ICGR Mini Tracks

The Mini Tracks for ICGR

• • • Gender in Research Performing Organizations
    • Gender in Times of Crisis
    • Gender and Energy

    • Female Gender Equality and Sustainability in Higher Education

Gender in Research Performing Organizations

Mini Track Chair: Prof. Claudia Canali and Prof. Tindara Addabbo, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Italy  

ICGR 2023 Mini Track on Gender in Research Performing Organizations 

In the European Research Area (ERA), the objectives to increase women’s representation and retentions at all levels of their career and to promote the integration of gender dimension in research and innovation content should lead research organisations and higher education institutions to implement institutional change in human resources management, funding, decision-making and also in research programmes.

Gender Equality Plans (GEPs) provide a framework to undertake this institutional change and are assuming an increasing importance since they are required as an eligibility criterion for Research Performing Organisations (RPOs) to get access to Horizon Europe funding. Despite the number of RPOs adopting gender equality policies at different levels increasing in recent years, few women still reach top positions in academia and research organizations with persistent limits stalling their career progression. Moreover, the gender gap in several academic disciplines is still high among the enrolled students. Thus, there is a need for more research to examine these topics from a gender perspective and the purpose of this mini track is to inspire researchers and practitioners in this scope. Potential topics include, but are not limited to:

• Gender Equality Plans in Research Performing Organizations
• Gender Budgeting: tools and applications
• Gender equality in recruitment, careers and retention
• Policies for work-life balance
• Gender equality monitoring: measures and indicators
• Tackling the gender gap within the student population
• Integration of a gender dimension in research content

Gender in Times of Crisis

Mini Track Chair: Emília Fernandes and Regina Leite, University of Minho, Portugal 

ICGR 2023 Mini Track on Gender in Times of Crisis 

Recent and today’s crises have increased gender inequality and women discrimination throughout the world. To put it simply, all crises are gendered. Women and minorities have been mostly affected by unemployment, labour market barriers, precarious work conditions, heavy work-family loads and caregiving responsibilities, cuts on social benefits, work and domestic violence, and poverty. Although some countries have been particularly affected by different types of crises (e.g. financial, economic, pandemic, political, humanitarian), its impact on gender diversity and inclusion is now a worldwide phenomenon. Women and minorities are the ones who suffer the most both in their professional and personal lives. Recent research has extensively investigated the effects of COVID-19 pandemic on gender segregation and discrimination in family, work and society domains. Many scholars around the world have demonstrated how the pandemic crisis exposed and exacerbated prior inequalities at work and at home. More recently, the war and humanitarian crisis is raising new concerns and challenges regarding power and inequality dynamics around gender issues.

This mini-track aims to promote the production and dissemination of knowledge among researchers interested in gender issues in times of crisis. Real case studies, policies, institutional and management strategies, as well as initiatives and tools to combat and prevent gender inequality and violence during these unprecedented times are also welcomed. Potential topics include, but are not limited to:

• The gender of (un)employment, precariousness and violence at work in times of crisis, particularly in the mostly affected sectors
• Gender experiences and inequalities in the health and social care sectors during times of crisis
• Gender violence at work and in the private and family contexts during times of crisis
• Gender experiences and inequalities in the family and non-work spheres enhanced by economic and financial, health and humanitarian crises
• Tools and instruments to prevent and respond to gender inequalities in the context of crises

Gender and Energy

Mini Track Chair: Dr Ewert Aukes & Prof Joy Clancy, University of Twente, The Netherlands  

ICGR 2023 Mini Track on Gender and Energy  

Fossil energy use and its enabling systems while supporting many of our everyday activities are also a major contributor to global greenhouse gas emissions, and, in turn, climate change. Thus, to counteract pending climate change related disasters energy transitions are being promoted. However, this is not a simple matter of substituting one energy technology for another; technology is not neutral, it has political dimensions. The emergence of discourses of environmental justice, energy justice, or energy poverty testifies to this. So, while the role of gender identities in the consumption of energy is well recognised in the Global South and increasingly in the Global North, empirical research, as well as theoretical and concept development are lagging behind. Even less attention has been paid to how gender influences the production of energy, the creation of material and social infrastructures,
(non-)energy policy work, or the ‘indicatorism’ in research projects to stimulate novel energy technology systems.

The existing knowledge about gender in energy systems is largely codified in non-academic literature. This is not an issue in itself. However, making this knowledge subject to scrutiny from peers and improving its findability and accessibility will not only increase the scientific body of knowledge as a complementary to everyday knowledge and experiences but also help create a more gender equitable energy transition. Potential topics include, but are not limited to:

• • Gender differences in the consumption of energy, including patterns of everyday lives
  • Perceptions of energy and how these are mediated by gender
  • Reflections of gender in material and social infrastructures
  • Re-enactment or destabilisation of incumbent gender relations in/through energy policies
  • Promotion of gender and social diversity in research projects

Female Gender Equality and Sustainability in Higher Education

Mini Track Chair: Dr Serene Dalati Arab International University, Syria

ICGR 2023 Mini Track on Female Gender Equality and Sustainability in Higher Education  

The new reality of management emphasizes a shift from stability to change, from competition to collaboration, from uniformity to diversity and from conventional and bureaucratic management to contemporary and team-based management. Higher education institutions are no exception to this approach, and they need strong leadership in an academic environment that can transcend time, place, geography, race, and above all gender. The imperative to empower female academics, is accelerating, and as international global businesses rely more and more on the significant roles played by female academics and researchers.

The aim of this mini track is to examine qualitative and quantitative approaches to research work related to female academics’ empowerment, equality and sustainability. Case studies on female role models in Academia, is valued and would bring relevant significance to the academic debate of this mini track.   Potential topics include, but are not limited to:

• Factors affecting Female Academic Researchers in higher Education
• Empowering Female Academics in Business, Science and Technology
• Gender policies and practices at Higher Education
• Measuring the Gender Gap in Higher Education Institutions
• Female Digital Transformation