforts to ensure gender balance and diversity.

In the previous funding round for the Centres of Excellence (SFF) scheme, 23 percent of the centre directors were women. In this year’s round, no women will be directing the SFF centres on their own.

For 10 years the allocation to the Committee for Gender Balance in Research had not been increased or adjusted for inflation. Now for the first time ever, the committee will receive a budget increase from the Norwegian government.

The results of the national survey on bullying and harassment in Norway’s higher education sector are finally in. But the reasons why harassment occurs remain unclear, according to the Committee for Gender Balance and Diversity in Research.

The KIF Committee believes that gender balance and ethnic diversity are crucial to finding good solutions to major societal challenges.

Innovation has typically been thought of as involving patents, licences and start-ups. Today, innovation researchers have a far broader understanding of the concept, believes research leader Espen Solberg.

Innovation will be given greater focus in the ongoing EU effort to design the next research and innovation framework programme. This represents a good opportunity to improve the gender balance in innovation environments, says Anita Krohn Traaseth.