Publications / Reports / 2009 / 2009:010 Kvinners karrieremuligheter i forskningsinstituttsektoren
Kvinners karrieremuligheter i forskningsinstituttsektoren
The report looks at women’s career opportunities in the research institute sector in Norway. The analysis shows that the percentage women at each level decreases somewhat as one moves up the career ladder. While women make up 37% of female researchers, they make up 32% of the research directors. The study also shows that the percentage of women at the senior researcher level is considerably smaller than the percentage of men.
Nearly all institute directors thought that it was important that both men and women were well repre-sented among the researchers. The reason most of the directors mentioned was that they wanted to recruit the best qualified people.
About one third of the institutes had written documents which addressed the task of creating gender equality in the organisations. The most used strategy to create gender balance was to encourage women to apply for research director positions.
The study also investigates what kinds of competences were valued when new researchers and re-search directors were hired. The study shows that the management ideal in the institute sector appeared rather well gender balanced and does not appear as a significant barrier for women who want to enter these positions.
Lastly, the institute directors were asked if they had experienced any differences between male and female researchers regarding their prioritising of work tasks or their appreciation of working conditions. A majority had not noticed any gender differences at all. However, regarding the opportunity to work a reduced number of hours every week, half of the directors argued that this was something women appreciate more than men, while nearly half of the directors argued that there was no gender difference.