To Örebro University

Research funding organisations (RFOs) are key R&D stakeholders in knowledge production and in development of research careers. How do these organisations address gender and other inequalities in their policies and practices? To what extent do they act as change agents towards equality and diversity with an impact on the whole sector? During recent decades, many national research funding organisations have increasingly become engaged in policies promoting gender equality, diversity, and inclusion Some RFOs are also collaborating increasingly in this area, both nationally and regionally, establishing collaborative networks. An important driver here has been the European Research Area (ERA), in which gender equality is one of priorities. However, the developments in this respect across Europe are complex and uneven, with advanced and ambitious policies established in some national contexts, on the one hand, and very limited and restricted engagements in some others, on the other hand.

We compare the developments in national RFOs in five European national contexts, which vary in their research intensity and gender regimes: Austria, Ireland, Poland, Slovak Republic, and Sweden. We highlight advances and challenges in engagement of national RFOs with gender equality, diversity and inclusion, analyse the contextual factors driving development, and ask to what extent do the RFOs integrate intersectional approaches in their policies. The empirical material draws on policy document analysis and qualitative interview and observation research in GRANTeD (Grant Allocation Disparities from a Gender Perspective), a research project funded (2019-2023) by the EU Horizon2020 framework