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

Both the University of Oslo and the University of Bergen are hoping that the Gender Equality Act will be amended. It is the only way they will get their wish to use gender quotas to admit men to professional studies in psychology.

Gender equality is one of six priority areas in the new ERA Roadmap for research – and there will be regular follow-up of progress in this area in all European countries.

The University of Agder is now requiring its new upper-level managers to have competency in gender equality, based on a model from NTNU – and other institutions are considering following suit.

The percentage of immigrants and people with an immigrant background has increased in all position categories and subject areas in Norwegian research. This is one of the findings from the first official diversity statistics for academia.

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.