GE&DO Network’s call for workshop proposals

Following the positive experience of the 2023 GE&DO workshops, that saw many members of this network participating and debating about gender-equality and diversity issues, the EQUAL4EUROPE consortium is pleased to launch a new call for workshops.

This call aims at collecting proposals for four workshops to hold from April to July 2024, and is open to any person who is part of the GE&DO Network, that thinks to have good practices, knowledge, toolkit or ideas to share to contribute to mainstream gender equality in the academic, educational and work context. A not exhaustive list of topics that could be addressed by people who would like to apply for this call includes:

• Solutions for removing barriers to the recruitment, retention, and career progression of women, for addressing gender imbalances in decision making processes and for integrating the gender dimension in research and innovation content.
• Strategies for engaging stakeholders and tackling resistances/obstacles related to the implementation of Gender Equality Plans or to other gender-sensitive activities in higher research institutions.
• Good practices and tools for an effective integration of gender equality in teaching and research.
• Examples of gender-sensitive mentoring programs working as a leverage to promote institutional transformation and to enhance gender equality in the whole institution.
• Integration of gender equality in the framework of university social responsibility.
• Data collections showing progresses made and pending/new issues for the establishment of an actual equality between women and men in European research institutions.
• New challenges for gender equality and diversity coming from the digitalisation process and the integration of AI in academia and in workplaces.

People interested to apply should submit an abstract of maximum 150 words, describing the contents and the format of a workshop of a duration between 30 minutes and 1 hour, to be held online on the social and digital channels of the GE&DO Network between April and July 2024.

Proposals should be sent to the email address equalforeurope@esade.edu no later than 15th March 2024. The evaluation committee will promptly contact selected applicants, to make arrangements to organize the workshops and draft a calendar.

The Gender Equality and Diversity Officers Network is a LinkedIn group aimed at connecting Gender Equality and Diversity Officers, advisors and experts from universities and research centres across Europe.

The Network has been developed in the framework of the Horizon 2020 project EQUAL4EUROPE, and it is aimed at sharing knowledge, ideas and best practices for designing and implementing gender equality and diversity policies in European higher education and research institutions.

It works, as well, as point of departure for common initiatives. Knowledge shared on the Network is useful in the everyday practice and for more structured studies in the field of gender equality and diversity.

One of the main goals of the Network is to trigger discussion on the solutions for universities and research centres to reach the objectives of the European Research Area as well as to match new Horizon Europe eligibility criteria in terms of gender equality.

This includes removing barriers to career progression of female researchers, addressing gender imbalances in leadership and decision making, and integrating the gender dimension in research and teaching content. Specific support in this sense is offered through the research results of the EQUAL4EUROPE project. They are available in the Network and encompass resources to carry out an internal assessment about gender equality, a toolkit and a template to set-up Gender Equality Plans, and best practices regarding specific topics, like promoting a gender sensitive recruitment.

The Network has been created as a long-lasting and structural instrument for mainstreaming gender equality and diversity throughout Europe. It will remain active, thus, also after the end of the EQUAL4EUROPE project.

The Gender Equality and Diversity Officers Network is as well a bridge with similar national initiatives in EU countries, and it connects to the EFMD and CEEMAN networks.

To access the Gender Equality and Diversity Officers Network, please click on this link.

For more information: equalforeurope@esade.edu»