Gender Policy Transformation in Higher Education: European Trends and Ukrainian Pathways

Ukraine’s universities are moving from declarative commitments to gender equality toward institutional reforms, yet implementation remains uneven compared with mature European systems. The aim of the article is to analyze how European trends in university gender policy - especially Gender Equality Plans (GEPs), funding conditionalities, and audit-based accountability - can be adapted to the Ukrainian context and translated into sustainable institutional practice. The methodology adopts a qualitative comparative policy design, combining systematic document analysis of EU/OECD and Ukrainian frameworks with comparative mapping of selected European cases (e.g., Finland, Germany, Poland). Materials were thematically coded (policy coherence, institutional integration, implementation mechanisms, cultural transformation, outcome orientation) and synthesized through cross-case comparison. Main results: European frameworks have institutionalized gender policy through mandatory GEPs for Horizon Europe eligibility, interoperable indicators, and incentive-linked monitoring; member-state practices translate these norms into governance units, annual audits, leadership training, and campus-safety protocols; Ukraine demonstrates normative convergence but lacks standardized micro-level instruments - universal GEP mandates, national coordination, unified indicators, and performance-linked funding - leading to fragmented, project-dependent implementation. To convert alignment into measurable progress, Ukraine should establish a national coordination unit, mandate GEPs for all HEIs, deploy a unified gender data registry with public dashboards, and link equality performance to accreditation and funding. Future research should develop and validate a multi-dimensional analytical model connecting policy coherence, institutional integration, and outcome orientation to evaluate longitudinal impact. These steps would shift Ukraine from compliance rhetoric to a coherent, data-driven ecosystem of gender equality in higher education.