New report on RFOs and gender dimension

14.5.2021

According to the European Commission, the gender dimension should be included in research when relevant. Methods of sex and gender analysis in research serve to enhance scientific excellence as well as to enhance the lives of men and women. This is also stated in the policies of many national research funding organizations (RFOs). But how do they work to implement them? A report of GENDERACTION’s new consortium partner, the Swedish Secretariat for Gender Research, brings more knowledge on this topic.

The report shows that the inclusion of gender dimension in research funding can be characterised by three common challenges:

• vague definitions of academic freedom
• the mix-up gender equality and gender dimension in research
• how the research funding process is organised

The author team notes that a gender dimension is not something that can be “added on”. It must be thorough, used as a cross-cutting perspective and there from the beginning. The report presents also some suggestions, in order to achieve this. Read more about its findings on Swedish Secretariat for Gender Research web page.