Implicit bias – the presence of prejudices and stereotypes in the workplace – has been a topic of discussion both within and outside academia. Does this lead to a focus on the individual that masks embedded structures inhibiting gender equality?

Academia lacks gender balance when it comes to salary, academic level and subject area. Experts are calling for stronger measures to achieve gender balance.

Values like equality, inclusion and diversity are being stifled by the prevailing management ideology in academia, critics note. “We must create an academic culture of compassion,” says British organizational psychologist Kathryn Waddington.

Men produce twice as many scientific publications as women. At least that’s the long-held assumption. But Lynn Nygaard, a special adviser and doctoral research fellow at PRIO, challenges this widespread belief in her recent article.

Sexual harassment, the #MeToo movement, a radical suggestion to improve the gender balance among Nobel candidates, and the problem with white campuses. Read our top ten news articles from 2018.

Marcela Linkóva of the National Contact Centre for Women and Science in the Czech Republic is thrilled about Talent at stake, the new publication from the KIF Committee. She is not alone.

By promoting gender equality in research, we enhance the quality and relevance of research, according to Arvid Hallén, Director General of the Research Council of Norway.

The Research Council of Norway is planning a large-scale initiative to increase the recruitment of women to high-level positions and research management.

By changing the name to the Committee for Gender Balance in Research, the KIF Committee has received a stricter mandate for its work. “This sends a signal that gender equality involves more than equal rights,” says Mari Teigen, Research Director at the Institute for Social Research (ISF).

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.

Talent at stake. Changing the culture of research – gender-sensitive leadership is designed to inspire everyone who wants to do something to increase diversity and promote greater gender balance within the research sector.

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).

“It is more important for the universities to become adept at marketing the engineering sciences to women rather than designing measures such as gender points to increase their numbers,” says Svandis Benediktsdottir, Gender Equality Adviser at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU).

In March, the Norwegian Nurses Organisation voiced its support for giving gender points to men who want to become nurses. Now the Ministry of Education and Research has given its response: There are no plans at this time to introduce such a measure.