Mainstreaming Gender Training Activities in French

Research and Higher Education Institutions

EIGE Conference on Gender Mainstreaming, Vilnius, 14.11.2012

Maxime FOREST, PhD. Lecturer and researcher at Sciences Po PRESAGE

Gender Expert and technical Advisor

Introduction

In May, 2012, the French Ministry for Higher Education and Research,

launched a full gender training scheme, targeting every category of agents

in research and academic institutions, including academic boards,

researchers, administrative and technical workers in every field. To date,

about 6 training actions have been carried out, using experienced-based

and participatory methodologies. With the support of the newly

established Women’s Rights’ Ministry, these actions are likely to be

brought soon to a larger scale.

This contribution firstly aims at describing the institutional background

against which these actions have been implemented (1: diagnosis / 2.

Actors). Then, it presents the training scheme and its implementation

roadmap (3.) Lastly, it will conclude with remarks on the challenges of the

contribution of gender training to effective mainstreaming strategies.

1. DIAGNOSIS

Following the outputs of the EU-funded QUING project (2007-2011), more specifically of its OPERA stream on the setting of minimum quality criteria in gender training, the Gender Equality unit of the French Ministry for Higher Education and Research (MIPADI) set up a working cluster on gender training in April, 2011. Fed by discussions within the EU-group set up by the MIPADI, where recent policy and scholarly developments with respect to women in science issues at the EU level are discussed, our reflection led to emphasize: - That France has failed to implement effective gender mainstreaming strategies, due to negative path dependent features such as strong centralization, sectional policy approach, low policy evaluation culture, and institutional resistances - That there has been both limited institutional resources – and limited expertise, to carry out structural change to support gender equality, and that policies usually lacked continuity and consistence, in the absence of a true policy paradigm.

Beyond these two general assessments, it has been underlined that: - Major changes as concerns the increased autonomy of universities

(2007), and the new legislative spur in favour of gender equality (2006-), in the form of the adoption of positive actions also in the public sector (2012), were providing a new window of opportunity to implement gender mainstreaming strategies.

- Gender training actions offer an efficient (both in terms of impact and

mobilized resources) lever to provide actors in research and higher education with appropriate concepts and instruments to develop tailor-made, transversal, equality strategies

The diagnosis draws upon available data on the strong sex segregation that still prevails vertically (Fig. 2-4) and horizontally, throughout disciplines (Fig. 4 & 5). It also relies upon qualitative data collected by the MIPADI and the Women’s unit at the CNRS, regarding the low institutionalization of gender studies, the low expertise on gender available out of this field of study or the gender-blindness of newly established evaluation & funding structures.

Fig. 1

Fig. 2 Proportion of Men & Women in French universities

Fig. 3

Fig. 4 Proportion of Men & Women among full professors,

per disciplines (National University board sections)

Fig. 5

• Stereotypical career patterns do apply

• If not specified, academic excellence may discriminate women

• Strong budgetary constraints and competition differently affect men and women scientists

• Gender blind-evaluation culture

Unequal access to scientific & Academic

careers

• Still a minority among researchers + Leaky Pipeline

• Strong segregational patterns among disciplines

• “Sticky Floor” and Glass Ceiling still prevail

Gender unfriendly Environments and work

Cultures

• Low – but growing - institutionalization of gender studies

• Weak gender expertise available to carry out structural changes

• Makes difficult to implement gender mainstreaming

• Low gender expertise alters competitiveness on EU-funded projects

Strengthening EU and

Domestic legislative constraints

Lack of gender expertise

Gender Equality enforced by the EU treaties and 13 directives Since 2001, continuously strengthening domestic legislative framework Paradigm shift > introduction of gender quotas in 2011 Multiplication of soft instruments (charters, labels)

2. ACTORS

The main public actors of research and innovation Public research activities are carried out by 4 main categories of actors: 1. “EPST”, a category grouping 7 research institutes and the CNRS, which covers all disciplines, acting as the 4th largest research institution worldwide: 30.000 researchers (Men: 58% : Women : 42%) 2. More than 80 Universities, which have gained self-governing capacities since 2007 but have more limited ressources for research. Those are encouraged to merge to form bigger academic players, and/or to gather into “Excellence Poles” 3. “EPIC”, which notably comprises major applied research institutions as the CEA (Atomic Energy Commission) or the CNES (National space research center) 4. The “Grandes Ecoles”, higher education institutions opened upon selection (with specific status as the ENS, Polytechnique or Sciences Po) and schools of engineers. Also carry out relevant research activities.

Gender equality in research & innovation: policy instruments “Sauvadet” Act, voted in March, 2012, introduces new obligations for public institu-tions to comply with GE. EPST (including the CNRS) requested to appoint at least 40% of women in administrative and governance boards. COMEGAL: Since 2011, this committee gathers main policy actors of GE in Science under the supervision of the Minister in charge of higher education and research

CNRS: Since 2001 : Mission pour la place des femmes (Equality unit)

Ministry of Higher Education and Research: Since 2007 : MIPADI

Board of deans (CPU): Charter for Gender Equality (2009)

Universities: Since the mid-2000s: institutionalization of GE agents / units. Currently: 35, grouped into the National Conference of Equality Offices

“Grandes écoles”, Engineering Schools : Since late 2000s, creation of GE agents

AMUE : Universities’ Mutualisation Agency: provides support to training activities

3. INSTRUMENT

• Transferring easily usable knowledge

• Making it operational

• Creating synergies between available training skills

• Drawing upon actors’ experience

Objective 1 :

Enhancing and building competences

• Assuming a coordination role

• Monitoring and evaluating training actions

• Mainstreaming good practices

• Integrating training actions into a mainstreaming strategy

Objective 2 :

Coordinating and strengthening gender equality in research

• Addressing multiple discrimination

• Making training instruments transferable

• Identifying and preventing all the situations of discrimination

Objective 3 :

Fighting any form of discrimination

• Integrating gender equality in HRM

• Developing a gender perspective in research / curricula

• Improving the quality of projects submitted to FP7 / Horizon2020

Objectif 4 :

Strengthening scientific excellence

Strategic seminars (2hrs)

Human Resources

Module HRM Module HRM

(extended)

Communication & Dissemination

Public relation

Module

Scientific knowledge dissemination module

Deans, Dir. of Services Funding & Evaluation

Agencies Heads of Research Institutes

(CNRS) Recruitment and promotion

structures

Specialized functions

Gender Equality Units

Module 1 AR Tools

Training of Trainers module

Module 2

Strategic tools

Issue-specific modules

EU projects’ national contact points,

project managers, researchers

Gender in Research Module

National Contact Points module

Inclusive

• Adopts a transversal perspective on gender equality in research and higher education

• Includes other inequality strands where appropriate

• Addresses not only GE in the workplace, but also gender in academic curricula and research contents

• Intends to provide tailor-made training activities for all categories of actors, including HR, administrative, technical pers.

Cumulative

• Draws upon existing instruments at the EU level

•Multiplying effect: training tools to be adopted and adapted by institutional actors in research and higher education

• Experience through test-modules to be capitalized in the form of toolkits

• Includes evaluation and monitoring instruments

Interactive

• Encouraging 2 days long training sessions, using participatory and experiential methodologies

• Combination of brief theoretical or methodological communications with exercises, role plays…

• Aiming at the transfer of ready to use, operational knowledge, to be validated through experience feedback.

01-06/2012

• Diagnosis

• Conception and approval of the full training scheme

• 3 on-site gender training sessions organized, using the gender in research toolkit developed by Yellow Window for the European Commission

07-10/2012

• 2 days test-module organized for gender equality agents at the Ministry

• 2 on-site gender training sessions using the gender in research toolkit

• Intermediary evaluation of the instrument

10-12/2012

• Promotion of the instrument at the EIGE conference on Gender mainstreaming

• Conception of a toolkit for gender equality agents

• Conception of a specific training session for Human Resources personnel of universities, to be offered 3 X a year through the AMUE

Conclusions Where available gender expertise is relatively low and weakly

institutionalized, training agents to gender equality is requested

Gender training helps building the “business case” of gender equality and a gender perspective in scientific research

Gender training, if adopting an inclusive approach to gender (in)equality and

targeting all relevant categories of actors, shall be understood as part of a gender mainstreaming strategy

Gender training, through the transfer of operational knowledge and the enhancement of research, management, tutorial or administrative skills and capacities, aims at mainstreaming basic gender expertise or strengthening the expertise of dedicated agents or structures

Gender training enables to tackle individual and institutional resistances to gender equality, as part of the process itself.

Gender training is a relatively low-cost instrument, that can be implemented

drawing partly on existing instruments (Gender in research toolkit, Gendered innovations website…) and available resources in life-long learning

Gender training, however, need to be embedded in a broader gender equality

strategy and to accompany/complement a process of institutionalization To trigger structural change and a multiplying effect, it has to draw upon

qualified gender expertise, using up-to-date concepts and knowledge in a wide range of disciplines, and able/eager to deal with individual resistances

High level institutional support is key to successfully implement a gender training strategy and to produce long lasting effects