Through the glass labyrinth of science: Mapping gendering processes in academia

ince the Nineties, national and international scientific institutions have started to develop initiatives aimed to address the under-representation of women recorded in Science and Technology fields. According to the latest She Figures Report, the main source of European statistics on the representation of women and men amongst PhD graduates, researchers and academics published every three years by European Commission, across Europe, the proportion of women heads of Higher Education Institutions has risen from 15.5% to 20.1% during the period 2010 to 2013, in 2013 the 45% of researchers were women, having increased their presence by 1 percentage point since 2007. However, only 21% of Full professor were women; a 58 percentage point difference with men. The under-representation of women continues to characterise participation in science and technology occupations (She Figures 2015). To make visible the processes responsible for the different scientific trajectories of women and men in science and to unveil the underlying mechanisms that sustain these processes are the main aims of this research study. To this purpose, this study develops a theoretical framework working through different perspectives on issues related to women’s participation in science, while linking specific institutional and dynamics to broader societal ones

Lost in translation: Integrating the gender dimension in research and teaching in Universities through Gender Equality Plans

Gender Equality Plans have been widely adopted in the last two years by Italian Universities with an acceleration that was undoubtedly affected by the European Commission requirement for access to Horizon Europe research funding programme, while benefiting from the Horizon Europe guidelines and the guidelines of the Italian University Rectors’ Conference. This paper investigates the process of institutionalisation of gender promoted within Italian academia through the elaboration and drafting of GEP, analysing the translation processes of European policies on gender equality acted by academic institutions. Amongst the five priority areas included in the Horizon Europe Guidelines, the focus of this paper is the integration of the gender dimension in research and teaching. This choice is motivated by the core role of research and teaching in universities and by the authors’ assumption that promoting actions related to this area is particularly challenging from a transformative perspective. A methodology to analyse actions in this area is proposed and applied to a sample of Italian universities selected to obtain heterogeneity in terms of geographical distribution and size. The analysis of more than 170 GEPs’ actions brings evidence of criticalities in their design in areas crucial to start a transformative process and, at the same time, identifies best practices and suggestions for the adoption of policies at the national or European level to support real change

Getting Closer to Gender Equality in Research Performing Organisations through Gender Equality Plans?

To what extent Gender Equality Plans (GEPs) can get Research Performing Organisations (RPOs) closer to gender equality and how to detect whether their actions could really be able to make a difference in creating a gender equal environment? And what are the factors affecting the spread of GEPs and enhancing their transformative power? These are the key questions that this paper tries to address with a focus on Italy, a country that on one hand is characterized by higher gender inequalities than on average EU-27 countries and by a relevant gender gap at the disadvantage of women in the higher level of academic career, while on the other hand sees an increasing effort by the Conference of Italian University Rectors (CRUI) and the National Conference of Equal Opportunities Bodies of Italian Universities (COUNIPAR) to support with guidelines and training the universities’ path towards gender equality. Specific cases of RPOs’ GEPs located in different areas of Italy that are characterized by different levels of gender inequality are also analysed, to show how actions are tailored to the context and are consistent with the gender equality objectives already expressed by their Strategic Plan, reinforcing them and providing the framework for a real change

La dimensione di genere nelle carriere accademiche: Riflessività e cambiamento nel progetto pilota GENOVATE@UNINA

[English]: The volume is an original contribution to the debate on interventions in favour of gender equality in universities and in research. The book presents the results of the research-action carried out together with the experimentation of the pilot mentoring program, within the European project GENOVATE@UNINA. By establishing a dialogue with the latest European researches - developed in the cultural context and in the framework for structural change interventions, promoted through the Seventh Framework Program and Horizon 2020 – this work assumes, as an interpretative framework, the processes of global change that involve the settings of the scientific-academic system. The discussion develops along a linear pathway, moving from the debate on gender equality policies, it leads to the design of the mentoring pilot scheme (the first one to be exclusively women addressed, in the Italian universities) and, therefore, the research that has accompanied the project on its path is also described. The interpretation of results, supported by biographical-narrative interviews on career paths and focus groups with mentors and mentees, reveals through which practices and processes are produced and reproduced gender inequalities in academia and research. Using the tools of the survey, these results have been analysed in order to reconstruct the mentoring functioning as a gender practice capable of de-construct processes that produce inequality and produce transformational effects of the scientific-academic context.[Italiano] Il volume è un contributo originale al dibattito sugli interventi a favore della parità di genere nell'Università e nella ricerca. Presenta i risultati della ricerca-azione condotta, insieme alla sperimentazione del programma pilota di mentoring, nell'ambito del progetto europeo GENOVATE@UNINA. Ponendosi in interlocuzione con le ricerche europee più recenti - sviluppate entro la cornice culturale e il quadro di riferimento degli interventi per il cambiamento strutturale, promossi attraverso il Settimo Programma Quadro e Horizon assume, come quadro di riferimento interpretativo, i processi di cambiamento globale che investono la regolazione del sistema scientifico-accademico. La trattazione si sviluppa seguendo un percorso lineare, che dal dibattito sulle politiche per la parità di genere conduce al disegno dello schema pilota di mentoring (il primo esclusivamente al femminile, nell'università italiana) e, quindi, alla ricerca che ha accompagnato il progetto nel suo percorso. L'interpretazione dei risultati, sorretta da interviste biografico-narrative sui percorsi di carriera e da focus group con mentori e mentee, rivela attraverso quali pratiche e quali processi si producono e riproducono le diseguaglianze di genere nell'accademia e nella ricerca. Con gli strumenti dell'indagine valutativa, questi risultati sono quindi messi a fuoco per ricostruire il funzionamento del mentoring come pratica di genere capace di decostruire i processi che producono diseguaglianza e produrre effetti trasformativi del contesto scientifico-accademico

Gendered academia. Inequality and inclusiveness in changing Italian academic governance

In recent decades, deep transformations have been reshaping academia and the research environment. Reforms in funding structures, research assessment, and accountability procedures are still redesigning the practices in academic work, redefining research schedules, and determining relevant effects on scientific career paths. Despite European policies efforts towards the development of more responsible and inclusive research, the processes emerging from these transformations of academic contexts are producing new inequalities and strengthening old ones. New rules in the recruitment and career progression of researchers reduce, in some instances, and intensify, in others the pre-existing gender gaps, with varying impact on researchers, according to their belonging to different cohorts, gender or minority groups, and on universities, according to size and regional contexts. Adopting an intersectional perspective, contributions in this volume focus on gendering processes in Italian academia. Altogether, they succeed in accomplishing a double result: to unveil the gendered character of academic and research practices and to trace emergent paths towards their reshaping into more equitable and inclusive ones

Evolution and nucleosynthesis of primordial low mass stars

We discuss in detail the evolutionary properties of low mass stars M< 1 M(Solar) having metallicity lower than Z=10^(-6) from the pre- main sequence up to (almost) the end of the Asymptotic Giant Branch phase. We also discuss the possibility that the large [C,N/Fe] observed on the surface of the most Iron poor star presently known, HE0107-5240, may be attributed to the autopollution induced by the penetration of the He convective shell into the H rich mantle during the He core flash of a low mass, very low metallicity star. On the basis of a quite detailed analysis, we conclude that the autopollution scenario cannot be responsible for the observed chemical composition of HE0107-5240

Primo Bilancio di Genere dell’Ateneo Fridericiano

[English]:A Gender Budget is a strategic tool that provides an assessment of the political-economic and financial decisions of public administration from a gender-sensitive perspective. Its main goal is to support a more efficient, transparent, and equitable, management of resources. The first Gender Budget of the Università degli Studi di Napoli “Federico II” (UNINA) was realized within the framework of the European-Union funded GENOVATE research project: Transforming Organizational Culture for Gender Equality in Research and Innovation. It consists in a thorough context analysis of the University enrolment and career policy outcomes, encompassing students, academic, technical and administrative staff, which results in a detailed map of the still relevant gender gap dimension in the institution. Raw data and their focused analysis show how cultural and structural barriers contribute to women dropping out of university at the very beginning of scientific careers (i.e. the so-called ‘leaky pipeline’ phenomenon). Due to horizontal and vertical segregation mechanisms, some disciplinary fields and academic positions still remain dominated by one gender. It is the authors’ hope that Gender Budgeting may become a well-established practice at UNINA, and may support transformative actions and inspire gender-mainstreaming institutional policies. GENOVATE is a project funded by the European Commission within the Seventh Framework Programme (FP7), under the Science in Society grant programme (SiS 2012 2.1.1-1). This volume was co-funded by the European Union./ [Italiano]: Il Bilancio di Genere è un documento che analizza e valuta le scelte politiche e gli impegni economico-finanziari di una amministrazione in un’ottica di genere, con l’obiettivo di perseguire una gestione delle risorse efficiente, trasparente, equa e consapevole. La produzione del primo documento di Bilancio di Genere dell’Ateneo Federico II è stata realizzata nell’ambito del progetto europeo GENOVATE: Transforming Organizational Culture for Gender Equality in Research and Innovation. Il documento contiene un’ampia analisi di contesto che attraversa la tripla anima dell’Ateneo: studenti, personale docente e personale tecnico amministrativo, restituendo una fotografia della composizione degli organici in cui il divario di genere non appare ancora superato. I dati raccolti ed elaborati evidenziano e confermano l’esistenza di ostacoli culturali e strutturali che determinano, da un lato, l’abbandono della carriera scientifica da parte delle donne, dall’altro il persistere di meccanismi di segregazione orizzontale e verticale, con alcune aree e posizioni riservate esclusivamente a un genere. L’auspicio è che il Bilancio di Genere possa diventare prassi consolidata dell’Ateneo e assolvere alla propria funzione di strumento trasformativo nell’ottica del gender mainstreaming. GENOVATE è un progetto finanziato dalla Commissione Europea nell'ambito del Settimo Programma Quadro (FP7), bando Science in Society (SiS 2012 2.1.1-1). Il volume è stato realizzato con il cofinanziamento dell'Unione Europea

The show must go on: a snapshot of Italian academic working life during mandatory work from home

During the COVID-19 pandemic, universities worldwide have provided continuity to research and teaching through mandatory work from home. Taking into account the specificities of the Italian academic environment and using the Job Demand-Resource-Recovery model, the present study provides, through an online survey, for the first time a description of the experiences of a large sample of academics (N = 2365) and technical and administrative staff (N = 4086) working in Italian universities. The study analyzes the main differences between genders, roles or work areas, in terms of some job demands, recovery experiences, and outcomes, all important dimensions to achieve goals 3, 4, and 5 of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The results support the reflections on gender equality measures in universities and provide a general framework useful for further in-depth analysis and development of measures in order to improve well-being (SDG 3), quality of education (SDG 4), and gender equality (SDG 5)