Gender Research

The Norwegian KIF Committee has drawn up a set of recommendations to support gender balance efforts at all levels of universities, university colleges and research institutes.

Beginning next year, a research organization applying to Horizon Europe will need to have a gender equality plan to be eligible for funding. But Heidi Holt Zachariassen and Curt Rice of Norway’s KIF committee wonder if that will be enough to achieve real change that is inclusive for all.

Although fewer women are having children than before, not having children is far more common among men. One in five men haven’t had children of their own by the age of 50. Fewer and fewer men are becoming fathers. What’s happening to Norwegian men? 

2020 marks the 20th anniversary of Security Council Resolution 1325. But the important Women, Peace and Security agenda seem to have had a backlash in recent years. New report from Norwegian Institute of International Affairs.

The assumption that male academics publish more than their female colleagues is deeply ingrained. But new analysis shows that much of the difference vanishes if you dig into the numbers.

Art historian and curator Lars Toft-Eriksen explores the idea of Munch as an artistic genius and how this idea was connected to gender and expressions of gender in his time.

Research on sexual harassment in academia is poorly developed and there are few measures in place to combat the harassment itself. The Nordic countries are no exception. So concludes a new European study.

The proportion of women in lead positions in Norwegian companies is slowly increasing, but having gender quota legislation on boards does not seem to have any transmissive effect on the proportion of women on executive committees, according to this year’s CORE Norwegian Gender Balance Scorecard.

While Norwegian Centres of Excellence are at the cutting edge of research, they are low on gender balance. Many believe the centres should be role models in gender balance and diversity.
 

New research note co-authored by the PRIO Centre for Gender, Peace and Security. Researchers investigated the relationship between women’s wellbeing and risk factors associated with a COVID-19 outbreak that exceeds a nation’s capacity to respond.  

Research on sexual harassment in academia is poorly developed and there are few measures in place to combat the harassment itself. The Nordic countries are no exception. So concludes a new European study.
  

The COVID-19 measures in place appear to affect the productivity of women researchers more than men. According to a Danish research analyst, immediate steps to reverse this trend are needed.

In Norwegian black metal, monstrous images of hyper-masculinity is emphasised. This has given many fans power over their own identity.

Innovation will be given greater focus in the ongoing EU effort to design the next research and innovation framework programme. This represents a good opportunity to improve the gender balance in innovation environments, says Anita Krohn Traaseth.

The main reason for the low birth rates in Norway is not that the number of childless adults is increasing, but that fewer people who have two children choose to have a third.
 

Men who subscribe to audiobook services listen as much, if not more, than women. That's good news, one professor says.

Humour has an important function for solidarity and team spirit among conscripts in the military. According to researchers, however, it may also contribute to many women leaving the military after the compulsory military service.

Planning cities for and with women can make the city both safer and more environment friendly, according to researchers.

Innovation has typically been thought of as involving patents, licences and start-ups. Today, innovation researchers have a far broader understanding of the concept, believes research leader Espen Solberg.

Women and men in Norway have equal chances to move up professionally in academia as a whole. There are, however, a number of systematic differences, according to new study. 

"The meaning of gender perspectives in research is often reduced to just counting the number of men and women. This is a very shallow interpretation of the term. In order to create a better climate, we need to understand the people behind the energy habits," according to researcher.

The Nordic Council of Ministers publishes The State of the Nordic Region-report every other year. The 2020 report reveales that birth rates in Finland, Norway and Iceland are at record-low levels. 
 

Two years after the #MeToo movement started, sexual harassment issues are still not included in the national Working Environment and Climate Surveys. The Ministry of Education and Research declines to take a stand.

– Most often the priviliged are the winners in politics, and who is priviliged depends on gender, says professor at Department of Comparatice Politicts at the University of Bergen Ragnhild Muriaas, who has lead the research project Money Talks. 

Only two out of ten professors interviewed were women in the two Norwegian print newspapers in 2016, according to results from a recent study. 

The Norwegian labour market is clearly segregated by gender. Although women and men have approximately identical rates of labour force participation, they work in different professions, industries and sectors. Read the English summary of this Fafo-report about gender segregation in Norwegian the labour market.

The research foundation Fafo routinely publish reports on gender related topics. Here is an English summary of their report on Norwegians' attitudes towards gender equality, hate speech and the instruments of gender equality policy from 2019.

As many as 50 per cent of women suffering from cardiac arrest are given insufficient treatment, because the heart failure was not caused by a heart attack. Professor Eva Gerdts at the University of Bergen has has done research on difference in heart disease between men and women.

The Committee for Gender Balance and Diversity in Research (KIF Committee) are researchers, administrators and students at Norwegian universities, university colleges and research institutes. In this article the members explain what they see as the greatest gender equality and diversly challenges in academia.  
 

Critical perspectives on the promotion of internationalization and excellence in academia were discussed at seminar hosted by NORDICORE – Nordic Centre for Research on Gender Equality in Research and Innovation. 

With her book about feminism in Islam, Marianne Hafnor Bøe not only aims to create awareness of Muslim feminists, she also wants to expand the term ‘feminism’.

In recent years some have asked whether the ceiling has been reached for the number of foreigners in Norwegian academia. The Young Academy of Norway would rather have a debate on how to best take advantage of this new diversity.

Gender equality generates better results within research and innovation. In addition, EU bureaucrats argue that European research funding should be earmarked with specific requirements for gender perspectives.

“The use of gender points is not just about lifting people over a point threshold they would not otherwise reach. It is also about sending a signal that women and men are both wanted in the programme,” says Research Director Liza Reisel.
 

The masculine culture in the Norwegian Armed Forces is a democratic problem. This makes it difficult to work with issues related to gender, according to researcher. 

The children of immigrants are often met with the attitude that their choice of education has been dictated by social control. On the contrary, these sons and daughters are intent on making their own choices, says researcher Marianne Takvam Kindt.

Gender roles is a delicate topic for religious minority groups. Many of them accept traditional gender segregation in the religious community, but struggle with prejudices from the greater society, according to researcher.

The results of the national survey on bullying and harassment in Norway’s higher education sector are finally in. But the reasons why harassment occurs remain unclear, according to the Committee for Gender Balance and Diversity in Research.

The Nordic co-operation Programme on Gender Equality 2019 - 2022 highlights efforts to combat sexual harassment as particular urgent. In this publication the Nordic co-operation body NIKK, Nordic Information on Gender, summarize some of the current initiatives and measures being taken in the Nordic countries to end sexual harassment. 

Traditionally men have been the main figures of history, but what do we know about women's history and why is it important? Kilden has asked four Norwegian historians about their relation to women’s history. 

Whatever you find when you google depends on the people who have developed the algorithms. American researcher fears enhanced sexism and racism unless the IT sector begins to promote diversity.

It was not until the 1990s that researchers fully began to include both genders in health research. Sara Magelssen Vambheim has contributed with valuable new insights in her study of gender differences in pain experiences.

That the EU affects Norwegian gender equality policies has mostly proven to be a good thing. But an individual-oriented policy puts pressure on the social democratic approach, say researchers.

Do the Norwegian child welfare service succeed in helping young girls from minority backgrounds who experience strong social control and violence at home? Researchers found that measures should be taken to ensure greater knowledge of and trust in the service, aimed at young people.

In the booklet «What is the Gender Dimension in Research?» Kilden genderresearch.no presents case studies from a variety of scientific fields.The book is made to help and inspire researchers who wish to apply a gender dimension in their research.

The quality of research designed to solve our time’s social challenges is strengthened when the gender dimension is included, writes John-Arne Røttingen, director of The Research Council of Norway.

Machines and technology increasingly fill more and more human functions. According to researchers, society’s gender roles affect the development of robots and artificial intelligence, but technology may also shape ideas about gender.

How are Hungarian, Polish and Swedish gender scholars responding to criticism and campaigns to discredit their work? Not only do they emphasize the intrinsic value of gender studies - they also use humour to counter the anti-gender campaigns.

The legacy from colonialism characterises Norwegian academia. Now, Norwegian researchers want to examine their own disciplines and include non-western perspectives in the academic institutions’ scholarly production.

The way in which we understand violence against women has changed, according to researcher Linda Sjåfjell. It used to be perceived as a gender equality problem, whereas today we explain it in more individual terms.

We have asked stakeholders in the sector about the status of research on sexual harassment in Nordic academia in the wake of #MeToo.

Academic freedom is threatened by authoritarian right-wing populism in countries in Europe and Latin America. Listen to a podcast discussing why this matters to women's rights.

The #metoo campaign has shown that sexual harassment in the workplace is a large-scale societal problem. Now, researchers want to change focus from spicy stories to constructive debate on sexuality and power.

17.01.2018

More and more young girls seek help for mental problems. “Generally, girls take things more seriously than boys. This applies to school, friends and family," says researcher Anders Bakken.

In 1967, Norwegian women were finally allowed to decide for themselves when to get pregnant. The contraceptive pill has had enormous significance for women’s emancipation, but researchers doubt whether it would have been approved today.

The Nordic welfare states have in recent decades been challenged by neo-liberal ideals. How does this affect the gender equality and the status of care work? This will be explored in a new Nordic research project.

Women’s bodies are different from men’s. We need more knowledge to better understand women’s health, says medical doctor and Professor Johanne Sundby. She finds support in a new report on the same topic.

To participate in the labour market and to have a family are things most people take for granted. Women with functional disabilities are deprived of many opportunities. The explanation may be both functional ability and gender, according to researcher.