Gender Equality Programmes in Higher Education: International Perspectives

Gender equality has been on the agenda of national policies of higher education within and outside the European Union (EU) for the last twenty years. In some European countries, this process was initiated early on and has brought about remarkable results, while in others progress has been slower. Different countries and institutions have focussed on different strategies for raising awareness about the discrimination of women and for increasing the number of women in aca- mia, particularly in leadership positions. Previous research on gender equality in higher education has produced many case studies about programmes at institutions of higher education in Europe and elsewhere. Different actors like the European Commission and - tional organisations have also furnished reports about national policies. Building on this material, it is now time to analyse under what conditions equality p- grammes are successful. For a deeper understanding of the mechanisms of and barriers to gender equality in higher education, we also need studies that focus on the development of gender equality policies in different countries, as well as on conditions of implementation, change of strategy, and the evaluation of - sults. Comparative studies would be another useful tool for understanding the development and success of gender equality programmes.

Table of Contents:
Gender Equality Programmes in Higher Education — Introduction.- Options of Knowledge — Opportunities in Science.- The Success of Female Scientists in the 21st Century.- Cooling Out? Gender and Research in Switzerland.- Evaluation of Gender Equality Policies.- Pathways to Success for Women Scientists in Higher Education in the US.- Gender Equality as Organizational Change Frames, Challenges, and Strategies in the European Union and the United States.- ‘Keeping your Eye on the Prize’: Gender Equality Programmes in Enterprise Universities.- Balancing and Optimising Gender Mainstreaming at German Universities.- Political Will is Not Enough Results from the Evaluation of a Pilot Scheme for Implementing Gender Mainstreaming.- Promoting Women Researchers through Mentoring Eument-Net as a Basis for a European Network of Mentoring Programmes for Women in Academia and Research.- Where is the Key to Success? A Comparative Evaluation of Mentoring Programmes for Outstanding Female Scientists in Natural Science, Engineering, Social Sciences and Medicine.- Leading Women: The Positive Impact of Women and Leadership Programs.- Balancing Career and Family in Higher Education — New Trends and Results.- Gender Equality Programmes: Recommendations of the 5th European Conference on Gender Equality in Higher Education 2007 at Humboldt-Univesität zu Berlin.

About the Author :
Dr. Sabine Grenz is postdoc researcher at the Department of Gender Studies at the University of Gothenburg. Dr. Beate Kortendiek is the coordinator of the Women's Research Network NRW at the Technische Universitat Dortmund. Dr. Marianne Kriszio is Gender Equality Officer at Humboldt-Universitat zu Berlin. Dr. Andrea Lother is project manager at the Center of Excellence Women and Science (CEWS), Bonn.

Review :
"[...] die hier in sehr anschaulicher Form vorgestellten Studien und Programme [tragen] zu einem schrittweisen Bewusstseinswandel all derer bei, die über Qualität in Forschung und Lehre entscheiden. Überdies liefern die Autorinnen und Autoren weiteres wichtiges Material für eine produktive Auseinandersetzung auf dem Weg zur 'Excellence under conditions of fairness' [...]." www.zpol.de (Zeitschrift für Politikwissenschaft), 20.01.2009