Gender equality in Nordic academia : advances and challenges

• The five Nordic countries – Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden – are considered high achievers in global comparisons of overall gender equality of society (World Economic Forum, 2017a). Political will in the region to advance gender equality in academia is high. Gender equality promotion in higher education, academia, and research has been on the national policy agendas for four decades, since the late 1970s and early 1980s, through various national level interventions and measures, especially so in Finland, Norway, and Sweden. Gender equality is addressed in the university legislation in Norway and Sweden, and in Finland the Gender Equality and Anti-Discrimination legislation especially gives educational institutions a duty to promote equality and prevent discrimination. Universities in Finland, Norway, and Sweden have for decades been legally obliged to engage in equality planning. These three countries also show the highest proportion of women on scientific boards in the European Union, approaching gender parity, and the highest proportion of women among university Vice-Chancellors in the EU. Despite this, unequal gendered structures in academic careers and gender segregation of disciplinary fields prevail. Taking the proportion of women among full professors as one indicator of gender equality in academia, the Nordic region does not excel in a European comparison, neither in the share of women in the professoriate, nor the pace of diminishing the gender gap among professors. This article interrogates the Nordic paradox of high overall gender equality in society, political will, and active policy regulation to advance gender equality in academia and science, on the one hand, and the unequal gendered structures in academic careers and inequalities in resource allocation, including research funding, on the other. Some differences and similarities between the five Nordic countries will be highlighted and discussed, along with historical developments, policy landscapes, and continuing resistances to advancement of gender equality, both within and outside academia.

Subject headings

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Annan samhällsvetenskap -- Genusstudier (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Other Social Sciences -- Gender Studies (hsv//eng)

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Annan samhällsvetenskap -- Tvärvetenskapliga studier inom samhällsvetenskap (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Other Social Sciences -- Social Sciences Interdisciplinary (hsv//eng)

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Sociologi (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Sociology (hsv//eng)

Keyword

Gender equality interventions

gender equality plans

political will

gender segregation

gender balance

gendered careers

gender mainstreaming

women professors

excellence funding

committees on women and science

Gender Studies

Genusvetenskap

Sociologi

Sociology

Publication and Content Type

ref (subject category)

kap (subject category)