Empowe ing women in esea ch ca ee s
While women a e inc easingly pu suing esea ch ca ee s, hey con inue o ace challenges in ad ancing
o senio posi ions in esea ch o ganisa ions. MIND heGEPs o e s specialised aining p og ammes
ailo ed o ea ly-ca ee esea che s o add ess hese challenges.
Success ul o ganisa ional change owa ds gende equali y equi es ac ion on mul iple o ganisa ional
le els. Ou aining ini ia i es aim o empowe ea ly-ca ee esea che s in pa ne o ganisa ions bo h
in e ms o skills de elopmen and o help hem con ibu e o a cul u e o gende equali y wi hin hei
o ganisa ions. We emphasise he impo ance o bo om-up app oaches in d i ing o ganisa ional change,
encou aging s a o become agen s o change wi hin hei depa men s.
Pu suing a ul illing ca ee pa h does no jus
depend on one’s indi idual ai s and skills. Wo king
condi ions equen ly a ou ce ain li es yles o
amily models and he leaky pipeline is a eal
p oblem in esea ch pe o ming o ganisa ions,
academic as well as non-academic. To educe
he impac o hese ac o s on women’s ca ee s,
we p esen i e s eps o empowe women in hei
ca ee s h ough aining.
MIND heGEPs’ aining philosophy emphasises
e idence-based, con inuous, and long- e m
ini ia i es ha add ess unconscious gende
biases h oughou o ganisa ions. Ou aining
p og ammes o junio s a a e designed o
be accessible and inclusi e, ensu ing ha all
employees ha e he oppo uni y o con ibu e o
gende equali y e o s wi hin hei ins i u ions.
T aining p epa ed acco ding o his ou line can
especially help PhD s uden s, pos -docs and
empo a y assis an p o esso s in academia o
o women a he beginning o in he middle o
a ca ee in non-academic esea ch pe o ming
o ganisa ions. The aining can also be add essed
o pe manen assis an p o esso s and associa e
mind hegeps.eu
T aining ea ly ca ee esea che s o p omo e gende equali y
The Eu opean Commission manda es aining
ac i i ies on gende equali y in Ho izon
Eu ope’s eligibili y c i e ia o gende equali y
plans. Ou guidelines align wi h hese
equi emen s, p o iding suppo o aine s
and academics in p omo ing gende -balanced
solu ions ac oss academia.
Ci e as: K zemińska, Ka a zyna.., Migalska,
Alexand a., Sekuła, Paulina., S oecke , Ewa.
(2024) Empowe ing women in esea ch
ca ee s. T aining ea ly ca ee esea che s o
p omo e gende equali y. Zenodo. DOI: 10.5281/
zenodo.11032882
p o esso s in academia o women in middle
ank posi ions in p i a e esea ch pe o ming
o ganisa ions in o de o educe he glass ceiling
phenomenon.
S ep 1) Needs analysis
1. Choose adequa e me hodology ha akes
in o accoun he ins i u ional con ex and he
assessmen o pa icipan s’ needs.
Di e en echniques could include lo us
blossom, s o yboa ds, cul u al web exe cises
(e.g. ACT Co-C ea ion Toolki 2021; Na ional
Women’s Council o I eland,2014; SUPERA
Webina on Unconscious bias, SUPERA
Webpage on Tools and Techniques).
S ep 2) P epa e he aining
2. P epa e high quali y con en and ma e ials.
Please make su e ha you include all module
opics in he wo kshop.
3. Choose a sui able expe aine , o
example a p o essional EDI/DEI aine .
I is impe a i e ha he s yle, alues, and
belie s o he aine om a gende equali y
pe spec i e a e aligned wi h he goals o you
o ganisa ion.
1. Collec exis ing da a on he in e sec ions
o gende inequali ies in you ins i u ion
and make in o med choice o he pa icula
g oups ha should be ained.
2. Assess needs a indi idual le el and
ecognise he in ended pa icipan s’
knowledge, skills and a i udes
owa ds gende issues as well as hei
disempowe men isk (e.g. ba ie s and
di icul ies hey expe ience in hei academic
ca ee s). Make su e ha you ask abou he
needs in all h ee a eas (suppo ing skills
de elopmen , decons uc ing unconscious
biases, becoming a leade ).
3. Assess needs a ins i u ional le el – base
you knowledge on da a conce ning gende
inequali ies in you ins i u ion (e.g. da abases,
epo s and s udies p epa ed du ing he
implemen a ion o gende equali y p ojec s,
you ins i u ion’s GEP e c.)
When p epa ing aining o you o ganisa ion, i is impo an o conside he speci ic needs mapped
ou in he needs analysis. MIND heGEPs aining is composed o h ee modules: suppo ing skills
de elopmen , decons uc ing unconscious gende biases, and becoming a leade .
The ecommenda ions below can help ensu e ha he aining p epa ed upholds a high s anda d.
© MIND heGEPs 2023.
This b ie was published unde
a C ea i e Commons 4.0
A ibu ions In e na ional license.
S ep 3) P omo ion & ec ui men
S ep 4) Topics o co e du ing he aining
1. Ensu e leade ship commi men :
Commi men om key s akeholde s can
help ensu e a enance. I is ad isable o ge
buy in o he need o his aining om
he s a . The e needs o be unde s anding
and suppo om op-managemen . You
may also wan o equi e senio , middle
and line manage s o encou age s a o
a end he aining, and hold p e-wo kshop
discussion wi h line manage s o ensu e
hey’ e awa e o he aining and he bene i s
en ails, and ensu e aining is suppo ed by
a ca ee de elopmen / esea ch o ice and
HR depa men . Expand he o ganisa ion’s
ans o ma ional agen ne wo k by in ol ing
di e en ac o s and depa men s.
2. Communica e wi h key s akeholde s:
This in ol es ac ions such as sha ing
Exp essions o In e es on websi es and
email ne wo ks, using speci ic b anding
o he gende equali y aining. This
can be used o p omo e he aining on
a ious pos e s, documen s and make key
agen s awa e o i s exis ence wi hin you
o ganisa ion. Also include aining in o ma ion
on HR communica ions and pos - ec ui men
documen a ion.
3. Conside obliga o y aining: Fo example,
gende equali y aining can be made
manda o y o new employees.
4. Engage men as equi y allies: Ensu e male
pa icipan s a e a ge ed in he aining.
Using men as agen s o change is c i ical
o ad ancing gende equali y, howe e ,
discussions abou p i ilege is ad ised.
T ainings ela ed o gende equali y a e no always e y well a ended. A well-planned p omo ion and
ec ui men plan is neccessa y.
1. Suppo ing skills de elopmen : E ec i e,
consis en and asse i e communica ion
and e ec i e abili y o publishing scien i ic
con ibu ions and a aining esea ch unding,
decision making, ecogni ion o he si ua ions
iola ing pe sonal bounda ies, disc imina ion
and iolence, eac ing asse i ely and based
on he ins i u ionally and legally a ailable o
hose si ua ions.
Examples o wo kshops could include ‘How
o w i e a esea ch pape ’, ‘Con e ence
p esen a ions skills aining’, ‘E ec i e
communica ion’;
2. Decons uc ing unconscious gende
biases: By o example p o iding an
o e iew o inequali y and unconscious bias,
examining indi idual biases in g oups and
how o adjus hem, explo ing he po en ial
nega i e implica ions o no add essing
unconscious bias, p o iding examples how
indi iduals can add ess unconscious gende
bias in decision making.
P o ide a eading lis , ideos/podcas o
explo e he opic u he .
3. Becoming a leade : The ollowing opics
could be included o assis in ca ee
p og ession: in o ma ion on in e nal and
ex e nal leade ship p og ammes di ec ed
a women, CV de elopmen , p ojec
managemen , on success ul emale “di e en ”
leade s ( ole models: women being excellen
leade s wi hou complying wi h dominan
cul u e and p ac ices), ba ie s o change and
how o o e come hem.
Decons uc he associa ion be ween maleness
and leade ship and p o ide in o ma ion on
e ec i e leade ship beha iou s and ways o
women o inc ease sel -con idence as a leade .
S ep 5) E alua e he aining
mind hegeps.eu
Remembe o collec eedback om bo h aine s and ainees a e he aining. Fo he bes esul s,
we ad ise ha you use...
MIND heGEPs (Modi ying Ins i u ions by De eloping Gende Equali y Plans) has ecei ed
unding om he Eu opean Union’s Ho izon 2020 esea ch and inno a ion p og amme unde
g an ag eemen no 101006543. The iews and opinions exp essed in his policy b ie he sole
esponsibili y o he au ho s and do no necessa ily e lec he iews o he Eu opean Commission.
The e a e di e en s a egies o p epa ing
aining o o ganisa ional change p ocesses.
Bo om-up app oaches s a om he
g ass oo s o he o ganisa ions and mo e up
he managemen ladde . Top-down app oaches
a ge managemen i s and ickles down.
Di e en o ganisa ions ha e di e en needs.
In he case o la ge and highly hie a chical
o ganisa ions, like many uni e si ies, he op-down
op ion is o en mo e app op ia e, as i legi imises
he p ac ices and alues ha he aining b ings.
Di e en g oups in an o ganisa ion ha e di e en
needs and expe iences. T aining p og ammes
canno be s a ic and duplica ed ac oss g oups.
MIND heGEPs’ holis ic app oach o aining
Ins ead, a holis ic app oach is equi ed –
de eloping a uni e sal aining p og amme ha
can be modi ied o di e en a ge audiences o
ensu e ha he aining esponds o hei needs
and ela es o hei expe iences.
A inal impo an aspec is he cons an
a ailabili y o aining. The goal is no o check
a box by aining he whole o ganisa ion a once.
Ins ead, aining should be epea ed pe iodically
o be made a ailable on a con inuous basis,
so ha new people in he o ganisa ion, o
people who a e p omo ed o change posi ions,
can bene i om i when hey can and om a
pe spec i e ha sui s hei cu en pe spec i e.
1. P epa e a s anda dised cou se e alua ion
(1-2 ques ions) o gauge he pa icipan s’
pe cep ions o he cou se’s e ec i eness
in add essing gende - ela ed issues and
p omo ing gende equali y. This ensu es ha
eedback on gende sensi i i y aining is
sys ema ically collec ed and can be used o
imp o e u u e i e a ions o he cou se.
2. O ganise a ollow-up mee ing ( o example
a ne wo king e en , lean in ci cles, o Zoom
calls) wi h pa icipan s o p o ide con inuous
suppo , ein o cemen and ne wo king
oppo uni ies ela ed o he skills co e ed in
he aining. This can help pa icipan s s ay
engaged, deepen hei unde s anding, and
apply wha hey ha e lea ned.
Re e ences
Migalska, Alexand a., Sekuła, Paulina., S oecke , Ewa., Ní Fhla ha a, Aio e., & Macmahon, Helena. (2024).
D4.1 – Guidelines on planned ac ions o ec ui men and e en ion. Zenodo. DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.10491838
