Observations on Gender Equality in a Selection of the Swedish Research Council's Evaluation Panels

The Swedish Research Council had participants from Chalmers University of Technology serve as gender-equality observers in 13 of the some 80 evaluation panels that assessed applications for research grants 2012. Similar participant observations had been carried out in 2008, 2009, and 2011. It all started at the initiative of an evaluation panel chair who seemed to detect that there were differences in how grant applications from women and men were treated, differences that were subtle and difficult to capture and specify.In several of the panels observed in 2012 there were no gender differences in panel discussions or in how applicants were judged.The report will serve as a platform for discussion and a support for the Swedish Research Council’s scientific councils, committees, and evaluation panels in their future work.