DE&I INITIATIVES
important to formalise and institutionalise them as strategic standards to guarantee equal opportunities between women and men. Training, mentoring and protection Training is also a huge priority. It is crucial to assess the needs of women in the workplace and to introduce training schemes and other support mechanisms that can contribute to the retention and promotion of female researchers. In this sense, the Equal4Europe consortium has identified five training areas that can contribute to increasing the number of women and, in general, foster an organisational change. These areas are leadership, communication, negotiation, networking and self-promotion, all of which can assist female academics in navigating the current work environment. Furthermore, it is important that training opportunities are equally distributed among women and men, so that females can access this training under the same conditions as their male counterparts. Mentoring programmes are also important to promote women in academia, as they are especially effective in creating connections and networks among researchers. Mentoring can contribute to retaining and promoting female researchers by providing guidance, advice and networking opportunities to achieve their academic and career goals. As a result, such programmes can act as drivers of change, by creating the conditions for a deeper structural modification, tackling gender-biased dynamics and practices. Finally, it is vital for business schools and research institutions to create a safe space for women. Unfortunately, sexual harassment is very much present in research institutions and it leads to many women abandoning their academic career. Studies suggest that sexual harassment is more present in male-dominated fields and organisations, especially in those with a hierarchical power structure. Bullying and sexual harassment act as another barrier for women to access or pursue a career within universities and business schools, thereby causing a significant loss of talent. Research institutions must adopt policies to address and prevent this type of harassment; these policies must be designed in such a way as to be effective in tearing down the power structures that characterise academia.
and men is a crucial element in explaining the smaller number of women researchers. As a result, it is important to adopt a gender inclusive recruitment tool to attract female talent. For example, focusing on the essential requirements of the role in a job advert can be a gender-inclusive measure. Given the considerable evidence that exists to prove that women generally only apply for a position when they consider that they meet all the criteria, listing the necessary requirements is a measure that avoids unconscious gender bias, which in turn deters women from applying for jobs. Furthermore, identifying the essential requirements for a vacancy allows for a more objective comparison of candidates and avoids penalising career breaks, which are usually taken by women during maternity and childcare leave. Other measures such as using a gender-inclusive tone, including existing institutional policies in the job advert – including for instance work/life balance policies, or guaranteeing parity in the shortlist of candidates – are all good practices. The more gender inclusive your recruitment, the more likely the role will reach the best candidate irrespective of gender. Another key area is work/life balance. As mentioned above, one element that goes some way towards explaining the leaky pipeline phenomenon in academia is precisely this issue, especially given the unequal distribution of family responsibilities between women and men and the high demands of an academic career. It is essential to adopt measures to avoid the ‘motherhood penalty’ faced by female researchers. Measures such as the tenure clock‑freeze are important in order to guarantee that female academics are not being punished for failing to achieve their tenure goals as a result of maternity or childcare leave. The tenure clock-freeze allows people that take maternity or childcare leave to have an extension of their tenure track to ensure equal opportunities in achieving their research goals. Furthermore, research intensification after childcare leave consisting of a reduction in teaching hours and/or administrative duties can be another interesting measure to avoid the motherhood penalty, by allowing academics to resume their research activities after a period of leave. Although some of these measures are informally recognised by many institutions, it is
BIOGRAPHY
Anna Ginès i Fabrellas is a co-ordinator at the
Institute for Labour Studies and associate professor of labour law at Esade Business School in Barcelona. Her research interests include the impact of technologies in the workplace and equality and non-discrimination. Ginès i Fabrellas serves as the leading investigator of the Equal4Europe project funded by the European Commission, as well as the algorithms and labour relations research project funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science. She has published numerous books and papers in national and international scientific journals, has participated in multiple research projects and given lectures at conferences and seminars around the world
Ambition | MARCH/APRIL 2024 | 39
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