What is the Gender Equality Plan and how to setup it
- Samy Strola
- Nov 3, 2021
- 3 min read
Updated: Nov 19, 2024
INTRO
With the arrival of Horizon Europe programme, the European Commission (EC) reinforced tools and initiatives supporting equal opportunities and gender mainstreaming.
This strategy has been designed since the late 90s (in the FP5 programme) with the objective to integrate gender issues into all Community policies and activities and to reduce inequalities between men and women.
Since, greater emphasis was placed on the gender dimension including systematically gender-related objectives for research (FP6 & FP7 programmes).
Running from 2021 to 2027, FP9 (Horizon Europe) programme reaffirms the importance and might finally lead to gender equality being widely and effectively promoted.
The new requirement from 2022 is to adopt a Gender Equality Plan (GEP) by the time the consortium sign a grant agreement with the EC.
THE GEP
The application form for new proposals asks the person representing the organization to state whether or not it currently had a GEP, answering YES or NO.
The answer does not impact the evaluation of proposals, but if funding will be subsequently
rewarded, the institution has to create and adopt a GEP (subject to a list of minimum requirements) before signing the contract with the EU.
The objectives, as set in 2012, are:
1/ fostering gender equality in scientific careers;
2/ ensuring gender balance in decision-making bodies and processes;
3/ and integrating the gender dimension into the content of research and innovation.
The adoption of the GEP will be considered an eligibility criterium from the 2022 calls onwards.
GEPs will become mandatory for public organisations, research organisations and higher education establishments.
HOW TO WRITE A GEP
The EC does not provide a common model and template.
However, the European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE) provides numerous example of GEPs.
Also, excellent resources and tools have been developed by the projects funded under the “Science with and for Society” part of Horizon 2020 (see GEAR action toolbox, link below).
A GEP must have the following process-related elements:
1/ a formal document signed by the top management, published on the institution’s website and widely disseminated within the institution,
2/ collecting and monitoring sex/gender-disaggregate data for all project staff categories,
3/ indicator-based annual reports on gender imbalances,
4/ training for staff, including those in decision-making roles, to increase their awareness and understanding of gender equality practices and unconscious gender biases.
These elements can be seen as a logical flow of different steps: from the analysis (data collection) to the planification (definition of objectives), from the implementation to the monitoring with the final aim to further optimise measures, processes and activities (see figure below, source: Austin, A.E. and Laursen, S.L. (2015), Organisational change strategies in ADVANCE institutional transformation projects: synthesis of a working meeting).
This measure has the objective to cover these areas:
a) the work-life and organisational balance (e.g. parental leave policies);
b) gender balance in leadership and decision-making processes (e.g. gender quotas for evaluation panels);
c) gender equality in recruitment and career progression (e.g. fair evaluation for employees);
d) gender integration into research and educational content (see link below);
e) action to combat gender-based violence, including sexual harassment (e.g. code for intervention protocol in case of complaints).
The EC will launch soon a pilot knowledge with the aim to develop trainings, workshops and guidance on the GEP topics.
A practical guide (free download) to improving gender equality in research organisations is provided by Science Europe website (link below).
USEFUL RESOURCES
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