Advancing Gender Equality in Research Organisations: Key Factors for Success

Advancing Gender Equality in Research Organisations: Key Factors for Success examines how organisational gender equality can be effectively designed, implemented and evaluated in European universities and research institutions. Drawing on the most comprehensive study to date of Gender Equality Plans across Europe, this edited volume presents fourteen case studies from eight countries developed within the INSPIRE Centre of Excellence. The chapters analyse six core facilitating factors for sustainable change: strategic organisational commitment, comprehensive data collection for equalities work, advanced gender expertise, inclusive communities of change agents, enforceable legislation, and supportive social and cultural contexts. The book further advances the field through a comparative, outcome‑ and impact‑oriented framework that addresses both gendered power relations and gendered value hierarchies, offering a critical alternative to symbolic equality measures. This book is essential reading for scholars of gender and organisational change, researchers and students in higher education studies, and practitioners, consultants and policymakers engaged in gender equality work in research and innovation.