Assessing gender imbalances
The phrase “no data - no policy” means that without a thorough understanding of the world around us, we will struggle to change it. Reducing the gender gap in research requires attention to context. MINDtheGEPs will collect data both at the macro, meso and micro levels to identify the push-and-pull factors that maintain gender imbalances in partner organisations.
What others have learned before us will help identify barriers and best practices for developing our gender equality plans. And we have many sister projects to learn from. Some of them we have been part of and others are eager to share their experiences.
Mapping organisational & national context
MINDtheGEPs partners in Ireland, Italy, Poland, Serbia, and Spain are developing gender equality plans. All with their own national legislation and policies to consider. Mapping the differences in the rules and regulation governing research and education, the labour market, the family and the welfare system in each country will help tailor gender equality plans to the country-specific context.
So will identifying organisational differences. Gathering existing or collecting new data along a list if indicators by key area (such as leaders and institutions, recruitment and career progression, work-life balance, research, students and teaching) will allow us to judge “the gender health” of each organisation at the beginning and at the end of the project. It will also push organisations to adopt “gender budgeting” as a systematic tool to plan and monitor gender equality.
Learning from lived experiences
Collecting information about the experiences of researchers in partner organisations will be a valuable resource to understand gender imbalances in their organisations. By collecting input through surveys and interviews, we will get an overview of how they experience and perceive their work environments, which career progression’s expectations they have, which obstacles they encountered in reaching apical positions. Based on our findings, we can analyse the causes of gender imbalance as first step for developing effective Gender Equality Plans.
We will explore how many women hold leadership positions and are involved in decision making, if parental leave affects career progression (and if also for men), and how much teaching, commitment in relevant administrative-bureaucratic tasks or research and publication experience is needed to gain a promotion. Learning about gender biases and cultural assumptions behind recruitment and promotion practices will contribute to identify possible solutions for gender imbalances.
Contact person
Cristina Solera
Cristina Solera is the coordinator of MINDtheGEPs. She is Associate Professor of Sociology at the Department of Cultures, Politics and Society at the University of Turin and an affiliate at Collegio Carlo Alberto. She is also a member of the Research Center for Women's and Gender studies (CIRSDe). She has been part of many international projects, such as Barriers Towards Eu Citizenship or Transition to parenthood. She is currently engaged in the Italian National Relevant Project GEA-Gendering Academia, which is about assessing multiple dimensions of gender inequalities in academia, connected to MINDtheGEPs’ work on assessing gender imbalances. Her research interests include women's labour-market participation, work-family reconciliation, new models of motherhood and fatherhood, comparative social policies, gender, and class inequalities.
Contact: cristina.solera[at]unito.it
Public deliverables & reports
A Comparative Analysis of Partners' Legal and Policy Contexts
Gender imbalances at the macro-level
To lay the foundation for gender equality plans (GEPs) in research organisations, MINDtheGEPs has gathered various types of data to understand and address the multiple intersecting barriers. The initial step involved analyzing the strengths and weaknesses of each national context. This report, initially shared as part of the project titled Gender Imbalances at the Macro-Level: A Comparative Analysis of Partners' Legal and Policy Contexts, assessed research and higher education legislation and policies (particularly in terms of recruitment, promotion, and access to research funds), the gender equality approaches adopted in each country to meet EU directives, as well as labour market and welfare policies (especially those supporting the "dual earner-dual carer" model, breaking away from the traditional "unconditional worker" assumption).
Solera, Cristina, Balzano, Angela & The MINDtheGEPs Consortium. (2023). Gender Imbalances at the Macro-Level: A Comparative Analysis of Partners' Legal and Policy Contexts. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.10078138
A Multi-Indicator Approach to Organisational Gender Data
Gender imbalances at the meso-level
In this report, Gender Imbalances at the Meso-Level: A Multi-Indicator Approach to Organisational Gender Data, through 53 indicators, such as the share of women in governing bodies or in different grades, the share of women applying for or winning competitive funds, and the existence of gender measures, we offer a straightforward quantitative portrayal of the gender gaps in each implementing organisation
Solera, Cristina., Balzano, Angela., Sanseverino, Domenico., & The MINDtheGEPs Consortium. (2023). Gender Imbalances at the Meso-Level: A Multi-Indicator Approach to Organisational Gender Data. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.10078743
Gathering Insights from Researchers Through a Web Survey
Gender imbalances at the meso-level
Through a web survey addressed to research and administrative staff at partner organizations, we have collected objective data on gender gaps, which need to go together with subjective perceptions on how the research career works and should work and on the existence of forms of gender inequalities. In this report, Gender Imbalances at the Meso-Level: Gathering Insights from Researchers Through a Web Survey, we share our findings.
Solera, Cristina., Sanseverino, Domenico., Tattarini, Giulia., & The MINDtheGEPs Consortium. (2023). Gender Imbalances at the Meso-Level: Gathering Insights from Researchers Through a Web Survey. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.10078783.
Gathering Insights Through Interviews with Key Informants and Researchers
Gender imbalances at the meso-level
In this report, Gender Imbalances at the Meso-Level: Gathering Insights Through Interviews with Key Informants and Researchers, we share the results from our qualitative interviews with key informants (such as rectors and vice rectors, departmental directors; members of competition commissions; the president of Equal Opportunities bodies). They reveal much about the way excellence and merit are defined in partner organisations and how gender biases are viewed. Qualitative interviews with researchers (both early and advanced careers, male and female, representing both STEMM and SSH fields) reveal the causes that men and women see behind their more or less "successful" career, the fatigue they face in getting a stable or higher position, postponing or giving up to private life projects, and the changes they would wish to see towards a more inclusive, innovative, and less stressful science production and environment.
Naldini, Manuela., Musumeci, Rosy., Balzano, Angela & The MINDtheGEPs Consortium. (2023). Gender Imbalances at the Meso-Level: Gathering Insights Through Interviews with Key Informants and Researchers. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.10078792
MINDtheGEPs recommendations
The MINDtheGEPs approach to evidence-based policies for GEPs
No data: No policies! The MINDtheGEPs approach to evidence-based policies for GEPs
Facts and figures strengthen our ability to undertake cultural and structural actions towards Gender Equality. We believe that sharing MINDtheGEPs knowledge on gender imbalances can contribute to sustainable change. We have collected both qualitative and quantitative data from project partners' organisations. This policy brief includes recommendations for how to build an evidence-based foundation for gender equality plans (GEPs) in research performing organisations, based on the assumption that without data, there will be no policy. This policy brief has also been translated to Spanish, Serbian & Polish.
Solera, Cristina, Balzano, Angela, Turco, Federica, Pisacane, Lucio, Fernow, Josepine (2023). No data- No policies! The MINDtheGEPs approach to evidence-based policies for Gender Equality Plans. Zenodo, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.7785413
Structural incentives for gender balance in research organisations
Gender quotas & positive action: An attack on meritocracy? Structural incentives for gender balance in research organisations
Taking steps to address gender imbalances is essential to ensure women's career progress and promote diverse and inclusive research environments. Positive action (sometimes referred to as positive discrimination or affirmative action) is widely acknowledged as a crucial tool for achieving this goal. However, resistance persists, and opinions diverge about which are the most effective and valid strategies. This policy brief provides an overview of the multifaceted debate around positive action, the arguments for, arguments against, and pathways for implementation. The policy brief draws insight from the Gender Equality Plan development process of and interviews performed by MINDtheGEPs. It ends by presenting two case studies from Italian universities.
Cipriani, Nastassja., Solera, Cristina., & Holm Bodin, Anna. (2023). Gender quotas & positive action: An attack on meritocracy?. Zenodo. DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.10024373
Discover our approach
Building capacity through training
Training initiatives are key to ensure organisations are mature and knowledgeable enough to succeed in implementing the measures outlined in our gender equality plans.
Desigining GEPs
To tailor and target gender action & equality plans to partners' needs, for sustainable change.
Monitoring & evaluating
To learn and to grow capacities for achieving structural change. To close the gender gap in research!
Targeting key areas
We work to increase women's participation in research and innovation by improving their career prospects, increasing gender balance in decision-making and including gender dimensions in research content & teaching, and work to improve work-life balance.
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Our partners
10 partners from 7 EU countries unite to close the gender gap in research and innovation. Ensuring work-life balance for all, and increasing women's participation in research.
