“Social background affects whether you take higher education, what you study, the grades you get, and whether or not you finish your education. But little is known about how social class affects academic careers,” says researcher Thea Strømme.

Measures to include marginalised groups are often controversial, because they are not adequately justified, according to associate professor Melina Duarte.

The lives of researchers changed dramatically during the lockdown, and in several different ways, according to head of research Espen Solberg.

The laws and policies of many European countries include different grounds for discrimination. "Yet intersectional perspectives in research policy are still at an early stage," says Heidi Holt Zachariassen, co-author of a recent report.

Sámi University of Applied Sciences is the main supplier of Sámi-speaking teachers to schools in Finland, Norway, Sweden and Russia. The majority are women, but an increasing number of men are also applying, according to Rector Laila Susanne Vars.

The Norwegian Theatre Academy at Østfold University College is now writing its first plan against racism. "Although this is new in Norway, I hope that the rest of the university college and more academic institutions will follow suit," says Thomas Prestø.

Now is the time for a new survey of sexual harassment in the sector, according to the KIF Committee. This was one of the comments made by Ragnhild Hennum, the KIF chair and Dean, when she participated in the Ministry of Culture and Equality's input meeting.

The EU flew in the face of those who believed that Nordic countries would dominate the gender equality scene in European academia in 2023.

However, researchers born in Norway to immigrant parents still account for less than one per cent of researchers. “Remember that this is a young group,” says Statistics Norway.

Nowadays, most universities, university colleges and research institutes have action plans for equality. Institutions have responsibility for the content and quality of their action plans, says the Ministry of Education and Research.

A new report shows that gender equality advisers and good systems generate engagement and results for gender equality and diversity in research.

“Gender-based violence affects the majority of students and staff in higher education,” according to Fredrik Bondestam from the University of Gothenburg.

The article about class as an invisible difference in academia was the most popular one last year. Check out our most read stories from 2022.

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