Empowering women in decision-making
Women are underrepresented in decision-making in research. With recent reports stating the EU will reach gender equality in 60 years, there is plenty of work to do right now. We work to deconstruct the gendered bias that men make better leaders. And to introduce gender equality targets in key decision-making bodies at partner institutions.
Tackling stereotypes about leadership
Presumptions about what roles women and men should take, whether conscious or unconscious, can prevent women from obtaining senior positions. Both their trust in their own abilities as a leader and management attitudes can be difficult to overcome. We will address the widespread narrative that women have lower self-confidence, are less competitive, and are more likely to choose family responsibilities over work.
We will target these assumptions through a series of trainings for junior researchers, countering the notion that men are more suited for leadership positions. We will use the findings from our assessment of gender imbalances to develop guidelines for how to train senior researchers to look beyond gender to identify good leaders.
Breaking down structural barriers
Raising awareness of this gender gap and setting up new rules can help equal the score. We will encourage the introduction of equality targets in key decision-making bodies. Making sure gender data is available, showing where the gaps are, and developing strategies to close them is an important part of the MINDtheGEPs
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Contact person
Gema Antequera
Gema Antequera is EU Project Manager for Industry of the Future at CTAG in Spain. She is deeply committed to promoting diversity and inclusion in the technology sector and tries to include it in all her work and teams. She recognises the value of diversity of perspectives and actively participates in initiatives and programmes aimed at promoting inclusion. She is a co-coordinator of the STRADA-Women in manufacturing programme, a leadership development programme for emerging women leaders in the manufacturing sector to acquire knowledge and skills that will enable them to be more effective in their careers and in their organisations. Gema Antequera leads the work to empower women in decision-making and contributes to MINDtheGEPs as a whole.
Contact: gema.antequera[at]ctag.com
Public deliverables & reports
D5.1 – Guidelines on planned actions to empower women in decision-making processes
Empowering women in decision-making processes
This deliverable provides guidance on how to design training for junior researchers, particularly women, to help them navigate the structural and cultural barriers to career advancement in the research domain that they may face. Specifically, this guides the development of the first part of the MINDtheGEPs training module titled Empowering Women Laboratory. The goal is to challenge stereotypes about women's self-confidence, competitiveness, and family responsibilities, addressing the impact on their choices in research, teaching, and publishing. The report outlines the methodology, recommends actions based on collected information, and describes initiatives from various organisations. This work focuses on empowering women in decision-making processes within research organisations to support the goals of improving their career prospects and increasing gender balance in decision-making bodies at research organisations and MINDtheGEPs partners' gender equality plans.
Antequera, Gema., & Lomba, Adrián. (2024). D5.1 – Guidelines on planned actions to empower women in decision-making processes. Zenodo. DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.10579143
MINDtheGEPs recommendations
Critically addressing conscious & unconscious gender biases
Empowering women in leadership & decision-making: Critically addressing conscious & unconscious gender biases
Women are underrepresented in decision-making processes in research performing organisations. With recent reports stating the EU will reach gender equality in 60 years, there is plenty of work to do right now. The MINDtheGEPs project works to deconstruct the gendered bias that men make better leaders, to introduce gender equality targets in key decision-making bodies at partner institutions and as a result keep European research competitive. With these recommendations, we support gender equality in research by showing research performing organisations and teams how they can work to counter the pervasive belief that women self-select towards inequality, that they lack confidence and competitiveness, and prioritize family over career, and that this is what causes their choice of research fields, time allocation between research and teaching, and publishing strategies. These recommendations also challenge the notion that leadership is associated with masculine traits.
Antequera, Gema., Holm Bodin, Anna. & Lomba Peréz, Adrián. (2024) Empowering women in leadership & decision-making: Critically addressing conscious & unconscious biases. Zenodo. DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.10912
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
Balancing career progression
Supporting skills development and breaking stereotypes, towards work-life balance for men and women.
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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