Gender equality
Work with gender equality is a strategic matter for the University of Oslo, which has undertaken to ensure that gender equality permeates all its activities. This also applies to faculties, museums and centres.
Gender equality is about democracy and fundamental human rights, but also about the quality of our activities at the University of Oslo and our legitimacy in society as the country’s foremost institution for research, education and dissemination.
The University of Oslo’s gender equality policy
Gender equality is both an objective and a process that involves:
- the University consciously promoting an organisational culture and a working environment that is inclusive and fair to both sexes;
- education, professional strategy and incentive schemes designed so that they give qualifying candidates and researchers of both sexes equal opportunities to develop their talent;
- an active recruitment policy that evens out unequal gender selection and indirect discrimination;
- that the share of women and men as professors and associate professors and in academic posts reflects the gender distribution in the recruitment base.
The University of Oslo’s gender equality policy is rooted in its Strategic Plan 2010-2020 and is defined in the Gender Equality Action Plan 2010 - 2012 (pdf).
Current gender equality measures
- Mentoring programme (Norwegian)
- Central gender equality funds (Norwegian)
- Courses aimed at female associate professors*:
- Promotion seminar (11 April, 2011)
- Qualification scholarships (20)
- Coaching groups (4)
* The courses were announced to the institute and centre management and also personally to all female associate professors and are now fully booked.
How is the gender equality work organised?
The University of Oslo has a Gender Equality Adviser who works on following-up and developing the University’s gender equality policy. The Gender Equality Adviser is attached to the Organisation and Personnel Department (OPA).
The University of Oslo has appointed a special Gender Equality Coordination Group (Norwegian) with representatives from the management at the faculties and museums, the gender research environment, the student body and the Department of Research Administration. Dr. Inga Bostad, Pro-Rector of the University of Oslo, leads the group’s work and the Gender Equality Adviser is the secretary.
The primary task of the group is to contribute to strategic discussions and set gender equality objectives at the University of Oslo.