THE ART OF BALANCE - women's path to the academic top

Kvinne med ryggen til foreleser for studenter
Photo: Skynesher/iStock/Getty Images Plus
  • Status: Completed
  • Project no: 651085
  • Start: 01/04/2019
  • End: 01/04/2022
  • Funding: The Research Council of Norway

Project description

Historically speaking, women and men have been unequally represented along all steps of the research ladder. At the lowest levels there is increasingly a balance between the sexes, but at the top level, the top positions in academia, full equality seems to be a long way off. The purpose of the research project Balansekunst is twofold. Firstly, we want to study gender differences at different stages of the career ladder with regard to advancement versus stagnation and dropout in the academic career and which factors can explain this. Secondly, we want to analyze policy instruments and their effect in terms of gender balance. Here we look specifically at the gender implications of using a publication-based funding model and the effect of various targeted measures to improve the gender balance.

The project is mainly based on a quantitative dataset of the Norwegian research population going all the way back to the mid-1970s. This makes it possible to follow Norway's female and male researchers over a long lifetime. The data set contains a number of different variables and provides the opportunity to carry out an overall analysis of factors that can explain the lack of
gender balance. The data material is unique in an international context and will make it possible to contribute to the research front on the topic.

The project will contribute to increased knowledge of underlying structural processes that inhibit or promote gender balance. In this way, it will strengthen the knowledge base for future measures and alternative actions in a Norwegian context.

Participants

bilde av Dag W. Aksnes
Project Manager

Dag W. Aksnes

Research Professor

bilde av Kaja Kathrine Wendt

Kaja Kathrine Wendt

Senior advisor, adjunct position

bilde av Marte E.S. Ulvestad

Marte ES Ulvestad

Senior Researcher

bilde av Nicoline Frølich

Nicoline Frølich

Research Professor, adjunct position

bilde av Rune Borgan Reiling

Rune Borgan Reiling

Senior Researcher

bilde av Fredrik Niclas Piro

Fredrik Niclas Piro

Research Professor, deputy research leader

bilde av Lynn Parker Nygaard

Lynn Parker Nygaard

bilde av Hebe Gunnes

Hebe Gunnes