Despite a significant female student predominance in psychology, the Department of Psychology at UiO (PSI) has a male predominance in top academic positions. Because of this imbalance, PSI's management has decided to participate in BalanseHub. The goal is to implement three work packages to ensure equality and diversity in permanent scientific positions. The first two work packages are being developed and will be completed during this autumn and next spring. The third work package is scheduled to launch in 2022. The leader group at PSI coordinates the project, which has a solid foundation in the department's management team and key strategic documents and objectives.
Work package 1: Academic career development program
A program/series of events for academic career development that focuses on qualification requirements for top academic positions is under development. The goal is for everyone to have equal access to information about what is emphasized in various positions and how to acquire the necessary competence for an academic career. The program is primarily aimed at Ph.D. students and postdocs and will be implemented in PSI's Ph.D. program, with about 150 candidates. The program is directly linked to current assessment criteria in academic positions by focusing on information about courses in publishing and the acquisition of external funds; the department's organizational structure and contact persons for institutional work; opportunities for teaching for researchers who do not have this as part of their employment contract; opportunities for international and national research stays and interdisciplinary collaborative projects to promote independent publications and networking; opportunities to apply for a qualification grant or exemption from tuition that can be used for, for example, application writing, as well as information about contact points for discrimination cases and other challenges.
In addition to the internal program, we will use our partner role in an already established national leadership development program for younger research leaders (YFL) aimed at employees in the psychology disciplines at NTNU, the Universities of Tromsø, Bergen and Oslo to promote cultural and attitude-related tools to strengthen gender balance and diversity among future research leaders in Norwegian psychology. The program aims to allow young talents to develop further as research leaders, maintain the opportunities to assert themselves in the competition for national and international research funds and network building. The next cohort program will include gender balance and diversity as crucial elements in the seminar series.
Work package 2: Recruitment and employment
Two HR advisers have been employed on this project for one year in a 50 percent position each from August 2021. The advisers develop new routines and procedures for new hires to ensure diversity and gender balance in employment in permanent and temporary scientific positions. In this connection, new templates are being completed for job advertisements that will maintain a gender-neutral language and, at the same time, refer to how the department emphasizes diversity and career development. A plan is also being developed to advertise vacancies through programmatic advertising to reach the target group better. New procedures are being developed to make it possible to enforce better the gender equality regulations at UiO, which must be followed in all appointments. The guidelines will include information on areas of responsibility, such as the fact that the expert committee coordinator is responsible for disseminating information about UiO's gender equality regulations to external committee members, including any skewed gender balance at the unit/department to which the position belongs, as well as norms for correcting publication scope for the absence of leave, and so on.
In addition, a registration form for quality assurance is developed where the parties involved at each step must register how procedures and regulations have been followed. The registration form for quality assurance will include points such as that the call text is formulated following UiO's gender equality regulations and other qualification frameworks, that a search committee is established for positions at sections where one gender is underrepresented, and that expert assessment of candidates is based on relevant qualification requirements. The goal is for responsible parties in appointment cases to be sufficiently informed and aware of UiO's gender equality regulations and made aware of their responsibility for ensuring that the gender equality regulations are followed at all stages of the process. Collaboration has been established with other BalanseHub projects at UiO, especially with the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, coordinating this Work Package's work with other units that develop similar routines and procedures.
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Til tross for et betydelig flertall av kvinnelige studenter har Psykologisk institutt (PSI) en overvekt av menn i faglige toppstillinger (69%). Kjønnsbalansen varierer mellom de ulike fagavdelingene, med 43% mannlige professorer ved fagavdeling for klinisk psykologi og 100% ved fagavdeling for kognitiv og klinisk nevrovitenskap. Denne differensierte ubalansen blant disiplinene krever virkemidler som er tilpasset særtrekkene ved de enkelte fagene, og støtter behovet for instituttnære tiltak.
Den skjeve kjønnsbalansen blant de faglige toppstillingene står i kontrast til det betydelige flertallet av kvinner blant PSIs studenter på bachelor- (82%), master- (81%) og profesjonsstudiet (76%), stipendiatene på instituttets ph.d.-program (77%) og postdoktorene (71%), og kan ikke tilskrives et historisk etterslep: i perioden 2016-2019 ble det utlyst 13 førstestillinger ved PSI, hvorav én av de tilsatte var kvinne. Denne ubalansen førte til at ledelsen ved PSI opprettet en arbeidsgruppe som evaluerte ansettelsesprosessene ved PSI, og la frem konrekte forslag til systemorienterte og karrierefremmende tiltak for å øke kvinneandelen ved rekruttering til førstestillinger.
Basert på retningsgivende rapporter fra arbeidsgruppen søker vi støtte til å delta i BalanseHub for å bedre kjønnsbalansen blant de faglige toppstillingene. Prosjektet fokuserer på systemorienterte og karrierefremmende tiltak for å initiere kulturelle og strukturelle endringer som fremmer likestilling og mangfold ved PSI, og vil bidra til erfaringsutveksling og synergier med fakultet og andre psykologifaglige institusjoner gjennom etablerte nasjonale nettverk. Søknaden koordineres av ledelsen ved PSI, og har en klar forankring i instituttets ledergruppe og sentrale strategiske dokumenter og målsetninger.
Funding scheme:
BALANSE-Kjønnsbalanse i toppstillinger og forskningsledelse
