“I’ve never met a female associate professor who says that she doesn’t want to be a full professor,” says Curt Rice, the new chair of the Committee for Gender Balance in Research.

The winner of this year’s Gender Equality Award, Simula Research Laboratory, is applauded for its outstanding progress and well-integrated plans for gender equality. But the institute could have an even higher level of ambition, according to the KIF Committee’s recommendation. 

“Having a system for how to handle complaints about sexual harassment has a preventive effect. Most organizations don’t have the expertise or systems in place to deal with cases like these,” says Ståle Einarsen.

The network at Østfold University College is bearing fruit. A book and a mentoring scheme for women were recently launched. The network was also the driving force behind the professorship grant established for both genders.

If you want to succeed as a researcher, you must not prioritize your family. This is one of the findings in a new Swedish report. In Norway, we are seeing the same trend.

Norway’s new official report on equality says little about the problem of the low percentage of women in senior academic positions, but it presents a solid analysis of equality policy and makes some radical proposals.

SINTEF thinks it is positive, for both the working environment and the academic sphere, to ask about sexual harassment on employee surveys.

The Committee for Gender Balance in Research has been appointed until the end of 2013, but what will happen after that? Minister of Education and Research Kristin Halvorsen is now indicating that the committee will be extended for another term.

“We are now putting more emphasis on the gender perspective in research and education,” says Vice Rector Curt Rice. After several years of working with gender equality in the personnel area, the University of Tromsø is directing its gender equality efforts towards the research itself.

A new study from the University of Oslo sheds light on women’s career opportunities at the university. The study took its point of departure in an evaluation of the mentor scheme.

Sexual harassment will not be addressed on the new national working environment survey for the higher education sector. The chair of the Committee for Gender Balance in Research is disappointed.

Sexual harassment in the workplace can get worse if nobody asks about it, according to one researcher. Her view is supported by Swedish educational institutions. Uppsala University has trained more than 3,000 employees about sexual harassment in the past nine years. And the demand for knowledge is growing.

“Asking about sexual harassment is one of our legal duties,” says the Equality and Anti-discrimination Ombud.

When Solveig wanted to switch her major from English to natural science, the professor for the class was so distressed about getting yet another female student that he tried to scare her away. “It’s so difficult. There are many who die,” he said.