Balancing recruitment, retention & career progression
More and more women are taking on research careers. But despite increasing numbers of women getting their PhD’s, they are still underrepresented at the highest academic positions, as full professors, as authors of peer-review papers and as leaders of research teams. We work to change this pattern through skills development, awareness-raising, and advocating for policy change.
Science is not value-neutral. Conscious and unconscious bias influences our ideas of who is the best candidate for a position, who will be of more value to the organisation in the long term, and who should be promoted. Gender bias is part of the reason for the underrepresentation of women in senior research positions. We will work to support scientific research excellence in partner organisations by creating preconditions for locating and hiring the best candidates, without the effect of unconscious gender bias. And implement policies that raise awareness and foster dialogue of gendered practices among those who take decisions about who to recruit and promote at the top and bottom of research organisations, inside and outside the MINDtheGEPs project.
Supporting women in their careers
MINDtheGEPs will support skills development by reinforcing the skills required to conduct excellent research among women in junior research positions who are at the beginning of their research careers. This includes training on how to write an "excellent" paper or project proposal, how to publish in high-ranking journals, how to build networks, and so on. MINDtheGEPs training will also cover how gender is constructed at all levels, consciously as well as unconsciously. And how our gender biases affect our definitions of excellence, what makes a successful career and who is considered a good leader. Because men are also part of these gendered organisations, practices and cultures, the training opportunities on deconstructing gender bias will also involve men.
Breaking down attitudes and practices at the top
We are taking a bottom-up top-down approach to promoting gender equality in research. As part of work to tackle these issues from the top down, we will offer training for women and men at the top of research organisations, those who hold management positions and seats in decision-making bodies to raise awareness of gender gaps at all levels of research organisations. Whether it be in recruitment, promotion, decision-making, or research programmes and financing, we will identify and raise awareness of the causal mechanisms. Both at the level of the individual, the partner organisation, and in national policies. Taking a particularly detailed approach to identifying unconscious gender bias in the procedures and criteria used to evaluate merit and excellence.
Contact person
Paulina Sekuła
Paulina Sekuła, PhD, is assistant professor at the Institute of Sociology of the Jagiellonian University in Krakow, Poland. Her research interests cover gender equality, particularly in the realm of gender and research and academia, political culture and theories of democracy. For a few years she has been involved as a researcher in projects focusing on structural change in higher education institutions, including H2020 projects GENERA (Gender Equality in European Research Area, 2015-2018), ACT (Communities of Practice for Accelerating Gender Equality and Institutional Change in Research and Innovation across Europe, 2018-2021) and MINDtheGEPs (Modifying Institution by Developing Gender Equality Plans, 2021-2025) and the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation project Study of the potential of international mobile women scientists (2020-2021). Currently she is also a co-facilitator of the ACT Community of Practice for Gender Equality in Central and Eastern Europe.
Contact: paulina.sekula[at]uj.edu.pl
Public deliverables & reports
D4.1 – Guidelines on planned actions for recruitment and retention
Balancing recruitment, retention and career progression
In this deliverable, which is based on a combination of desk research, our own expertise, MTG partners’ experiences, in addition to existing guidelines, we have prepared a set of overall recommendations supporting academic and non-academic organisations to foster the awareness of gender issues in the field of recruitment, retention and career progression. Our guidelines on planned actions are developed to help to understand and prepare organisational change, which should improve gender equality in an institution.
Migalska, Alexandra., Sekuła, Paulina., Stoecker, Ewa., Ní Fhlatharta, Aiofe., & Macmahon, Helena. (2024). D4.1 – Guidelines on planned actions for recruitment and retention. Zenodo. DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.10491838
MINDtheGEPs recommendations
Training early career researchers to promote gender equality
Empowering women in research careers: Training early career researchers to promote gender equality
Despite an increasing number of women entering research careers, few of them end up in leadership roles compared to their male colleagues. MINDtheGEPs' training initiatives target these challenges head-on, fostering skills development and creating a culture of gender equality within partner organisations. Now, we share our best practice advice in a brief format.
This brief is based on a MINDtheGEPs deliverable, which in turn is based on a combination of desk research, our expertise, partners’ experiences, and existing guidelines. This deliverable includes a set of overall recommendations supporting academic and non-academic organisations to foster the awareness of gender issues in the field of recruitment, retention and career progression. Our guidelines on planned actions are developed to help to understand and prepare organisational change, which should improve gender equality in any institution.
Krzemińska, Katarzyna., Migalska, Alexandra., Sekuła, Paulina., Stoecker, Ewa. (2024) Empowering women in research careers: Training early career researchers to promote gender equality. Zenodo. DOI: 10.5281/ zenodo.11032882
Training senior leaders to promote gender equality
Raising awareness & challenging stereotypes: Training senior leaders to promote gender equality
Gender disparities persist in academia, particularly in senior leadership positions, despite a growing number of women earning PhDs. To address this, MINDtheGEPs offers specialised training for influential roles in decision-making bodies and committees (e.g. Rectors, V-ce Rectors, Chancellors, Deans, V-ce Deans, Directors, administrative and research team leaders, managerial staff at non-academic RPOs).
This brief is based on a MINDtheGEPs deliverable, which in turn is based on a combination of desk research, our expertise, partners’ experiences, and existing guidelines. This deliverable includes a set of overall recommendations supporting academic and non-academic organisations to foster the awareness of gender issues in the field of recruitment, retention and career progression. Our guidelines on planned actions are developed to help to understand and prepare organisational change, which should improve gender equality in any institution.
Krzemińska, Katarzyna., Migalska, Alexandra., Sekuła, Paulina., Stoecker, Ewa (2024) Raising awareness & challenging stereotypes. Training senior leaders to promote gender equality. Zenodo. DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.1108227
Structural incentives for gender balance in research organisations
Gender quotas & positive action: An attack on meritocracy? Structural incentives for gender balance in research organisations
Taking steps to address gender imbalances is essential to ensure women's career progress and promote diverse and inclusive research environments. Positive action (sometimes referred to as positive discrimination or affirmative action) is widely acknowledged as a crucial tool for achieving this goal. However, resistance persists, and opinions diverge about which are the most effective and valid strategies. This policy brief provides an overview of the multifaceted debate around positive action, the arguments for, arguments against, and pathways for implementation. The policy brief draws insight from the Gender Equality Plan development process of and interviews performed by MINDtheGEPs. It ends by presenting two case studies from Italian universities.
Cipriani, Nastassja., Solera, Cristina., & Holm Bodin, Anna. (2023). Gender quotas & positive action: An attack on meritocracy?. Zenodo. DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.10024373
Explore key areas
Empowering decision-making
To increase female researchers' participation in the decisions that affect them.
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Gendering research content
By including gender perspectives in research, teaching, evaluation & peer-review.
Improving work-life balance
Providing comprehensive support for career advancement while managing personal responsibilities like caregiving.
Measures against gender-based violence
Raising awareness about gender-based violence and sexual harassment among leadership in their organisations, ensuring there are sufficient support structures in place, and committing to stopping this behaviour.
Our approach
We promote gender equality on structural and cultural level of research organisations by fixing the system, not the women. Examining gender imbalances, designing gender equality plans for sustainable change, and monitoring and evaluating the progress we make.
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