Kjønnsbalanse i forskning og utdanning 2 studenter (Tomas Gunnarsson)

Gender equality in research and education

The goal of obtaining gender balance and gender equality concerns issues like fair distribution of power, equal opportunities to contribute to the development of society, and the use of all talents to strengthen the quality of research.

Kilden has a national responsibility for disseminating and summarizing knowledge about gender equality and gender balance in research and innovation. 

A gender equal research system

Gender equality in academia is also about a gender equal research system. We want to strengthen the dissemination and communication of knowledge about what a gender equal research system is and what arguments and instruments have been developed and used. We do this today in different ways. On our own initiative, Kilden has prepared the report What do we know about gender equality, gender balance and diversity in research and innovation?. This is a survey of Norwegian research in the field from 2010 to 2021. The aim of the survey was to form a knowledge base for research based design of measures, instruments and policies for gender equality, gender balance and diversity in the research and innovation sector. 

The work Kilden does is also part of the Research Council's policy for gender balance and gender perspectives in research and innovation.

Kifinfo.no

Since 2005, Kilden has developed and operated the kifinfo.no website, on behalf of the Committee for Gender Balance and Diversity in Research (the KIF Committee). The KIF Committee is appointed by the Ministry of Education and Research. Kifinfo.no is the premier website on gender equality and diversity in academia in Norway. The website provides useful information and knowledge to the research sector about gender balance and diversity in research, and serves as a link between the KIF Committee and the sector. On the website, we write and publish news stories, media clips, information about measures, statistics, reports, literature and events about gender, social and ethnic background. As part of the assignment, we operate social media accounts and send newsletters. We have also prepared reports and policy briefs on behalf of the KIF Committee.

International efforts to promote gender balance in research and innovation

As a result of the European Framework Programme for Research and innovation having strengthened its efforts to integrate gender perspectives and gender equality in research, the level of activity in this field has increased in Europe. Kilden is part of this work through our participation in several European projects funded by the EU, where dissemination of research and work for gender equality are central. Dissemination takes the form of sharing good practice in the field, training and courses, reports and news dissemination. Read more about our work in this field on the page about our international cooperation

Gender-segregation in education and the labour market

We also disseminate research on gender-segregated study choices and the gender-segregated labour market through news articles and policy briefs, at seminars and conferences. For parts of this work, Kilden receives funding from the Norwegian Directorate for Children, Youth and Family Affairs (Bufdir).

Kristin Engh Førde

Director of Kilden genderresearch.no

Kristin Aukland

Senior Adviser

Gender equality, gender balance and diversity in research and innovation

Kifinfo.no in english

Articles from Kilden's independent news magazine and the Journal of Gender Research

Danish research on violence under political pressure

Last year, Signe Uldbjerg’s research on digital violence against women became a hot political issue at the Danish Folketinget. Followed by a political statement on the relationship between activism and research, outrage from Danish academia and a debate on academic freedom.

Andrea Pető: “Working within higher education has become high-risk”

The Hungarian researcher receives the University of Oslo's Human Rights Award for her work in academic freedom and institutional autonomy. Gender research is like the canary in the coal mine, she says.

The speaking subject: A conversation with Toril Moi

"I believe that any sentence you utter is an expression of a judgment. It’s a judgment of how you see the world", Toril Moi says.

Changing perspectives in gender equality research

A new report has identified trends and knowledge gaps in Norwegian scientific publications on gender equality and diversity in research and innovation. According to the report, it is not a given that measures aimed at gender equality are also effective when it comes to ethnic diversity.

“Research needs criticism”

All disciplines need criticism, both from within their own ranks and in the media. But if the criticism is unreasonable and personal, it can threaten freedom of speech in academia, believes one Swedish gender researcher.

News Magazine

Our news magazine is an independent online newspaper and a member of the Norwegian Specialised Press Association Fagpressen.