Gender Equality Policies in Research Institutions: Promoting transformative and sustainable changes

H2020 EQUAL-IST project final event

ERA objectives have stressed the importance of gender equality in research, at the three levels of fostering equality in scientific careers, achieving gender balance in decision making and integrating a gender dimension in research content. Gender balance in research organizations is considered as a key step for ensuring research excellence and quality and inclusive-sustainable innovation. Still, in spite of an increasing number of HE and research institutions committed to make science more equal and some positive trends in figures on Gender equality in STEM research, it still appears to be difficult to prioritize gender equality. This is particularly true for disciplines such as ICT/IST where female representation at all levels is among the lowest ones among STEM topics and where a gender sensitive approach to ICT design and programming is far from being understood in its implications among computer and information systems scientist.

H2020 (PGERI and SWAFS programmes in particular), promoted the concept of institutional change for gender equality, insisting on the need for merging change management and gender policies, and have funded dedicated research projects in this field in the last 2 programming periods starting from FP7 already.
The conference intends to start from the presentation of results and tools from the H2020 EQUAL-IST project to discuss opportunities to innovate and transform HR management and Institutional communication, research design, teaching & students services, via gender equality, and how such innovations could be multiplied and sustained. Discussions will also focus on existing hindrances and resistances, which are slowing structural change processes down, starting from the perspective of ICT and IS Research Organizations.