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Dear Reader,
In our fifth issue we would like to inform you about the following topics:
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- 3rd Stakeholder Committee Meeting
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- Huge progress in data collection of the core-RFOs
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- Disseminating findings from the GRANteD project
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3rd Stakeholder Committee Meeting
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On the 6th of May the 3rd Stakeholder Committee Meeting of the GRANteD project took place in a virtual format. The aim of the meeting was to present first findings from data collected in the core research funding organisations (RFOs) (find more inforation on the RFOs here) and to discuss preliminary implications for the work of RFOs.
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The meeting was a great success: Representatives from seven different European RFOs (among them all core-RFOs of the GRANteD project) as well as representatives from stakeholder organisations, the European University Association and Science Europe contributed with their knowledge regarding conscious and unconscious bias to a very fruitful discussion. They discussed where risks of unequal treatment in funding allocation occur and shared their knowledge on measures to make the assessment process fairer.
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The next meeting will probably take place at the end of October 2021 focusing on emerging inequalities in application behaviour and in the funding process in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.
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If you are interested in further information regarding the 3rd Stakeholder Committee Meeting, find a summary here.
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Huge Progress in the data collection of the core-RFOs
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The 5 core RFOs of the GRANteD project are the following:
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All 5 core RFOs agreed on participating in the GRANteD project as case studies and to provide access to data on the decision making processes for a specific funding programme and call. In 2020 we already started with the data collection process and interviewed staff members of the FWF and panellists of the SRC. Since the last GRANteD newsletter in March 2021, we progressed at a fast pace in the data collection and are in the middle of an intensive interview phase.
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Since March we conducted 33 interviews: We finished all the interviews planned for the SRC and the SRDA and we are half way through the interviews planed for the SFI. They are to be finished in July before we will take a small “summer break” in conducting interviews and then resume the work in September with the NCN and the FWF.
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But not only in the qualitative data collection we are progressing rapidly, also in the quantitative: The online-survey for the SRC applicants has been launched in December 2020 and evaluated and analysed in February/March 2021; the online-survey for the SRDA applicants has been launched at the start of June 2021 and is still ongoing; first preperational work for the online-survey for the SFI applicants has been conducted and it is planed that it will be sent to the applicants in September.
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If you are interested in more detail in the conceptual framework of the GRANteD project, please find additional information here.
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We are proud to announce that two new Blogposts are now available on our GRANteD website since our last newsletter.
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In the 4th Blogpost on Grant Allocation and Panel Behavior: Between Universalism and Particularism published in April, Ulf Sandström (Forskningspolitik) reflects on how factors such as sexism and nepotism influence panel reviewers’ behaviour when assessing funding applications inside panels. He especially focuses on nepotism and investigates which role favouritism of the home universities and “knowing” the applicant plays in panel meetings and therefore in the allocation of funding. Click here to read the Blogpost.
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The 5th Blogpost was only recently published. It deals with the need of new evidence when it comes to gender disparities in research funding, bias and equality policies and was written by Laura Cruz Castro and Luis Sanz Menéndez (CSIC) . It focuses on the construction of plausible explanatory theories and how they can contribute to an explanation of gender differences in the allocation of competitive funding. It also sheds light on the limits of different theories. Click here to read the Blogpost.
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If you want to catch up on the other blog posts, please click the button below.
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Disseminating findings from the GRANteD project
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Virtual 19th Annual STS Conference Graz 2021 "Critical Issues in Science, Technology and Society Studies", May 3, 4 and 5 2021
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On 4th of May 2021 Helene Schiffbänker (JOANNEUM RESEARCH) & Liisa Husu (Örebro University) attended the 19th Annual STS Conference Graz 2021 hosted by Science Technology and Society Unit of the Institute of Interactive Systems and Data Science of Graz University of Technology, the Inter-University Research Centre for Technology, Work and Culture (IFZ) and the Institute for Advanced Studies of Science, Technology and Society (IAS-STS). They presented findings from the GRANteD project and talked on European RFOs as change agents for gender equality in research. They focused in their presentation on the framing and content of formal policies, including gender equality policies related to funding allocation at five national research funding organizations in Europe. Here they examined the implementation of these policies and its impact on the decision-making practices. Find the abstract here.
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Virtual Colloquium of the Objective 3: Advancing Research Quality and Value of the Berlin University Alliance, May 26 2021
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Peter van den Besselaar (Teresa Mom Consultancy) was invited to speak at the Objective 3 Colloquium, which was held on the 26th of May and organized in cooperation with the Cross-Cutting Theme Diversity and Gender Equality of the Berlin University Alliance. He spoke on the mixed picture regarding gender differences in research grant allocation: Especially in individual panels the occurrence of gender bias relates to panel characteristics such as the scientific discipline covered by the panel, panel composition, and the level of gender stereotyping in the panels. So in some panels an overall bias against women exists whereas in other panels the opposite bias exists. He concludes that while gender bias within grant selection processes can be identified, it exists in both directions, which again implies that at the aggregated level the problem of gender bias in grant decision making is not too big. It is therefore important to also investigate gender bias on the level of panels. Find the abstract here.
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Virtual EUSPRI 2021 Conference: “Science and Innovation – an uneasy relationship? Rethinking the roles and relations of STI policies”, June 9, 10 and 11 2021
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Laura Cruz-Castro and Luis Sanz-Menéndez (CSIC Institute of Public Goods and Policies) attended the virtual EUSPRI 2021 Conference organized by the Centre for Technology, Innovation and Culture (TIK) at the University of Oslo, Nordic Institute for Studies in Innovation, Research and Education (NIFU). R-Quest, OSIRIS and INTRANSIT. They talked on how factors such as gender and underrepresented minorities influence differences in research funding. Therefore, they explored the literature on race/ethnicity and gender differences in research funding and explored how each stage contributes to the potential emergence of biased outcomes in the decision making process. Find the abstract here.
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Upcoming events (conferences, workshops)
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11th European Conference on Gender Equality in Higher Education | 15. – 17.09.2021 | Madrid, Spain
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The aim of the European Conference on Gender Equality in Higher Education is to promote a gender-sensitive culture in our academic and R&I systems. The 11th European Conference on Gender Equality in Higher Education is hosted by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation and the Ministry of Universities, in collaboration with the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid and the support of the European Network on Gender Equality in Higher Education and other Spanish stakeholders. Read more here.
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Recently the Standing Working Group on Gender in Research and Innovation (SWG GRI), a policy advisory committee that advises the Council of the EU, the European Commission and member states on policies and initiatives related to gender equality in research and innovation, published a report on Gender in Research and Innovation: "Gender Equality Plans as a catalyst for change" (find here the full report). The report addresses the policy instrument of Gender Equality Plans (GEPs) and identifies needs related to the implementation of GEPs at the national level. It presents eleven recommendations how the European Commission, Member States, and Associated Countries can make GEPs an even more effective tool for promoting gender equality in R&I and especially in Horizon Europe.
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The GRANteD consortium wishes you a great summer 🌞🌞🌞!
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