Gender equality as an advantage in the increasingly tough international competition for research funding will be one of the topics at the KIF Committee’s conference on gender equality and diversity in Nordic research. The conference will be held in November.

The gender equality aspect was missing in the first national evaluation of the Quality Reform. This is evident in the government report on the reform.

Researchers are seeing a gradual shift towards greater diversity in European statistics. “She Figures” has reported on gender balance in research for over 20 years, and intersectionality is finally coming into its own. But be aware of some classic pitfalls, says researcher.

In order to achieve gender equality, we must change the structures in academia. This requires a systematic effort in which the top-level administration at each institution takes active part, according to Linda Marie Rustad, Senior Adviser for the Committee for Gender Balance in Research (KIF).

A lack of professional leadership is an obstacle to achieving gender equality in academia, according to Curt Rice, Vice Rector at the University of Tromsø. He is calling for stronger leadership and new ways of working. His first priority is to ensure that more women reach the top.

“The Kif committee does a crucial job. It will be exciting to serve on it,” says Elisabet Ljunggren, Senior Researcher at the Nordland Research Institute. Ljunggren is one of the members of the new Committee for Gender Balance in Research (the Kif committee).

Elisabeth Isaksson’s research field has been filled with bearded old men throughout its history, and up until the 1990s female researchers were denied access to stations in the polar region. But something has changed.