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BALANSE-Kjønnsbalanse i toppstillinger og forskningsledelse

BALANSEKUNST - Kvinners vei mot den akademiske toppen

Alternative title: A BALANCING ACT - women’s rise to the top of academia

Awarded: NOK 6.0 mill.

Historically speaking, there have been differences in how men and women are represented on every level of the academic ladder. To an increasing degree, an equal footing between the sexes is observed at the lowest levels, but at the very top in senior academic positions full equality seems to lie at some distant point in the future. The purpose of the research project A Balancing Act has been to study gender disparities at different junctures on the career ladder with regards to advancement versus stagnation and apostasy on the academic career path, and identify the factors that might explain this. The project has mainly been based on a quantitative dataset on the Norwegian population of researchers, reaching all the way back to the mid-1970s, which makes it possible to follow Norway's male and female researchers over a long career. Part of the project includes analyzes of historical-demographic factors and what significance these have as an explanation for today's lack of gender balance. Analyzes have been carried out of the career development of all those who have completed a doctorate at Norwegian higher education institutions, a total of about 30,000 people. The results show that there are small differences across genders, and women and men have about the same probability of becoming full professor. The findings are discussed in relation to the so-called "leaky pipline" model. According to this metaphor, the pipeline is leaking, and women are more likely than men to leave the academic career. This may explain why one observes large differences in the gender composition in higher academic positions. Our results indicate that the model has little empirical support in Norway at the overall level. A comparative analysis based on data from the USA has also been carried out. In the project, we have also taken a closer look at the importance of international recruitment of researchers. Increased internationalisation represents one of the most pronounced structural changes to academia and the research system in general over the last decades. This manifests itself in several ways, resulting among other things in a more globalised job market for researchers. However, there is limited knowledge of the implications this internationalisation has for gender balance. Within several disciplines there is a predominance of men among the foreign researchers, which may create a setback for the process of achieving gender balance in the Norwegian research system. We analyse what the scope of international recruitment is at the various career levels, how the distribution is configurated over time, per discipline, as well as how the gender composition of foreign nationals differs from the composition of the Norwegian researchers. A main conclusion is that the lack of gender balance is not due to increased international recruitment of researchers - when the field distribution of the researchers is taken into account. Analyzes have also been carried out where we use register data to investigate whether the introduction of the professor promotion scheme, the transition from a system based on competition to a system based only on competence, has changed women's chances of obtaining a position as professor. Furthermore, we investigate whether women who achieved professor level through competition had different characteristics than those who reached professor level through competence promotion. One of the most discussed policy measures to encourage equality both in the family and in the labor market has been the introduction of paternity leave. Analyzes have been carried out where we look at the significance of this measure from a gender perspective. The starting point is an assumption that having children can be inhibiting, especially for women's careers and opportunities for advancement. The project has also carried out several studies of scientific publishing from a gender and career perspective, where the Norwegian publication indicator is analyzed specifically. The analysis is based on publication data for 43,500 individuals. The various components of the indicator have been analyzed and the results show that the gender differences along each element in the indicator (weighting for publication type, level 1 and 2, international cooperation, as well as fractionalization of co-authorship) are small but that they nevertheless have a small, and cumulative effect on the gender differences in scientific publishing. Overall, the project has contributed to increased knowledge about underlying structural processes that inhibit or promote gender balance. As such, it will strengthen the knowledge base for future measures and plans of action in a Norwegian context. Particularly important in this context is the finding that the lack of gender balance is not due to differences in career dropouts. Furthermore, that the gender differences in scientific publishing are smaller than previously assumed.

Prosjektet har bidratt til økt kunnskap om bakenforliggende strukturelle prosesser som hemmer eller fremmer kjønnsbalansen. På denne måten har det bidratt til å styrke kunnskapsgrunnlaget for fremtidige tiltak og handlingsalternativ i en norsk kontekst. Gjennom prosjektet belyses også samfunnsmessige spørsmål knyttet til forsknings- og UH-politikkens betydning for kjønnsbalansen, og institusjonelle og strukturelle rammer for karriereveier. Analyser av kritiske overganger i akademiske ansettelses- og opprykksprosesser har blitt viet spesiell oppmerksomhet gjennom studier av publiseringsmønstre, internasjonalisering og mobilitet. Særlig viktig i denne sammenheng er funnet om at mangel på kjønnsbalanse ikke skyldes forskjeller i karrierefrafall. Videre at kjønnsforskjellene i vitenskapelig publisering er mindre enn det man tidligere har antatt.

Kvinner og menn har historisk sett vært ulikt representert langs alle trinn av forskerstigen. På de laveste trinnene er det i økende grad balanse mellom kjønnene, men på det øverste trinnet – toppstillingene i akademia – synes full likestilling å ligge langt fram i tid. Formålet med forskningsprosjektet Balansekunst er todelt. For det første ønsker vi å studere kjønnsforskjeller på ulike stadier i karrierestigen med hensyn til avansement versus stagnasjon og frafall i det akademiske karriereløpet og hvilke faktorer som kan forklare dette. For det andre ønsker vi å analysere politikkinstrumenter og effekten av disse når det gjelder kjønnsbalanse. Her ser vi spesifikt på kjønnsimplikasjoner av bruk av en publiseringsbasert finansieringsmodell og effekten av ulike målrettete tiltak for å bedre kjønnsbalansen. Prosjektet er i hovedsak basert på et kvantitativt datasett over den norske forskerpopulasjonen helt tilbake til midten av 1970-tallet. Dette gjøre det mulig å følge Norges kvinnelige og mannlige forskere over et langt livsløp. Datasettet inneholder en rekke ulike variabler og gir en enestående mulighet til å gjennomføre en samlet analyse av faktorer som kan forklare mangelen på kjønnsbalanse. Datamaterialet er unikt i internasjonal kontekst og vil gjøre det mulig å bidra til forskningsfronten om tematikken. Prosjektet har to overordnete problemstillinger: a) Hvorfor klatrer færre kvinner enn menn til toppen av den akademiske karrierestigen? b) Hvilken effekt har utvalgte politikkinstrumenter hatt for kjønnsbalansen i forskningssystemet? De to problemstillingene vil belyses i fire ulike delprosjekter, alle med underordnete delproblemstillinger.

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BALANSE-Kjønnsbalanse i toppstillinger og forskningsledelse

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