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Gender Equality Plans

Learn the basics

What is a Gender Equality Plan?

The European Institute for Gender Equality offers a clear definition of what a gender equality plan is for research organisation and higher education institutions according to the European Commission. It outlines the different steps or phases of a gender equality plan, namely the analysis, planning, implementing, and monitoring phase.

A word from the European Commission

Horizon Europe & Gender - Background documents

Learn from the European Commission's factsheets and strategies, about the current challenges related to gender equality and specific actions to reach it. Read about the policy objectives and actions to make a significant progress by 2025.

The Horizon Europe, gender equality: a strengthened commitment in Horizon Europe Factsheet

This factsheet provides information on the challenges of gender quality and how to tackle them as well as key tips for developing a GEP.

Gender Equality Strategy Factsheet - Striving for a Union of Equality: The Gender Equality Strategy 2020-2025

This factsheet gives an overview of the current concrete actions steps that have to been taken to reach gender equality within the European Union.

The EU Gender Equality Strategy for 2020-2025

The EU Gender Equality Strategy presents policy objectives and actions to make significant progress by 2025 towards a gender-equal Europe. The key objectives are ending gender-based violence; challenging gender stereotypes; closing gender gaps in the labour market; achieving equal participation across different sectors of the economy; addressing the gender pay and pension gaps; closing the gender care gap and achieving gender balance in decision-making and in politics. The Strategy pursues a dual approach of gender mainstreaming combined with targeted actions, and intersectionality is a horizontal principle for its implementation.

Do's and Dont's

How to setup and implement a gender equality plan?

The following documents present guidance on how to set up and implement a gender equality plan for research organisations to be eligible for applying to Horizon Europe Framework Programme for Research and Innovation 2021-2027 projects.

Horizon Europe guidance on gender equality plans

This Guidance supports organisations to meet the Gender Equality Plan (GEP) eligibility criterion of the Horizon Europe Framework Programme for Research and Innovation 2021-2027. This Guidance presents the components of the eligibility criterion as set by the European Commission, explains what these requirements mean in practice when developing and implementing a GEP or reviewing the equivalence of existing plans or policies, and provides concrete practical examples, building on existing materials, good practices and various resources that support gender equality in research and innovation (R&I) at national and institutional levels.

Gender Equality in Academia and Research Gear Tool

The European Institute for Gender Equality also offers a complete step by step guide.

SAGE Wheel Toolkit for designing Gender Equality Plans

The SAGE Wheel Toolkit for designing Gender Equality Plans in higher education institutions is designed to facilitate the process of drafting effective Gender Equality Plans (GEPs) in higher education institutions. The toolkit guidelines provide a set of standards for developing and implementing GEPs as well as self-assessment for gender equality within institutions. It also includes a framework for inter-institutional mentoring to guide the process.

Plotina (Promoting gender balance and inclusion in research, innovation and training)

On this website you will find advice on how to draft a gender equality plan. It also offers an excel document to design your own GEP, create the annual work plans, do the follow-up of the implementation and gather qualitative results of the implemented actions.

Learn from others

Best practices

This is an overview of best practices of projects that are ranging from the assessment of current policies to identifying and tackling gender biases and obstacles towards measures on how to reach gender equality. Also included are projects that deliver strategies to research organisation to development and implement as well as assess gender equality plans.

LIBRA: Unifying innovative efforts of European research centres in the life sciences to achieve gender equality in academia

LIBRA is EC funded project which brings together ten research institutes in life sciences in ten European countries. Together with the support of an expert organisation on gender, they assess their current policies and procedures to identify gender biases and obstacles.

GENERA: Gender Equality Plans of Research Institutions and Organisations in the physics research field GENERA

GENERA is a Horizon 2020 project aiming at continuing, monitoring and improving the Gender Equality Plans of Research Institutions and Organisations specifically in the physics research field.

PLOTINA: promoting gender balance and inclusion in research, innovation and training

PLOTINA is aiming to enable the development, implementation, and assessment of self-tailored Gender Equality Plans (GEPs) with innovative and sustainable strategies for the Research Performing Organisations (RPOs) involved.

TARGET: Gender Equality Innovating Institutions in the Mediterranean basin Target – Taking a Reflexive approach to Gender Equality for institutional Transformation

TARGET is a SwafS-03-2016-2017 Coordination and Support Action funded by the European Commission Program H2020.

The main goal of TARGET is to contribute to the advancement of gender equality in Research and Innovation by addressing Gender-related institutional barriers to careers , decision making and Research & Innovation and High Education curricula content.

SAGE: Systematic action for gender equality in higher education and research SAGE-Growing Equality

SAGE (Systemic Action for Gender Equality) is an EU-Horizon 2020 funded project designed to seek stronger action on gender equality in higher education and research.

EQUAL-IST: Gender equality in information science and technology

The EQUAL-IST project (Gender Equality Plans for Information Sciences and Technology Research Institutions) aims at introducing structural changes to enhance gender equality in Information Sciences and Technology (IST) research institutions. The project aims to address ERA objectives in relation to gender equality by supporting seven Research Performing Organisations (RPOs) from Northern, Southern and Central European countries, as well as one CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States) country in developing and implementing tailored Gender Equality Plans (GEPs).

BALTIC GENDER: Baltic Consortium on Promoting Gender Equality in Marine Research Organisations Home - Baltic Gender

Baltic Gender is an EU-funded project that brings together eight scientific institutions in five countries around the Baltic Sea to work on reducing gender inequalities in Marine Science and Technology.

GEECCO: Gender Equality in Engineering through Communication and Commitment

GEECCO aims to establish tailor-made Gender Equality Plans (GEPs) in four European universities (RPOs) and to implement the gender dimension in two research funding organisations (RFOs) in funding schemes, programmes, and review processes.

Mentoring for change report: Evaluation of a gender-integrated mentoring programme. Lund university

Mentoring for change was a gender-integrated mentoring programme conducted in 2018/2019 by the Faculty of Science at Lund University. The report is based on material produced before, during and after the programme, and on the survey that the participants responded to at the end of the programme.

Best practices shared between two Slovenian institutions implementing Gender Equality Plans | Gearing Roles

In this blog, a research assistant in the GEARING-Roles project team from University of Ljubljana looks at the meeting between two Slovenian institutions implementing gender equality plans, where best practices were shared, challenges were debated, risks and risk management practices were shared, and inter-institutional support was enhanced.

EIGE case studies on gender action plan assessment; Beira Interior, Portugal: Gender equality report

University of Beira Interior (UBI) was the first university in Portugal to set up a gender equality plan as early as 2011. Since 2012, Gender Equality Reports have been prepared on an annual basis to monitor the progress towards gender equality in the university. The analysis provided in the reports considers the gender balance in terms of disciplines taught and on decision-making and leadership positions, the gender pay gap, the use of measures to reconcile professional and personal life (like flexible working hours), a gender analysis of the utilisation of leaves, and information about the number of students disaggregated by sex and faculty.

Goethe University in Frankfurt, Germany: Gender & Diversity Controlling at Goethe University Frankfurt

Goethe University Frankfurt established the Gender & Diversity Controlling in 2010. The Gender & Diversity Controlling aims at monitoring developments with respect to gender (in)equalities across the university, as well as at providing guidance and support, and monitoring gender equality-related efforts within the 16 faculties (Fachbereiche) of Goethe University Frankfurt.