This MSCA fellowship has advanced the frontiers of gender equality research forward in a number of ways. The two journal articles published by the Fellow have revealed, for the first time in an Irish context, the subjective understandings and account of university staff who drive and are committed to implementing actions for institutionalising gender equality in their higher education institution. The research findings are relevant to other countries across the globe also implementing both the Athena SWAN Charter or a synonymous programme. The research conducted as part of GendeResearchIreland shines new light on the experience of driving change for gender equality, resonating with the challenge at a societal level to transform our world to be socially just.
The focus of the research has been on the process of embedding change, as is the focus in the co-edited publication Cork as a Healthy City. This is an important achievement the Fellow has accomplished, in driving inquisitive and process-oriented research and inquiry. The conference presentations, school workshops, presentation at European Researcher’s Night and knowledge-sharing events led by the Fellow are enabling a flourishing of broader capacity to produce quality research in the field of gender and social equality studies (e.g. Co-convening the ISS21 UCC Gender & the Academy Working Group to raise the usefulness and profile of gender equality in academia studies and delivering seminars on the research to enable researchers to upskill).
This MSCA, funded under the Career Restart Panel (CAR), was a most significant opportunity for the Fellow transitioning back into academic work after a number of years in a caring role and working outside academia. The Fellow has been able to relearn and develop an agility with qualitative research methods, share creative research methods from research (e.g. seminar delivered as part of the Creative Methods seminar series in ISS21, UCC) and feminist theories of institutional change.
The research study conducted as part of this MSCA has exposed and uncovered the nuanced and complex nature of embedding gender equality in higher education, the ambiguity and conflict those individuals who are carrying out much of the Charter work experience, and the phenomenon of ‘institutional happy talk’ engaged by mostly men in senior management position, which the research has revealed. These are innovative and fascinating findings which are sure to allow a pushing forward to the boundaries of theory and action in this field of inquiry and in feminist activism.
Impacts forecast from the MSCA are increased and fine-tuned: new competencies have been acquired by the Fellow in advancing her research career, which the fellowship has directly achieved in her advancement in position; improved implementation of the Athena SWAN Ireland Charter; sharing and disseminating findings with key policy actors, scholars and professionals working to implement the Athena SWAN Ireland Charter; focus on process and subjective experience in researching the gender equality institutionalisation in higher education. A final impact is improved public perception of social science, specifically gender equality studies, as a meaningful and socially important field of inquiry.
