@article {4044, title = {A Comparative Approach on the Relevance of National Gender Equality Legal Frameworks in Israel, Portugal, and Slovakia to Improve Equality at the Institutional Level}, journal = {Journal of International Women{\textquoteright}s Studies}, volume = {22}, year = {2021}, pages = {84{\textendash}102}, abstract = {

In the last decades, women{\textquoteright}s participation in Higher Education has increased in most Western countries, even if the well-known phenomena of horizontal and vertical segregation still persist (O{\textquoteright}Connor, 2017). The reasons for the persistence of these phenomena have been widely studied (Ridgeway, 2011; Pearce, Wald, \& Ballakrishnen, 2014; Rhode, 2016), highlighting the importance of defining and implementing affirmative actions to improve women{\textquoteright}s situation in Higher Education. In this context, the European Union (EU) has placed the topic of gender equality (GE) in Higher Education with high relevance in the political agenda. As a result, several research projects have been approved to design and implement Gender Equality Plans (GEPs) in Higher Education Institutions (HEIs). This paper reflects the design and implementation process of GEPs in a group of countries integrating an international project . Based on data analysis of national legal documents, this paper examines the macro factors that can contribute to improving GE at the institutional level. The empirical analysis is based on a qualitative approach sustained on the analysis of national legal documents related to the economic, political, and social domains of Portugal, Slovakia, and Israel. The comparative analysis among the countries reveals that there are relevant actions already in place in national legal frameworks that can be seen as positive to design and implement GEP in HEIs.

}, url = {https://vc.bridgew.edu/jiws/vol22/iss5/6}, author = {Sara Diogo and Carina Jord{\~a}o and Teresa Carvalho and Hana Himi and Maya Ashkenazi and Veronika Me{\v s}kov{\'a} and Z{\'e}lia Breda} } @conference {4099, title = {Gender In/Equality in men wor(l)d{\textquoteright}s: Perceptions on the construction of a gender equal and inclusive Portuguese University}, booktitle = {3rd International Conference on Gender Research }, year = {2020}, month = {16-17 July 2020}, publisher = {ACPI Ltd. }, organization = {ACPI Ltd. }, address = {Online Conference}, abstract = {

Based in a H2020 funded project and on theoretical contributions of the feminist institutional perspective, this paper provides a comparative view between men and women on the identified values, practices and behaviours needed to the institutionalisation and promotion of gender equal and inclusive higher education institutions (HEI). This theoretical perspective grounds our comparative analysis, supported by 22 interviews with institutional key-actors: 15 men and 7 women. Being our sample constituted by both male and female interviewees of a Portuguese university can be seen as an innovative approach due to two complementary reasons. First, Portuguese HEI clearly exemplify women representation in academia, considering their significant presence and rapid growth in HEI: as the system expanded and democratised, it also became more feminised, although women are still underrepresented in top-management and leading positions, contributing to perpetuate the vertical segregation phenomenon. Second, gender issues on (Portuguese) HEI are usually approached by women, with men having a peripheral role. Towards this background, we are interested in understanding how both sexes envisage gender equality in their working place (the academia) and even to depict how men perceive their role in the construction of gender-balanced and inclusive HEI. Data analysis reveals not only differences but also similarities between men and women perceptions of the values, practices and behaviours needed to the institutionalisation and promotion of a gender equal and inclusive institution. There is a common trend to consider universities as gender neutral and to attribute the responsibility for changes to the political, social and/or cultural systems, which results from a common symbolic realm of meaning-making common to women and men. However, it is more common to find women manifesting a more positive perspective to affirmative actions at the university. Thus, one can say that women situation can justify their greater assumption of an agency perspective on institutional change.

}, keywords = {(in)equality, feminist institutional perspective, Gender, higher education, Portugal, universities}, isbn = {978-1-912764-56-3}, author = {Carina Jord{\~a}o and Teresa Carvalho and Sara Diogo and Z{\'e}lia Breda} } @conference {4100, title = {Learning organisations: A case study of changes in gender equality in decision-making bodies}, booktitle = {14th International Technology, Education and Development Conference}, year = {2020}, month = {2-4 March, 2020}, publisher = {IATED Academy}, organization = {IATED Academy}, address = {Valencia, Spain}, abstract = {

Despite the general legal and social environments in Europe and in Portugal being positive to the institutionalisation of equal opportunities in Higher Education Institutions (HEI), gender inequality seems to persist in stereotyped perceptions embedded within organisational cultures. The European Union (EU) has been developing several programmes to fund the promotion of Gender Equality Plans (GEP) in HEIs in the European context (European Commission, 2016; 2019).
It is encouraging to find that in some specific cases the implementation of these progresses has positive results (ERAC 2018). This is the case of the institution studied here, which committed to equality beyond rhetoric. The paper reports on a case study of best practices in promoting gender equality in decision-making bodies at the middle-management level in the University of Aveiro, in Portugal. Based on an international H2020 funded research project, the University of Aveiro has implemented GEPs resulting in an increase in the number of women in decision-making bodies. This paper seeks to explain the process of cultural change in general as well as in the rector team{\textquoteright}s attitudes, in particular, to promote progress in pursuit of gender equality in decision-making bodies.
When the project started, women constitute only 5\% of members in these middle management bodies (i.e. Deans of both university departments and polytechnic schools). One year after the implementation of the project, this percentage increased to 20\%. The paper details the several steps taken to reach this result. First, the problem was identified based on a quantitative analysis of the gender composition of decision-making bodies at UA; then, the process through which members access these bodies was also analysed. In a second stage of the project, the rector was informed and instigated to be more proactive in increase women representativeness in the following elections. Without changing the regulations, it was possible to develop informal strategies. These related with the identification of women with competencies to perform the job and with personal empowerment for them to propose themselves to the election.
Although progresses have been made, it is important to acknowledge that these initiatives are not enough to promote structural changes and more needs to be done to accelerate the pace of progress as well as to change institutional practices and individual mentalities.

}, keywords = {Decision-making bodies, gender equality, gender-equality plan, Higher Education Institutions, Portugal}, isbn = {978-84-09-17939-8}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.21125/inted.2020.1650}, url = {https://library.iated.org/view/CARVALHO2020LEA}, author = {Teresa Carvalho and Carina Jord{\~a}o and Sara Diogo and Z{\'e}lia Breda} } @article {4048, title = {Nomination vs. election: do they influence women{\textquoteright}s access to institutional decision-making bodies?}, journal = {Journal of Management and Governance}, volume = {25}, year = {2020}, month = {31/10/2020}, pages = {879{\textendash}898}, abstract = {

Portuguese higher education institutions (HEIs) are excellent case-studies of women representation in academia, considering their significant presence and rapid growth in HEIs. Nevertheless, and despite efforts to minimise gender gaps, women are still underrepresented in top management and leading positions, contributing to increment the phenomenon of vertical segregation. Based on the reality of the Portuguese academia, and focusing on an in-depth case study of a Portuguese university, this paper analyses if and how the way decision-making bodies are constituted, influence the gender balance of their members. Recently, within the New Public Management (NPM) context, HEIs have been subjected to external pressures to create a new organisational environment aiming at substituting the collegial model of governance with a managerial one. In this context, there has been a trend to replace the election by the nomination as the dominant process to occupy decision-making positions. The opening hypothesis of this study is that the way decision-making bodies are constituted, impacts on their gender balance. More specifically, it is argued that the nomination process tends to be more advantageous to women than the election. However, although it is possible to conclude that the gender balance decreases with the increasing importance of the decision-making body, it is not accurate to say that there is a direct relationship between the way actors are chosen to these bodies and their gender balance. In other words, the way actors are chosen can not be seen as the only factor influencing the gender constitution of decision-making bodies. The study provides a relevant contribution to the literature on mechanisms and strategies to improve gender equality in institutional decision-making processes and bodies.

}, keywords = {Decision-making bodies, Election, Gender balance, Governance, Managerialism, New Public Management (NPM), Nomination, universities}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1007/s10997-020-09538-6}, url = {https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10997-020-09538-6}, author = {Sara Diogo and Teresa Carvalho and Z{\'e}lia Breda} }