Periodic Reporting for period 1 - ATHENA (Implementing gender equality plans to unlock research potential of RPOs and RFOs in Europe)
Okres sprawozdawczy: 2021-02-01 do 2022-04-30
The ATHENA project aims at supporting consortium partners, which include 6 Research Performing Organisations (RPOs), and 2 Research Funding Organisations (RFOs), in the development and implementation of Gender Equality Plans (GEPs) to generate systemic institutional changes.
Therefore, the project focuses on 8 research performing organisations and research funding organizations of selected EU Central-Eastern countries and outermost regions, which appear to be lagging behind EU trend with respect to the goals of removing barriers to the recruitment, retention and career progression of female researchers; address gender imbalances in decision making processes; generate a cultural change needed to avoid future gender bias and discriminatory practices. The implementation of the GEPs will generate a sustainable cultural and institutional change which in turns will allow to unlock the research potential of the partnering organizations. Improving gender equality in research organizations will indeed contribute to the improvement of the overall research potential of such Universities and other research organisations, thus contributing to the achievement of the European Research Area objectives. It is in fact proven that increasing the number of women in the management of the organization or improving de facto and de jure gender equality conditions in the working environment positively contribute to the overall performance of organisations.
Following the GEAR tool, the project will consider and work on four main levels: higher and middle management, HR professionals, professors and researchers and administrative staff.
To achieve the above-mentioned objectives, the ATHENA project:
• Carries out a detailed gender audit in order to assess the current gender bias, segregation and other intersectional issues in each partner research organisation, in this way aiming at institutional diversity and allowing comparisons between partners.
• Supports the improvement of the organisational structure of research organisations and capacity building in order to allow an efficient implementation of gender equality strategies;
• Implements a participatory approach based on co-design involving internal staff and other stakeholders (students, NGOs working on gender issues, professional orders, policy-makers, etc) in focus groups and workshops in order to include and benefit from their perspectives, needs and preferences into the GEPs;
• Develops and implement one tailored Gender Equality Plan in each RPO or RFO to ensure gender equality;
• Supports coherent monitoring, reporting and evaluation of progress made with common gender sensitive indicators to assess achievements;
• Develops a sustainability strategy in order to involve interested stakeholders contributing to the potential replication of GEPs in a wider number of organisations;
• Disseminates the project’s activities and results to allow a larger number of RPOs, RFOs, Universities and Professional Orders to develop, implement and/or promote similar initiatives, reaching a critical mass of research stakeholders.
Therefore, the project focuses on 8 research performing organisations and research funding organizations of selected EU Central-Eastern countries and outermost regions, which appear to be lagging behind EU trend with respect to the goals of removing barriers to the recruitment, retention and career progression of female researchers; address gender imbalances in decision making processes; generate a cultural change needed to avoid future gender bias and discriminatory practices. The implementation of the GEPs will generate a sustainable cultural and institutional change which in turns will allow to unlock the research potential of the partnering organizations. Improving gender equality in research organizations will indeed contribute to the improvement of the overall research potential of such Universities and other research organisations, thus contributing to the achievement of the European Research Area objectives. It is in fact proven that increasing the number of women in the management of the organization or improving de facto and de jure gender equality conditions in the working environment positively contribute to the overall performance of organisations.
Following the GEAR tool, the project will consider and work on four main levels: higher and middle management, HR professionals, professors and researchers and administrative staff.
To achieve the above-mentioned objectives, the ATHENA project:
• Carries out a detailed gender audit in order to assess the current gender bias, segregation and other intersectional issues in each partner research organisation, in this way aiming at institutional diversity and allowing comparisons between partners.
• Supports the improvement of the organisational structure of research organisations and capacity building in order to allow an efficient implementation of gender equality strategies;
• Implements a participatory approach based on co-design involving internal staff and other stakeholders (students, NGOs working on gender issues, professional orders, policy-makers, etc) in focus groups and workshops in order to include and benefit from their perspectives, needs and preferences into the GEPs;
• Develops and implement one tailored Gender Equality Plan in each RPO or RFO to ensure gender equality;
• Supports coherent monitoring, reporting and evaluation of progress made with common gender sensitive indicators to assess achievements;
• Develops a sustainability strategy in order to involve interested stakeholders contributing to the potential replication of GEPs in a wider number of organisations;
• Disseminates the project’s activities and results to allow a larger number of RPOs, RFOs, Universities and Professional Orders to develop, implement and/or promote similar initiatives, reaching a critical mass of research stakeholders.
The starting point of the project were the tasks implemented under WP2. The project first performed an assessment of the procedures and practices already in place, together with an analysis of the context of national provisions, specific incentives, existing barriers, and bias at each ATHENA institution that will implement a GEP (i.e. Jozef Stefan Institute (JSI) (Slovenia); Uniwersytet Jana Kochanowskiego W Kielcach (UJK) (Poland); Universitatea din Bucuresti (UB) (Romania); University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (ULPGC) (Spain); Ustav Vyskumu Socialnej Komunikacie Slovenskej Adademie (UVSK SAV) (Slovakia); University of Ruse Angel Kanchev (URAK) (Bulgaria); Regional Agency for Research, Innovation and Information Society of Canary islands (ACIISI – GOBCAN) (Spain); Fundo Regional para a Ciencia e Tecnologia (FRCT) (Portugal)). Thus, a database including quantitative and qualitative indicators was produced to assess the baseline conditions of each ATHENA institution in terms of gender equality prior to the development and implementation of the GEPs. Additionally, desk research was implemented to assess existing national provisions as well as staff surveys, storytelling interviews and focus groups were carried out to identify existing gender bias at organizational level. The outcomes of this work package were summarized in the D2.3 - ‘Gender Equality Reports’, which also includes recommendations from each ATHENA institution for the development of the GEPs.
Parallely, within WP3, the outcomes of the WP2 activities served as input for the design and deployment of capacity building activities for the Gender Equality Plan Implementation (GEPI) Committees. The GEPI Committees were established at each ATHENA RPO/RFO implementing a GEP as key actors facilitating and promoting the institutional change through the development and implementation of the GEPs. A total of 92 committed GEPI Committee members were identified and involved in ATHENA. The capacity building was successfully implemented.
Under WP4, a best practices analysis among GEPs implemented in RPOs and RFOs all over Europe was performed. Additionally, a ‘Toolkit for transforming the institutional culture in terms of gender aspects’ was developed to support ATHENA RPOs and RFOs by offering an array of tools and resources that may assist them with examples, guidance and inspiration useful for tailoring their GEPs.
Finally, a web-based community platform for action (www.gender-equality.eu) was created and is already active. The e-platform is integrated in the project website (www.athenaequality.eu) and includes tools that contribute to achieve gender equality in science and research by: i) sharing the material developed by the project, like the trainings that have been carried out so far and further trainings and webinars that will be implemented; ii) supporting the visibility of women researchers and communicating their achievements; iii) including the ATHENA Toolkit developed under WP4; and iv) facilitating the exchange of experiences and information in the field of gender equality in R&i and more specifically in the development and implementation of organisational GEPs.
Parallely, within WP3, the outcomes of the WP2 activities served as input for the design and deployment of capacity building activities for the Gender Equality Plan Implementation (GEPI) Committees. The GEPI Committees were established at each ATHENA RPO/RFO implementing a GEP as key actors facilitating and promoting the institutional change through the development and implementation of the GEPs. A total of 92 committed GEPI Committee members were identified and involved in ATHENA. The capacity building was successfully implemented.
Under WP4, a best practices analysis among GEPs implemented in RPOs and RFOs all over Europe was performed. Additionally, a ‘Toolkit for transforming the institutional culture in terms of gender aspects’ was developed to support ATHENA RPOs and RFOs by offering an array of tools and resources that may assist them with examples, guidance and inspiration useful for tailoring their GEPs.
Finally, a web-based community platform for action (www.gender-equality.eu) was created and is already active. The e-platform is integrated in the project website (www.athenaequality.eu) and includes tools that contribute to achieve gender equality in science and research by: i) sharing the material developed by the project, like the trainings that have been carried out so far and further trainings and webinars that will be implemented; ii) supporting the visibility of women researchers and communicating their achievements; iii) including the ATHENA Toolkit developed under WP4; and iv) facilitating the exchange of experiences and information in the field of gender equality in R&i and more specifically in the development and implementation of organisational GEPs.
Based on a first assessment conducted at proposal stage, a total of 7,000 PhD students, researchers and professors will take part in the implementation of the GEPs developed, meaning this that these people will be directly involved. A wider number of people will be also implicated if we consider administrative staff and students participating in the different project activities. Additionally, not only the community of the ATHENA institutions but also organisations outside the consortium will be involved in the project activities. ATHENA consortium is continuously developing a database of stakeholders, which will be contacted throughout project duration and informed about the outcomes and activities of the GEPs implementation. Their involvement is key to promote gender equality in Europe and increase the number of organisations and people involved in the GEPs (GEPs replicability), thus resulting in an increased number of female researchers and an improvement their careers and mobility. This long-term impact is addressed under WP6, which develops a sustainability strategy to ensure GEPs and project results replication.