Closing the gender gap in research institutions

Hiring practices, promotion systems, committee work and teaching loads can shape who advances in research institutions (and who doesn't) in ways that aren't always obvious.

For a long time, many research institutions lacked access to the organisational data needed to address these factors through their gender equality plans (GEPs). The MINDtheGEPs project set out to change that by taking a rigorously data-driven approach: gather the evidence, analyse it and use it to build GEPs that actually fit how institutions work.

As project coordinator Cristina Solera, professor of sociology at the University of Turin, explains, this marked a turning point. Since 2023, having a GEP in place has become an eligibility requirement for organisations applying for Horizon Europe funding. "Years ago, gender equality plans were not compulsory. Now they are. And having a European project gives legitimacy, a mandate to take the work seriously."

Mapping inequality with evidence

MINDtheGEPs brought together a consortium from Ireland, Italy, Poland, Serbia, Spain and Sweden with a deliberate mix of institutional and cultural environments. "You need variation if you want to understand how gender inequality works at different levels - macro, meso and micro," Solera notes.

The project began with a simple rule: no data, no policies. Each institution collected 53 gender-sensitive indicators covering recruitment, promotion, teaching loads, research funding allocation and leadership patterns. They also carried out macro-level analysis of national legal frameworks and policies in the field of research and innovation, labour market and work/care reconciliation, with a focus on policies related to gender roles in work and family life.

But numbers alone weren't enough. The team also conducted 181 qualitative interviews with researchers, administrators and senior managers. These conversations revealed how staff explained (or denied) inequality, and how those narratives shaped decisions.

One pattern appeared everywhere: the belief that 'merit' alone determines careers. "People would say: 'There's no inequality here, just merit'," Solera adds. "Then we showed them the data, and suddenly the gaps were visible." She also noted how often motherhood was invoked as a one-size-fits-all explanation for women's career outcomes.

Changing attitudes and structures

MINDtheGEPs moved on to designing GEPs grounded in the evidence. The approach followed what Solera calls a "pendulum" between structural measures (rules, incentives, procedures) and cultural measures (training, conversations, awareness). "Cultural change is crucial but slow," she says. "Sometimes you need structural change to open the space for culture to shift."

A standout example comes from Solera's own institution, the University of Turin. Departments that hired women as full professors received additional 'punti organico' (staffing points that determine how many academic positions a department is allowed to open in the university system). This gave them greater capacity to recruit in future selection rounds. The measure went more smoothly than expected.

Solera attributes this to sustained and diffuse engagement. "We created many seeds in different places," she adds. "If you want structural change to last, it can't rely only on the top."

Across the consortium, institutions established networks of departmental delegates to support gender equality work internally. They held sessions in departmental councils and academic senates, ran workshops for early-career and late-career researchers, and organised open discussions about the data and its policy implications.

Using a monitoring and evaluating model developed by Knowledge and Innovation, a social research organisation in Rome, the team also mapped how resistance to gender equality measures emerges and why processes stall or flow. This became one of the project's most revealing outputs.

A legacy of institutional change

As a result of the MINDtheGEPs project, partner institution Gdansk University won the EU award for gender equality champions, which celebrates their work in implementing a GEP.

Beyond equality plans, MINDtheGEPs has generated a wide set of resources: policy briefs, working papers, comparative analyses and a forthcoming edited book, 'Gender Equality Plans in Research Institutions: A Comparative Perspective'. The book maps gender equality landscapes across all partner countries and organisations, showing how political context shapes challenges and opportunities.

The project's most enduring legacy may be cultural. It introduced routines of reflection inside institutions that had never systematically analysed gender before, and built networks capable of surviving leadership changes. It gathered evidence and created theoretical frameworks strong enough to challenge long-held assumptions. And it did so in a way that made gender equality an organisational responsibility, not just the passion project of a few individuals.

As Solera puts it, the real achievement is not a single policy but a shift in mindset: "We wanted to create a foundation that will continue to grow, a research culture and institutionalised resources and practices that will sustain itself."