ChallengeEU and UKÄ review strengthen gender equality work

The new alliance ChallengeEU and a review from the Swedish Higher Education Authority are highlighted as a couple of important factors for the work.

"In recent years, we have "restructured" our gender mainstreaming work, partly based on the work within ChallengeEU, partly because of an evaluation from the Swedish Higher Education Authority of the quality assurance work, but also because we contributed to, and participated in, a year-long seminar series conducted by the Swedish Gender Equality Agency, says Lasse Reinikainen, coordinator for gender equality and equal opportunities at Mid Sweden University. 

In its report, the Swedish Gender Equality Agency presents six case studies, of which Mid Sweden University is one of these. The report describes the pilot work on five programmes at the Faculty of Science, Technology and Media – programmes with clear gender differences in student recruitment. The goal was to develop models for more inclusive educational environments, with the ambition that these can eventually be scaled up to more programmes. 

During the course of the work, common challenges were identified, including varying knowledge about gender equality in the teaching staff, a lack of role models and perceptions of gender equality as a political rather than pedagogical issue. Here, a need was seen to address these issues in a structured way through collegial discussions, competence development and targeted efforts. At the same time, the same needs were noted in other ongoing processes.

The Swedish Gender Equality Agency notes that an important driving force in the development was the Swedish Higher Education Authority's quality review in 2023, which highlighted the need to strengthen the gender perspective in the governance, content and follow-up of the programmes. This resulted in an action plan and several revised steering documents, where gender equality is now included as a natural part of the university's quality system. Mid Sweden University's participation in ChallengeEU is also highlighted.

"It is gratifying to see that ChallengeEU's focus on ODEI (Openness, Diversity, Equity, Inclusion) has concrete effects on our operations, and that this is also highlighted in the report. It is noted that the work within the alliance has contributed to increased management awareness, international exchange of experience and broadened collaboration. Gender equality work is clearly linked to diversity and inclusion, which is also a separate work package within ChallengeEU," says Lasse Reinikainen.

The Swedish Gender Equality Agency also notes that issues of men's violence against women have been integrated into the systematic work environment management and into HR's regular training offerings, which strengthens security for both students and employees.

Overall, it is noted, the work at Mid Sweden University shows how gender equality is used as a lever to develop the quality, accessibility and relevance of education – as a natural part of Mid Sweden University's regular activities.

Here you can read the Swedish Gender Equality Agency's report.