Context matters: Problematizing the policy‐practice interface in the enactment of gender equality action plans in universities

Laoire, Caitríona Ní; Linehan, Carol; Archibong, Uduak; Picardi, Ilenia; Udén, Maria

doi:10.1111/gwao.12594

Cited by 19 publications

(26 citation statements)

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“…A comprehensive framework with structured processes and tools was pivotal in encouraging even new starters in gender equality work to make their first steps. Flexibility and allowing for the tailoring of actions to the local context was seen as key for CAS to achieve change taking the specific needs and challenges into account, as highlighted by Ní Laoire et al (2021) . Thus, policy-makers and stakeholder organisations must ensure a balance between standardisation (structured templates, tools, processes) and flexibility to contextualise gender equality actions.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The process of producing a GEP can provide the setting for reflexivity, consensus-building, and interrogation of the gendered norms (both formal and informal) that underpin the assignment of epistemic authority' (Clavero and Galligan, 2021, p.) This said, a comparative critical analysis of GEPs implementation process in different universities have highlighted how context matters in the way GEPs are framed, implemented and enacted (Ní Laoire et al, 2021). Thus, GEPs can be pivotal tools for organisational change insofar as they can be contextualised by reflecting the needs of the local situation of an institution, as well as the wider environment in which these institutions operate.…”

Section: Conceptual and Theoretical Considerationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This said, a comparative critical analysis of GEPs implementation process in different universities have highlighted how context matters in the way GEPs are framed, implemented and enacted ( Ní Laoire et al, 2021 ). Thus, GEPs can be pivotal tools for organisational change insofar as they can be contextualised by reflecting the needs of the local situation of an institution, as well as the wider environment in which these institutions operate.…”

Section: Conceptual and Theoretical Considerationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This interaction and co-construction of the micro-, meso- and macro-level has been increasingly highlighted by scholars. Ní Laoire et al (2021) introduce a conceptual framework demonstrating how macro-level policy and meso-level organisational (gendered) logics can be useful in better understanding how GEPS are interpreted, mediated and (re)produced across different organisational contexts. O’Connor and Irvine (2020) emphasise the significance of gender equality measures simultaneously undertaken at micro-, meso- and macro-level to support change.…”

Section: Conceptual and Theoretical Considerationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Certifying Gender Equality in Research: Lessons Learnt From Athena SWAN and Total E-Quality Award Schemes

2021

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In the past 2 decades, many Certification and Award schemes (CAS) related to gender equality, diversity and inclusion have emerged in the higher education, research and industry sectors. According to a recent report, there are as many as 113 CAS which have been identified across Europe and beyond. These CAS aim at addressing inequalities in relation to the grounds of sex, gender, race, sexual orientation, and disability among others. The high number of CAS, and their continued growth, has taken place in parallel to the shift of policies and efforts from “fixing individuals” to “fixing the system.” In these schemes, gender equality is often understood as a structural, systemic challenge, with a recognition that advancing gender equality is complex and requires drivers and interventions at micro, meso and macro level. Studies focused on analysing and evaluating gender equality initiatives in higher education have been scarce, and often limited to specific schemes. This paper aims to fill this gap by providing a better understanding of the CAS landscape through comparing two of the main gender equality schemes used by research-performing organisations in Europe Athena SWAN (in the UK) and Total E-Quality Award (in Germany). Based on qualitative interviews with stakeholders across Europe and document analysis, this paper focuses on strengths, challenges faced by and the impact of these CAS. This comparative exercise highlights particular learning points that can inform potential reviews of existing schemes and/or the development of new schemes such as a Europe-wide scheme. The latter is the focus of a Horizon 2020 project entitled CASPER (Certification-Award Systems to Promote Gender Equality in Research), which aims at making recommendations to the European Commission as to the feasibility of a Europe-wide CAS for gender equality in research organisations.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Conceptual and Theoretical Considerationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Conceptual and Theoretical Considerationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Conceptual and Theoretical Considerationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Certifying Gender Equality in Research: Lessons Learnt From Athena SWAN and Total E-Quality Award Schemes

2021

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“…Waylen's work on institutional change and gender equality broadly argues that a narrow and limited analysis of a gender equality policy initiative (such as the Athena SWAN Charter) could constrain an examination of the effect of gendered institutions and the role they play in societal interactions (Waylen, 2013), thus possibly compromising the ability 'to answer big questions or resolve (the) structure/agency debate that preoccupies other social scientists' (Mackay, 2011: 195). It is therefore important to account for the institutional and societal context within which a gender equality initiative, programme or strategy -such as the Athena SWAN Charter -seeks to operate, create and embed institutional change (N ı Laoire et al, 2020).…”

Section: Theoretical Perspective: Feminist Institutionalism (Fi)mentioning

confidence: 99%

Developing a theoretical framework for exploring the institutional responses to the Athena SWAN Charter in higher education institutions—A feminist institutionalist perspective

O'Mullane

2021

Irish Journal of Sociology

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Why does the institutional response of higher education institutions to a ‘potentially institutionally transformative’ gender equality programme such as the Athena SWAN (AS) Charter matter? If a higher education institution seeks and attains the AS award, then the institutional response would be to embed the Charter’s action plans thoroughly without resistance or variation across higher education institutional contexts? These are the initial and broader reflective questions underpinning and inspiring this article. The reality is that the Athena SWAN Charter actions and commitments are not simply installed into the technical rules and procedures of higher education institutions, resulting in the organisational and cultural change it seeks. It is argued in this article that applying a feminist institutionalist lens, which deals with the exchange between formal and informal rules, norms and practices, and the roles played by actors working with the rules – the micro-foundations of gendered institutions – will inform our understanding of how a change programme such as Athena SWAN can instil institutional change- if any change. This article details a theoretical framework, drawing from the FI perspective, which will be applied to an empirical study exploring the institutional responses of higher education institutions to the Athena SWAN process in Ireland.

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Researchers' sex/gender identity influences how sex/gender question is investigated in neuroscience: an example from an OHBM meeting

Picó-Pérez,

Marco,

Thurston

et al. 2024

Brain Struct Funct

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Gender inequality and diversity in STEM is a challenging field of research. Although the relation between the sex/gender of the researcher and the scientific research practices has been previously examined, less interest has been demonstrated towards the relation between sex/gender of the researcher and the way sex/gender as a variable is explored. Here, we examine, from a neurofeminist perspective, both questions: whether sex/gender identity is related to the examination of sex/gender as a variable and whether different approaches towards examining sex/gender are being used in different topics of study within neuroscience. Using the database of submitted posters to the Organization of Human Brain Mapping 2022 annual conference, we identified abstracts examining a sex/gender-related research question. Among these target abstracts, we identified four analytical categories, varying in their degree of content-related complexity: (1) sex/gender as a covariate, (2) sex/gender as a binary variable for the study of sex/gender differences, (3) sex/gender with additional biological information, and (4) sex/gender with additional social information. Statistical comparisons between sex/gender of researcher and the target abstract showed that the proportion of abstracts from Non-binary or Other first authors compared to both Women and Men was lower for all submitted abstracts than for the target abstracts; that more researchers with sex/gender-identity other than man implemented analytical category of sex/gender with additional social information; and, for instance, that research involving cognitive, affective, and behavioural neuroscience more frequently fit into the sex/gender with additional social information-category. Word cloud analysis confirmed the validity of the four exploratorily identified analytical categories. We conclude by discussing how raising awareness about contemporary neurofeminist approaches, including perspectives from the global south, is critical to neuroscientific and societal progress.

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Context matters: Problematizing the policy‐practice interface in the enactment of gender equality action plans in universities

Abstract: This study argues for recognition of the constitutive role of context in shaping the dynamics of the policy-practice interface in the field of gender equality in universities.Using a comparative and reflective case-study approach, we draw on our experiences, as action-researchers, of

Cited by 19 publications

References 50 publications

Certifying Gender Equality in Research: Lessons Learnt From Athena SWAN and Total E-Quality Award Schemes

Certifying Gender Equality in Research: Lessons Learnt From Athena SWAN and Total E-Quality Award Schemes

Developing a theoretical framework for exploring the institutional responses to the Athena SWAN Charter in higher education institutions—A feminist institutionalist perspective

Researchers' sex/gender identity influences how sex/gender question is investigated in neuroscience: an example from an OHBM meeting

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