“My impression is that many PhD students and post-docs get used as workhorses on research projects,” says a former employee representative for researchers.

Headhunting top international researchers does not necessarily make academia more diverse. Diversity is not achieved by hiring from a pool of academics from well-known US universities, says Mariel Aguilar-Støen.

But the vast majority of them are foreign researchers. Immigrants educated in Norway and descendants of immigrants are underrepresented in Norwegian academia, new statistics show.

The top five news articles in 2020 deal with topics such as sexual harassment, discrimination, COVID-19's effect on scientific productivity, and new EU demands for gender equality plans.

Is the institute where you work going to be restructured or will the entire university college be merged with another institution? The KIF Committee has now prepared a guide with advice on how you can work with gender and diversity during restructuring processes.

Specific advice on how to increase diversity in academia is now being developed – but there is no “one-size-fits-all” solution.

Two new research centres will try to find the solution to the gender imbalance in Nordic academia.

Vague, subjective assessments and stereotypes that we don’t even know we have can negatively impact the hiring process. The good news is that there are measures to counteract this.

Candidates for NTNU’s management positions must now document that they have competency in gender equality. But what kind of competency are we really talking about?

All research institutions that work with gender balance and diversity should be familiar with the KIF Committee.

But poorly adapted Norwegian language instruction ruins the chances for refugees who are motivated to get a higher education, according to Juhar Yasin Abamosa.

Perspectives on gender and diversity are not addressed at all in NIFU’s evaluation of the extensive changes at NTNU.

Norwegian universities and university colleges are undergoing an extensive merger process. “In major processes like these, there are often matters that are more urgent than gender equality. That being said, gender equality should still be high on the agenda,” says the pro-rector of Norway’s largest university.

The Norwegian Government has recommended consolidating the Gender Equality Act and three anti-discrimination laws into a joint anti-discrimination act. According to the KIF Committee, there are several reasons why this is not an ideal proposal.