Panel for 9th European Conference on Gender Equality in Higher Education - REPORT

PARIS, 12th-14th September 2016 Panel for the 9th Conference on Gender Equality in Higher Education

At the 9th European Conference on Gender Equality in Higher Education, Paris, 12-14 September 2016, the European Platform of Women Scientists EPWS in cooperation with the Essen College of Gender Research at the University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany, organized a panel on “Integrating of the sex and gender analysis into research content: Ready for Dialogue? Preconditions and Suggestions for Take-off“. The panel took place on Wednesday, 14 September 2016, 9:00-10:30 a.m.

The panel focused on the specific objectives and special challenges of the integration of the gender dimension in science and research in all disciplines – the social and natural sciences, humanities, engineering and technology as well as medicine – for universities, governments, funding institutions, science publishers as well as for scientific societies and associations.

In doing so, the panel built upon the findings of the international conference “Ready for Dialogue” in Berlin on 5 November 2015 where conference participants strongly supported the idea of a common strategic dialogue among key stakeholders to promote the integration of the gender dimension in science and research. The panel continued the thread of discussion started in Berlin and further explored the preconditions and suggestions for the take-off of a common strategic dialogue.

Short inputs of four representatives of selected key stakeholders in the field prepared the discussion before the audience was invited to share their views and suggestions in the second part of the panel.

For the initial inputs to the discussion with the audience, panelists Prof. Dr. Ineke Klinge, Chair Horizon 2020 Advisory Group on Gender, Lise Christensen, Senior Adviser at The Research Council of Norway, Maya Widmer, Head of Equal Opportunities in Research Funding at the Swiss National Science Foundation, and commentator Prof. Britta Thomsen, Copenhagen Business School (CBS), Politician and Former Member of European Parliament, shared their knowledge and insights on the topic. The speakers more specifically addressed the following questions:

What concrete measures do their respective institutions design and implement to foster the integration of the gender dimension in science and research?
Which of the measures implemented in the past worked successfully, which did fail, and which still require extra engagement?
How can the existing deficits be dealt with?
Which stakeholder in the field could contribute what?

In the unfortunate absence of both organizers, Ineke Klinge chaired the panel. In doing so she drew on her close insights into European policy development and her experiences as a keynote speaker at the Ready for Dialogue Conference in Berlin on 5 November 2015. Lise Christensen especially focused on the role of The Research Council of Norway in promoting the gender dimension in research. Maya Widmer especially shared the outcome of the discussions of the International Conference on Gender and Excellence: Challenges in Research Funding II which she organized in Berne on 21 June 2016. As former chair of the panel “Realizing the full scope of policy impact through strategic alliances among key players” at the EU Gender Summit 2015, Britta Thomsen brought in her specific view on the need for strategic alliances.

Both panel and discussion met with great interest. The fruitful interchange of the panel and the audience confirmed the need for a strategic alliance between the level of implementation and the level of knowledge to promote the integration of the gender dimension in science and research. The participants concluded the necessity to involve the European Parliament to encourage and push the European Commission to increase their efforts to promote gender content in research.