A new report on gender balance in academia and research in the Nordic European countries is now available.
The document looks at the situation in Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden, with a review to the state of the art and recommendations for future Nordic policy actions.
The Nordic countries are often presented as a “gender equality paradise”, but the degree of gender balance among researchers in academia does not differ noticeably from that of other European countries. About 80 per cent of professors in the Nordic countries are men. Many subject areas within academia are extremely gender segregated. Progress in the field of gender equality is slow – and has in certain periods been at a complete standstill.
The lack of gender balance within the research community is not only a serious problem for research. It is also a problem for democracy. It goes without saying that women and men should have equal rights and opportunities to conduct research and pursue research as a career. However, gender balance is not only a question of fairness. The credibility and legitimacy of research within society is enhanced when the research community reflects the population as a whole. It should be possible to recruit the most talented individuals to research, regardless of their gender. If the leaders at research institutions are not able to produce, or recruit, the most talented individuals of both genders, the quality of research will suffer.
Today the knowledge society, with its increased focus on research, is a major competitive advantage in the development of affluence. Women still represent an underutilised resource in academia. Research benefits when both genders participate and contribute with their expertise, creativity and experience. This report shows the status and the development in the field. The report gives examples of successful practices and highlights research policy challenges that are important to analyse in a gender and equality perspective.
“Although women comprise the majority of the students who have completed a master’s degree and there is relative gender balance among those awarded a doctoral degree, academia does not have the proportion of women expected at the highest level, i.e. among professors.”
Given the lack of comparative investigations and research on the gender balance in academia in the Nordic region, there is a need to develop Nordic cooperation in this field. The report concludes with a number of recommendations in order to consolidate the issue of gender balance in academia as a joint policyand research field in the Nordic region.