Designing training based on what people need
Evidence-based training that is designed to engage the entire organisation is one of the cornerstones of MINDtheGEPs. How can we make training fit for purpose? By listening to the people that we want to engage! Taking the time to listen has paid off for Munster Technological University in Ireland, increasing engagement and shaping workshops around topics that truly benefit staff.
Successful implementation of a gender equality plan can only happen in an organisation that is both mature and knowledgeable. One of the most effective ways to raising awareness about gender equality is through training. MINDtheGEPs partners have all developed training to combat bias and raise awareness of both cultural and structural factors that uphold gender imbalances.
The training is evidence-based, but to make sure the training initiatives are fit-for-purpose, partners have made efforts to identify training needs through annual surveys. At Munster Technological University (MTU), the process of designing and developing training programmes have also played an important role in itself.
According to Aoife Ní Fhlatharta, equality and inclusion researcher at MTU’s Kerry campus, undoubtedly, the efforts that have provided the best return on investments are related to the process behind the design of targeted training programs and workshops. The team made a conscious effort to engage and speak to both researchers and lecturers, engaging with academics from different departments, disciplines and career stages. The aim was to figure out what exactly it is they need. The explicit aim was to develop workshops and training that would benefit everyone.
According to Aoife Ní Fhlatharta, listening is important. All universities and institutions have different needs. The team could have looked to the literature, and created workshops or training programs that we thought might be suitable. That would most likely have been helpful. However, despite the fact that sitting down, speaking to people, doing interviews and surveys, took a very long time, the process was important.
“Listening to people’s needs helped us shape our training workshops, and we ended up going for completely different topics than what we had originally planned. And that was based on speaking to people on the ground”, says Aoife Ní Fhlatharta.
According to Aoife Ní Fhlatharta, the time spent listening was in fact the best investment, and the team’s best efforts came from that process: Taking the time to listen to researchers, to listen to academics, to find out what exactly do they need, what are we lacking, and then creating workshops, programmes and actions that will help them.
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By Josepine Fernow