Evaluation of gender equality policies – what works?

In recent decades, the proportion of women in top positions within research and management has increased, yet there is still a lack of research that has evaluating gender equality measures and their impact on gender balance and diversity in academic institutions in the Nordic region. This work package will contribute to establishing a knowledge base and research that sheds light on this subject.

In this work package, we have collected data on gender equality and diversity policies from universities and university colleges in Norway, Sweden, and Finland since the 1990s.This is merged with data on the development of gender balance in the same institutions in the same time period.

This exercise has resulted in two key analyses: Firstly, the mapping and categorizing of all equality policies implemented over time, producing a new and significant overview of the types of policies that have been implemented, the most common types of policies, and how this has evolved over time. Secondly, by analyzing systematic variation across institutions and over time, we can suggest which types of policies that tend to have a positive (or potentially negative) impact on gender balance among advanced academic staff.

Collecting policy data and merging these with employee data over time in research organizations in Norway, Sweden, and Finland, serves at least two important purposes. Firstly, it enables unique rigorous testing of the impact of equality policies in a sector of the labour market that has been at the forefront of such policies and has seen a growing recruitment base in the relevant period. Secondly, it will allow for later international comparison, particularly with the state-of-the-art findings from the United States, contributing to the development of a context-specific understanding of the effects of equality measures in the research and innovation area.

The proposed method for policy tracking and evaluation relies on the work of Frank Dobbin, who is part of NORDICORE’s expert advisory board.

Publications

Drange, I., Pietilä, M., Reisel, L. & Silander, C. (2023). Advancing women’s representation in top academic positions–what works? Studies in Higher Education, 48(6), 877-891. https://doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2023.2172563
> This article won the prize for Best Research Article in English at the Norwegian Sociological Association's annual winter seminar. Read more here (in Norwegian)

Silander, C.; Reisel, L.; Drange, I. & Pietilä, M. (2024) National Policies Supporting Gender Equality in Academic Careers: Are the “Global Leaders” Doing What It Takes? NORA - Nordic Journal of Feminist and Gender Research. doi.org/10.1080/08038740.2024.2305914

Pietiälä, M., Drange, I., Silander, C. & Vabø, A. (2021). Gender and Globalization of Academic Labor Markets: Research and Teaching Staff at Nordic Universities. Social Inclusion, 9(3), 69-80. https://doi.org/10.17645/si.v9i3.4131

Reisel, L. Drange, I., Pietilä, M. & Silander, C. (2023). Advancing women’s representation in top academic positions at Nordic universities – what works? Institute for Social Research

Silander, C. & Pietilä, M. (2023). Teaching and research staff at Swedish universities – A view through the lens of internationalization and diversity. Högre Utbildning, 13(2), 72-87. https://doi.org/10.23865/hu.v13.5226

Silander, C. (2023). Gender equality in Swedish academia: Unpacking the toolbox. Journal of Praxis in Higher Education, 5(1), 45-68. https://doi.org/10.47989/kpdc372

Silander, C., Drange, I., Pietilä, M. & Reisel, L. (2022). Promoting Gender Equality in STEM-oriented Universities: Institutional Policy Measures in Sweden, Finland and Norway. I Griffin, Gabriele (Red.), Gender inequalities in tech-driven research and innovation: living the contradiction. Bristol University Press. S. 93-108. https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/55792