POLICY BRIEF 1_Implementing Gender Equality Plans (GEPs) in Higher Education and Research in Widening Countries: The case of Agriculture & Life Sciences

This policy brief reviews and analyses the challenges faced by Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) andResearch Performing Organisations (RPOs) involved in the AGRIGEP project, all located in Central andEastern European Countries (CEECs) designated as “widening countries” in the context of EuropeanUnion’s research policies. Identified challenges might be similar to those experienced by otheruniversities from widening countries during the development and implementation of their first GenderEquality Plan (GEP). Our aim here was to review the main difficulties or hindrances encountered byour institutions, mobilise the literature to understand their background, and share experiences on howto address them. We particularly focus on STEM fields (Science, Technology, Engineering, andMathematics) in general and, more specifically, on the subsectors of agriculture and related lifesciences that are strongly represented in the AGRIGEP project.Agriculture and life science-focused universities and RPOs in the EU’s widening countries indeed facea double challenge when developing and implementing GEPs. First, the gender gap at the societal levelis still wider in the 15 widening countries compared to the other EU member countries, whichconditions the overall progress that can be achieved within intrinsically gendered organisations1.Second, gender challenges in the agriculture and life sciences sector are partly different from thoseencountered in other fields, including STEM, both regarding the status quo in academia and thesituation in broader agri-food production2. Therefore, GEP implementation requires a strategy thataddresses the double challenge posed by national gender equality (GE) contexts and sectorialspecificities and is able to provide tailored responses to address them.The objectives of this policy brief, drafted after one and a half years of implementation of the AGRIGEPproject3 in three widening countries’ universities, are thus threefold: First, to illustrate the doublechallenge of advancing GE in RPOs located in those domestic contexts and with a specialisation(although not exclusive) on agriculture and life sciences. Second, to highlight the need for context- andarea-specific, tailored solutions to complement the more generic tools and insight brought bycumulative efforts carried out in this realm, notably as part of EU-funded initiatives. Third, to identifykey cultural and organisational hindrances to change. However, tailored responses to these will bepresented in the second Policy brief after implementing the project’s tasks.