On 3 December 2020, in an online event, the partners shared conclusions from their institutional assessment of gender equality issues at their institution, discussed how they can learn from each other and organise follow up actions that can lead to institutional change. The event went further than just emphasising the “problem”. The partners discussed the opportunities that can arise from implementing the Gender Equality Plans, together with actions that can reinforce positive change.
Zuzana Lisoňová, from the Department of Political Science of Univerzita Komenského, emphasised the importance of national policies for encouraging real change at institutional level. But we need to take a step further and talk about measures! Monica Perez, Project Lead and Affiliate Professor at ESMT Berlin, referred to the fact that often, Gender Equality policies are good in stating principles, but they rarely propose specific measures or attempt to assess the impact they’ve had.
Tjaša Cankar from IEDC, proposed actions at policy level that EQUAL4EU will highlight:
- All currently informal Equality policies should be written down and be be formalised.
- Gender Equality must be stated in the mission and vision of schools and universities.
- Awareness-raising campaigns for staff and students must be more regular.
When it comes to institutional policies, instead of just focusing on how to recruit more female faculty, we should put more effort into helping female professors progress in their careers, instead of dropping out, according to Kaisa Snellman, Associate professor of Organizational Behaviour at INSEAD.
Joana Vassilopoulou from Rotterdam School of Management, highlighted the importance of structural embed and mainstream gender diversity into all human resources processes.
Anna Gines Fabrellas, project coordinator and Associate Professor at ESADE, stated that this first discussion and the diagnosis of the current situation of Gender Equality, reveals the need to improve the Gender Equality Plans. In 2021, EQUAL4EU will be able to provide a first glimpse on its approach for designing Gender Equality Plans for research performing institutions.
The event was organised by ESMT and was open only to members of the consortium.